Medicine Rocks

Or Rock with a hole in it as the Sioux call them. Well, they have another word "Inyan-oka-la-ka" but it translates to rock with a hole in it.

Before we get to the rocks, can I say how happy I am that it is spring? We've driven past thousands of cow(s) since we left Missoula, but now it's calf season and there are baby cows EVERYWHERE! They're so cute! It just makes me happy.

Now, back to the rocks.

Actually, I'm going to take another second to bemoan the loss of my camera. Whyyyyyy?! A picture can't quite capture just how beautiful these places are, but it is way better than my phone. My phone is trying its hardest, but still.

 The Medicine Rocks were created by a river that built up thick sandbars. This was 61.5 million years ago, of course. After the river was gone, the sandbars remained and now the wind has eroded them into these incredible, textured formations that do, indeed, have holes in them.

These pillars are similar to the hoodoos we saw in Banff except there were more, they were bigger and we were closer. Like, standing on top of them close. Theodore Roosevelt said that Medicine Rocks was "as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen" and if it works for him, it works for me. (Also, I'm really glad that he used the word "fantastically" as well because it is one of my favorites).

According to the signs we passed, you can see fossilized remains from when there was a river and Native American rock art but we didn't see any of those things. We did see bunnies and graffiti. Bunnies I like; graffiti not so much. Who does that? I mean, technically you could argue that the Native Americans did, but not when it was their home and not a landmark! Ugh, I hate it.

It was a blustery morning, but we had a really nice hike. Our shoes were way better equipped for the sandy paths here than the snowy ones at Lake Louise, although I was confused by these sandy paths in Montana. I normally don't associate the two. Mandy says that this is what the beaches are like in Texas -- minus the giant rock structures of course.

On our way back into town, we stopped for a photo-op, because, like I said, this town has a sign with a dinosaur and a palm tree on it and seeing is believing.

Thanks, Ekalaka. Happy to be here.