StCrain RV: J: Valdez to Palmer (and then Seward), AK

We made an overnight stop in Palmer on the way to Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula. Palmer is some 30 miles north of Anchorage and is adjacent to Wasilla, where Sarah Palin got her political start as mayor. Seward is a major "Cruise" stop on the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage.

PALMER: The principal attraction of Palmer, other than being our first stop in Alaska with Big-Box stores, is the Musk Ox Farm. Musk Oxen stand about four-feet high. They weight up to 500 pounds and can run at speeds up to 35mph. Musk Ox sport a shaggy, two-level (long and short) coats of hair that help them survive minus forty to minus sixty degree winters. Their sinus cavities have spiral pathways to help heat the extremely cold air before it enters their lungs. The bulls have well developed horn boxes. They use these to ram one-another, headlong at top speed, to establish the supreme leader for the heard.

The purpose of this University of Alaska farm is to domesticate these wild, arctic cattle. They are native to the northern regions of Alaska. Success of the domestication project depends on two things… radically changing the social behavior of the animals, and an economical purpose for their use in our society.

Musk Ox herds have a very complex and rigid social structure, developed by thousands of years of survival against predators. As a result, the herd currently needs to be segregated into specialized pens - based on age and gender to assure all will reach maturity (vs self thinning). This requires about half-an-acre per critter plus feed.

Their meat is edible, but is not marketable since at maturity they dress out at not much more than an emu. Nursing cows only provide their young with about one cup of milk a day; so they aren't competitive as dairy cattle. Their long hair is course and unsuitable as wool. But their short hairs, when currycombed off, make extremely soft, cashmere-like yarn called Qiviut (cottagecraftangora.com/qiviut-scarves/4530910242 at the top, below). Production of qiviut depends on having a large number of animals that will allow humans to brush them for their wool every year. New Zealand seems to have the productivity lead in this "faux-cashmere" market with the cashmere-like wool they get from farm-raised NZ-Possums (possum-wool.com or nznature.co.nz bottom, below).

Alaska University is accepting donations for their domestication project.

SEWARD: The coastal town of Seward is named for the US Secretary of State who arranged the purchase of Alaska from Russia: a transaction we studied in school as "Seward's Folly". The earthquake of 1964 also affected this town, 100-miles up the coast from Valdez. Where the old-town of Valdez sank some 2- to 3-feet, parts of Seward were elevated by some 28-feet. Shown below are a number of houses built above the fault since Good Friday, 1964.

Visitors Centers in Alaska and Canada are excellent places to get information on the area from people who live there … and to stock up on data with the (usually) free and fast wifi. Seward has an excellent Aquatic Center at the opposite end of the town from the cruise ship landing. It features some outstanding expositions on the fish and fishing industry in the area and a sea-animal "petting" area for kids of all ages. It also has an aquarium, a tank/rockery for harbor seals, and an atrium - where I finally was able to get a reasonable photograph a Puffin.

Towns up here are also known for the murals on their buildings. The one below is across the street from the Aquatic Center.

The Exit Glacier is only 5-miles from town. The Glacier Visitor's Center has posted signs along the road that mark where the lowest points of the glacier were in various years as it receded well over a mile since the mid-19th century.