Day 14 - Palmer, AK to Bodenburg Butte and Musk Ox Farm

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I'm getting lazy; only drove 25 miles today! It was another great weather day; sunny all day (but the clouds are rolling in late this afternoon).

Took a short drive to the Bodenburg Butte hiking trail; a moderately difficult climb to the top of a (you guessed it) "butte". The 360 degree views were excellent! On the way up the trail I kept hearing an intermittent sound that was like a drag-strip in the distance. When I got to the top, I could finally see the source of the noise in the valley below; there was a drag-strip in the distance (Labor Day races).

Went to visit a nearby "musk ox farm" and was surprised at how much I enjoyed visiting these survivors from the Ice Age. The musk ox, which appear to be related to cattle, are actually closer in relationship to sheep and goats (and they'll eat just about anything). I was able to get very close to adults, yearlings and babies. They're very gentle creatures (in this environment) and I was able to hand-feed some grass to one of the yearlings. They've been around for 600,000 years and nearly went extinct until recent efforts to save the animals. The musk ox have incredibly thick coats that shed each year. At the farm they comb out the coats on the 56 animals that they have and send the wool (actually much softer than wool) to be processed into yarn. The yarn is then given to remote Alaskan villages where they use the yarn to hand-knit items like scarves and hats. They're paid for their work and it's a major source of income for many of these natives. Currently 200 women and 4 men scattered all over Alaska are doing the knitting. The knit products are similar to cashmere, but even softer (if you can believe that!).

After visiting Denali yesterday, I did a little research on mountains in North America and the United States. It turns out that "top-10" lists or ANY list of the highest mountains is always controversial because it depends on where you're measuring from. You can measure from sea level or you can measure from the "base" of the mountain which is always higher than sea level. Also, some mountains have multiple peaks, so that also makes it difficult to make lists. Anyway, no matter what kind of list you look at, Alaska has a very impressive list of mountains. Some interesting facts:

- Denali (Mt. McKinley) is the highest peak in North America.
- But did you know that Mt. Saint Elias (also in Alaska) is the 2nd highest peak in North America?
- Alaska has 12 peaks that are higher than 15,000 feet (Colorado has none).
- Of the 20 highest peaks in the United States, 18 are in Alaska.

Ok, end of geography lesson.

I have three more days in Palmer doing more day trips, then it's off to Seward.

Jack

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