Wind Mountain Spirit Quest Site

I really wish I could say that I've found a lot of information on this but unfortunately I haven't. Here's what I do know though. Everyone and their dog, in the Columbia Gorge, knows about Wind Mountain. It looms over Home Valley, towering at such an impressive height its hard to imagine ever climbing it. Despite its daunting appearance, many people climb up this rather large hill every year and have been for thousands of years. Because I'm far crazier than a human ought to be, I've always looked at it as a fun little challenge, a hike I would love to do one day. As of March 10th 2013, I can officially check it off my bucket list. Score! It wasn't just for the challenge of hiking up it that I was interested. What I really wanted to see was at the top. A real Native American Spirit Quest Site that is protected by the National Forest Service as an archeological site. I had absolutely no idea what to expect at the top but once I got up there it was truly amazing!

Just before you hit the site the forest service has a nice little informational board. Along with information about its history and the fact that many Native Americans still visit the site today, there is a nice little, polite warning about disturbing stuff. This is well warranted. Why? Because this is not a site that you have to dig. Everything that is of significance is on the surface. Walls constructed out of rock, rocks stacked in impossible configurations, circular rock walls, straight rock walls, etc... I highly recommend that if you go to this site to STAY ON THE TRAIL! Every where you step off trail is a potential to damage something of significance. One careless trip and you could knock over walls that took time to build and were put up 200-1000 years ago.

Here is the message on the board from your friendly forest service:

"This archaelogical site is extremely fragile. Just walking over it will damage important cultural features. Therefore, the USDA Forest Service has closed the site to hikers. All visitors must stay on the trail or within designated areas shown on the map." 

So, as any good little blogger would do, I snapped a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Sign just before you enter the site

 

Husband reading the rules like a good boy :)

View to the West. If you look at the bottom center there is a rock wall

Same rock wall, closer view.

Just thought I would stress, that I got pretty close to the trail edge to take the above picture. As far as I could see there was nothing on the other side of that wall. Just a sheer drop. Crazy wall builder! 

Last time I checked, rocks don't generally tend to stack themselves on their sides.

More rock art...

See the little rock pit and the circular walls? Awesome!

Another little round rock hut.

When looking at the above round rock wall configuration, my husband and I were talking about how we figured they were probably used as some kind of shelter from the wind. There is a reason they call this WIND Mountain...lol

See the little rock trenches? Look closely....

Another view of the rock trenches to the left and rock hut to the right

More rock trenches...and that view...

Someone is a little chilly in the wind...lol

I've got to say that visiting this site was absolutely amazing and I would love to learn more about it. The Native Americans really left their mark on this land and I enjoy exploring each of the places they left for us all to find. Hopefully we can honor their memory by respecting these sites and maintaining them for future generations.

Happy Trails...

Rachel B.