Wyoming - Medicine Wheel

It felt good to be back in Wyoming.  We lived in the Wind River area a couple years ago and only passed through Buffalo.  It was nice to have time to spend a few days.  That is one of the things that I am enjoying about our new lifestyle.  We have time...time to slow down and just be...time to really explore all the places we have before just glimpsed in passing.

Something that I had always wanted to see was the Medicine Wheel in the Big Horns.  It is high on a mountain, so the area is covered in snow most of the year.  Places like that are special to me because there is such a short window each year to see them completely uncovered.

We drove to the parking area and the ranger on duty greeted us with a smile and the offer of ice water.  After filling the kids water bottles, the ranger told us to have a nice hike..."it's 3 miles and up hill both ways".  Of course we laughed and headed on our way.  Uh....he wasn't kidding.  The path goes up and down, up and down...while steady climbing higher until you reach the top.  Add to that the thinner air and I was wishing I exercised more often :)!

The view at the top was beautiful.  So quiet and peaceful.

On the drive back through the mountains the kids spotted this moose.  He was fun to watch for a while...