The next day after having breakfast we took off for a 136 mile loop called the Bighorn Scenic Byway. Our first stop was in Bighorn National Forest where we saw the picturesque Shell Falls.
We saw three cowboys on horses with two dogs trying unsuccessfully to roundup some cattle.
Another stop was Medicine Wheel, on top of the Bighorn Range at an elevation of 9,642 feet, and only reachable during the warm summer months. Historians believe that the wheel was constructed by Plains Indians between 300-800 years ago. It is an 80' diameter wheel-like pattern made of stones. At the center of the circle is a doughnut-shaped pile of stones and a cairn connected to the rim by 28 spoke-like lines of stones. Six more stone cairns are arranged around the circle, most large enough to hold a sitting human. The central cairn is about 12 feet in diameter and 2' high. It is clear that this place has been visited by many people over the last few hundred years because of the well-traveled trail that parallels the current access road. You had to hike in 1½ miles to see it.
After lunch we headed down the Big Horns’ dramatic west face, offering magnificent views of the Big Horn Basin and Devil’s Canyon Overlook.
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