Sunday, June 26, 2016

2016 Epic Road Trip - Day 41

June 23, 2016

Day 41 - Glennallen, AK to Soldotna, AK - 325 Miles




Oh, what a busy day!  I traveled about 325 miles from Glennallen, AK to Soldatna, AK on the Kenai Peninsula.


Again, the scenery was exquisite. The mountains met the clouds and I saw glaciers interspersed with the rock mountains.  One mountain was named “Gunsight” for its notch at the top and another was named Lion’s Head, for its quirky domed-shape.

Gunsight Mountain
Lion's Head Mountain
Dall sheep are common in this area, but I didn’t see any.  They lick the mountain rock to get calcium and magnesium into their diet.

A highlight of the day was a visit to a Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, AK to see the shaggy prehistoric beasts.  They produce a fine wool called “qiviut” – rhymes with “Who gives a hoot”.  Kind of cool.
 cool.




Next I visited a Reindeer Farm down the road.  The difference between reindeer and caribou is simply “which side of the fence the animal is on”.  Caribou are wild; reindeer are domesticated.  In domesticating them, the reindeer were bred smaller, but a reindeer who jumps the fence and runs away becomes a caribou.  Their antlers are shed each year.  When they still have the velvet-skin on their antlers, they are very sensitive – blood and nerve endings.  After the skin sheds, they have very hard, durable, strong antlers.  Another nice visit, although they slobber all over me.  I hand-fed them and it was safe, since they have no upper front teeth.  They had some elk at the farm also, which I also petted and fed.


They had some elk that I got to feed! 
Babies!
It was after 9 pm – but still daylight! – when I pulled into the campground at Soldatna, AK.

2:30 am and still light outside...I'm loving this!

A glacier passed along the way.
I've run out of words to describe the beauty of Alaska!

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