Although it was cool to get to see the ocean, it took all day with the waiting, expedited security clearances and the orientation, so it was around 3pm by the time i was able to get out of town. The temperature and fog rose quickly just a short distance from the coast until everything was generally perfect. In the area were occasional, short side roads which sometimes led to well heads but at other times followed some other purpose. I pulled off onto one of these roads at an area called the Franklin Bluffs, to see what was going on. The road went only a short distance before stopping at the Sagavanirktok River, which the Atigun River flows into and which generally parallels the road at this point.
There was a large RV parked and a guy with a loaded bow was walking towards it, away from the river. It's always startling to come across someone with a loaded weapon out in the middle of nowhere. He gave me a kind of a surprised look and nodded. Another 50 yards and i could see what he had been aiming at. A herd of over a dozen Musk Ox. (I had already heard that it wasn't hunting season for another week or two, so it was an interesting situation).
I've seen every major mammal in North America except for Polar Bears, Musk Ox, and Sasquatch. I haven't technically seen a mountain lion, but i'm 95% sure that i was standing 8 feet away from one once in California, based on the edgy conversation we had. I'd always though my chances of seeing Musk Ox were about equal with Sasquatch. There are only about 3,000 Musk Ox scattered across all of Alaska, so, i was super excited, and ran back to my truck to get my camera.
The Musk Ox were all just laying around basking in the warm sun and the sweet breeze that was insect free. It was an ideal place to hang out under ideal temperature conditions. Even though i've got a pretty big lens the thing is still not useful for wildlife photography unless i get very close, so i decided to get very close. There wasn't anything scary about them anyway, but then, i was entirely uneducated on the subject. Between me and them was a small rivulet about 4 feet across that pinched off a few dozen feet to my right. Not wanting to startle them by jumping over it, i walked around the water, then followed it back to where i had been originally, which was better angle to get a picture. As soon as i crossed over that negligible but natural barrier one of the Musk Ox bolted and the entire herd followed suit. That caught me off guard so i had to try to get some shots immediately before they ran off to god knows where.
They didn't run far, but instead assumed this great wall of china formation, and faced me in a dramatic cloud of dust blowing in the wind, which made it particularly convenient for getting a cool shot. I walked a little closer until i could sense that they might try and kill me if i took another step. I didn't understand why at the time, but later i read that Musk Ox are so insulated from the cold (they actually are unchanged since the ice age, and shared the plains with Mammoths) that they cannot run for more than short distances or they will overheat. So when they are provoked they have to take a stand, and that is litterally what they do. The largest beasts form a wall of horns and the babies and weaker members hide behind them. I didn't have to read about it, the message was pretty clear, so i got some pics and then walked back over to the river bank where i sat and watched them settle back down after a cautionary period.
I could see to the south that there were thunderstorms building over the mountains, so i was in no hurry to jump back in the car. Hopefully they would rain themselves out and evaporate for the evening. I stayed and watched the Ox for about 1/2 an hour, long enough to notice different personalities among the herd. Some of them were kinda silly and would lay on their backs kicking their feet up in the air. Others just couldn't be satisfied if they weren't walking around bothering other animals that were trying to relax.
Eventually i dragged myself away and headed south. It was still stormy down there, and although it offered for some dramatic pictures, i'd have preferred for it to have cleared up. It ended up raining all night and the next morning there were only patches of shifting sunlight. Unable to see any signs of improvement in the weather as i drove south, and having discovered a major leak in the top of my camper shell, i ended up abandoning my plans to explore some of those wild valleys. I guess it was the right decision, because it rained heavily for the next 4 days. So i left with things unfinished.
In retrospect, the trip from Fairbanks to Colfoot was about as i expected. The mountains were as impressive as i had hoped, and the wide open plains were surprisingly enjoyable. With things left undone i may go up there again, to the mountains, with more focused ideas of what to do.
For those who are interested., many of these pictures have been selected by Google for display on Google Earth. In the "Fly to:" sidebar of Earth you can type in "66.35, -150.46" and that will take you directly under the first of the images, which is called Granite Tors. From there, at an altitude of about 10 miles, it should be easy to spot other pictures as you follow the road north. Oh yeah, in order to see them at all you have to have the Panoramio layer turned on under the Geographic Web heading in the layers pallette. Alternatively, you can see these on my Panoramio page (linked from this site) and from there is an option to view the photos in Google Earth by downloading a kmz file.
