Tuesday 30 October 2018

Sundial Medicine Wheel

The picture below is what it looks like from above. This is a type two medicine wheel east of Carmangay, Alberta. This picture is off the sign at the bottom of the hill put there by the Government of Alberta. This one has not been dated. The Majorville Medicine Wheel which is about sixty kilometres northeast of here is said to be 4,500 years old.

I made the trek here October 26, 2018 with Chris Doering of www.bigdoer.com (go visit his site). I had been wanting to hangout with Chris for some time to do something like this and it was a great time. I thought Chris knew about this place and if you read his blog you would think Chris has already been to all of the interesting places.



You drive due east of Carmangay on one gravel road then take a turn down south down another gravel  a short distance then drive about three kilometres on this trail across some rolling prairie hills. We did this in my 2012 Kia Rondo which I do not recommend. You can do it but I suggest you go in a truck or SUV because there is better clearance. We had to dodge some large rocks and drive around some cows that were not interested in moving. There were some unpleasant noises that were the result of the car having less clearance than I thought it possessed.


There is actually a bit of a parking lot just before you trek up to the wheel. The wheel itself is on top of a hill, a high point on this part of the prairie where you can see for miles. The Kia is at the bottom.


The Kia gets even further in the distance as you walk up the hill.


The stone pathway to the centre or the wheel.


The hub of the wheel.


When you are there you can clearly see the stone rings on the hill.


It is interesting, not something that shows up well in pictures. It is a destination that I wanted to mark off my list and glad I got to do it.

7 comments:

  1. I wonder if one of the stone piles could have been an altar or a place for the burning of the dead.

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  2. Really enjoyed this outing! Let's do it again sometime. The wheel is such a wonderful place, up there on that low hill, a heck of a view off in every direction. But as you said, it's a hard one to really capture in photographs.

    If there's no oil leak under car by now, you should be okay.

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  3. I visited the Sundial Medicine Wheel today and found it quite intriguing to see a place where people had congregated so many years ago. Highly recommended!

    I can vouch for all the rocks on the trail but I made it there and back in a Ford Focus. I often travel prairie trails and less-than-ideal roads. My advice is to know your vehicle's limitations, stay alert and go slow (thank you BW).

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    1. It can be done in a car as long as you are prepared to go painfully slow in a few spots. My Kia does not have the greatest clearance.

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  4. I regret not be able to go here in the summer.
    A drone would get a neat view of this!

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    1. I should buy a drone one of these days.

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