It was raining when we got up this morning and rained on and off most of the day. We decided to get to the laundry room early and beat the crowds while it was raining. We just barely beat them. Soon after arriving and starting five washers several other people came in to do the same. The room is equipped with 12-15 washers and 20 dryers but it got tight moving from washers to dryers, so Linda tells me. I did help her get the washers started and returned later to carry things to the truck and put things away. Meanwhile, Linda made some new friends from Kentucky and Melbourne, Australia. She says the laundry room is the best place to make new friends. She thought it would be a good place to read, but making new friends is more fun.
We decided that we needed to find some indoor activities today because of the weather. However, the things that sounded most interesting were outside. So, we ate some lunch, gassed up the truck and spare gas cans, went to the bank and post office then headed out to the University of Alaska once again.
Many of the departments have tours open to the public; some every day and others only on certain days of the week. One that we would have liked to have done was a tour of the Geophysical Institute. They have two tours on Wednesdays; the Alaska Satellite Facility which has polar orbiting satellites, and the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Other tours are of the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, Cold Climate Housing Research Center, and the International Arctic Research Center. Oh well, maybe next time.
Two facilities that offer tours daily are the Large Animal Research Station (LARS) which is a 134 acre facility with herds of Musk Oxen, Caribou, and Reindeer, and the Georgeson Botanical Garden. We took the LARS tour first as it had stopped raining.
This is the entrance to the research facility
Musk Ox bull
The Musk Oxen Bulls are separated from the cows as they are very aggressive while the cows can be handled in their enclosure by the staff. The bulls kept their distance so this picture is enlarged. The staff uses a big tractor to go into the bull enclosure for safety. They said the tractor becomes the Alpha bull because its size intimidates the bulls. Their fencing is three sections deep; inside are posts with 4 strands of heavy cable at different heights, next is an 8’ high heavy wire mesh fence, and then outside is another set of posts with cable strung between them. Apparently the bulls will charge without warning or when they think there is an interloper in their space.
Musk Oxen are not part of the cattle or buffalo family but more closely related to goats. A Frenchman that encountered them thought they looked like they could be related to the Ox and they smelled bad, thus Musk Oxen.
Musk Ox cow
They came running when the tour guide waved some willow branches at them. There were three cows and two calves.
Musk Ox calves
The calves kept their distance from the fence and never ventured near us.
Reindeer
We couldn’t tell the difference between the Caribou and Reindeer and asked the guide which was which. She said she had a hard time determining that initially herself. They are just a different variation of the same species. Basically, the Caribou are a bigger animal with longer legs. The reindeer are shorter. Not so difficult to determine when they are together, but I don’t think I could otherwise.
Caribou
The Reindeer and Caribou came running like the Musk Ox cows when the guide brought out the willow branches. They ate the leaves off the branches and then left. There were some antlers lying on the ground outside the compound which we were allowed to handle. I was amazed at the weight of just one of them. I could barely lift one and wondered how in the world these animals carry such a load on their heads! That would surely be a constant headache for me.
Next we went to the Georgeson Botanical Garden late in the afternoon but the clouds opened up and it started to pour. We didn’t think it would be a very enjoyable tour of the garden in the pouring rain so we called it a day. It has been raining most of the time since. Today it didn’t get out of the 50s.
Again we are glad we brought Sadie as she is really a great traveler. She gives us a sad look when we leave her in the trailer but she just gets in her bed and is happy when we return, no fuss, and no mess.
We will leave for Denali National Park in the morning and hope the weather is nice for one of the full days we are there.
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