Thursday, May 16, 2013

Mat-Su Valley

5-15-13 – Morning view from the Elks Lodge looking out over Finger Lakes. (same view as beautiful sunset the other day).  Yep it is still frozen and more rain is threatening.

Old Glenn Hwy 001

Today we went back up the Glenn Hwy to mm 58 to visit the Elks Youth Camp.  Just a few miles from Palmer – it is a beautiful spot.  Rick from the Lodge was there doing some repairs and gave us the tour. 

On the way back we stopped at the Musk Ox Farm.  This farm is trying to domesticate the musk ox – usually found farther north about the Artic Circle.  The Musk Ox is a member of the goat family.  They weigh about 1000#.  The horns continue to grow and curve.  The fur (fiber) is very soft, without lanolin, is combed to remove it for weaving, making very warm and very expensive garments – a scarf $150. A very scenic location for the farm.

Old Glenn Hwy 021 Old Glenn Hwy 017

Palmer and neighboring Wasilla are located in the Mat-Su Valley surrounded by beautiful tall snow topped mountains – easily viewed in all directions.  During the depression of 1930’s – FDR invited about 200 families from MN, WI and MI to relocate to this valley and farm the land.  This valley is know for the tremendous size of the vegetables produced here.  Hopefully we’ll see some of that later in the summer.

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