Monday 07/22/2013
K made wonderful pancakes for breakfast while I slept. Whaaaat??? I'm usually the one to wake up first, but for some reason, roles were reversed.
We headed to a place called Medicine Wheel which is managed by the Forest Service. You have to walk for at least a mile from your car to reach it and it is at a high altitude. It is something some Native Americans made a long time ago and it is kind of a spiritual place. You're only permitted to walk clockwise around it. There are 28 wedges and some rock cairns (piles of rocks). I want to note that the offerings and "prayers" which I photographed are pictured here with the utmost respect and as a way of enlightening those who may not realize that one way Native Americans might worship is by leaving "flags" or pouches or other tokens near sacred sites. I'm not sure if someone would be angry with me for the pictures--let me know if this is offensive. The interpreter said pictures were okay. We can never know what the Medicine Wheel means but I can't help but guess. Perhaps 28 wedges represents 28 days in a cycle or month. Maybe this is a calendar or sun dial or moon dial. Maybe it has something to do with fertility. Who knows? Just like the petroglyphs, we can't really say what it means.
On the hike back to our car we met a pika. I always thought they were bigger like a rabbit, but nope, they are small cute things. This was my first time seeing one in the wild. After Medicine Wheel we spent time in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Site. So many treasures in the National Park Service!
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