Visit to Medicine Circle, Day 20, July 8, 2017

 Here I sit, driven by the mosquitos into our little trailer.  Kind of looking like it might rain again this evening so now is a good time to relate the happenings of this day. 

Early morning breakfast – traditional.  Bacon and eggs cooked on the outdoor stove, toast broiled in the oven.  Hearty because we knew we would have a hike ahead of us today.  After breakfast we consulted with our camping (tent) neighbors who gave us directions to the hike they made yesterday.  After a few more pleasantries – we found out Katie is an ER nurse and Joe is a high school history teacher, they are expecting their first child in January and she is experiencing morning sickness more than one trimester into the pregnancy.  They came to camp here from western South Dakota (Hill City), I suppose to get away from the heat.  They are quite athletic and have spent both days we have known them hiking.

So around 10:00 we set out for the destination for the day which is Medicine Mountain which contains a National Historic Landmark:  Medicine Wheel.  This is an 80’ diameter wheel fashioned on the top of a hill that is made of stones.  I will give you a link here so you can see what I am talking about.  There is no way to know how long this wheel has been in existence but it is treated as a holy place for the Native Americans.  Many tribes visit here in a sort of pilgrimage.  When you walk around the circle, you see many medicine bags and tokens that have been placed there by subsequent generations of Native Americans.  The hike up was 1.5 miles as was the hike back.  Quite the place.

After this visit we made our way to the hike that Katie and Joe suggested.  Russ dropped Ceilidh and I off at a little hike to Paradise which was a beautiful waterfall.  It was a knee burner for me as the angle of descent was steep.  But we made it.  Unfortunately there were many children gamboling about so we didn’t stay long.  But all in all, it was worth it.

Got back and I indulged in a shower, taking care to use as little water as possible.  Tomorrow we will press on to Deadwood.  We have hookups so we get air!!


After hot dogs and mac and cheese, we sat around and visited with our neighbors Katie and Joe.  In the course of the conversation I asked what they as South Dakotans thought of the current political situation and found out that both of these kids voted for Trump.  Both of them are educated (High School Teacher and Nurse).  Joe said that the reason he voted for Trump was that he was tired of the same old political establishment in Washington and thought that Trump would bring a new, businessman’s perspective to the government.  Nothing else seems to be working, he said.  So he was anxious to have something new.

Here are some pictures from our day!

The Medicine Wheel 



My Favorite Traveling Companions

Look real close, you can see Ceilidh's mortal enemy -- the Marmot

Ceilidh & My hike to the Waterfalls

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