Rawhide

Saturday and a visit to the Musk Ox farm is our activity for today. The farm breeds musk ox and does scientific studies on the herd. Separate pastures house the cows, steers, bulls and moms with babies. They have nine calves this year and the ones we saw are adorable. The animals were reintroduced to Alaska years ago and they are multiplying and doing well. The under coat of the musk ox is called quiviut and it is nine times denser than wool. It is highly desirable for warm garments and very expensive too. First Nation tribe women weave the quiviut into hats and scarves and it is sold in the co-op in Anchorage and here at the farm. I purchased a quiviut smoke ring when we first came to Alaska on a cruise in 1996. I rarely wear it because it makes my head and neck too hot.

Tonight we had a group dinner with Jeff and helpers cooking hot dogs and hamburgers.