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.
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| Gunsight Mountain |
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| 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.
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.
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| They had some elk that I got to feed! |
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| Babies! |
It was after 9 pm – but still daylight! – when I pulled into the campground at Soldatna, AK.
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| 2:30 am and still light outside...I'm loving this! |
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| A glacier passed along the way. |
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| I've run out of words to describe the beauty of Alaska! |
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