Musk Oxen and Snow Machines

Play time is at a premium here but Pastor Landry arranged for the group to use his two snow machines to ride up the side of the mountain and see the herd of musk ox. The original trip was to have been two machines and a chase van. The original trip netted in a sighting that was too treacherous for the equipment. Tuesday morning one of the guys and I went out on the machines to scout their location before sending the chase van.

We found the musk ox – the woolly mammoth version of the bison – grazing on the lower side of a mountain. We parked the snow machine on the opposite side of that mountain and walked up to the top – watching for the stray ox that might have been grazing a little higher up. We came perhaps 50 yards from them before they acknowledged our presence. We had a beautiful view of the entire village from on top of that hill while the wind howled stronger than it did in town (perhaps 60 mph +).

The last time I was on a snow machine (although we called it a snowmobile) was very likely with my dad back in that year Michigan had piles beyond piles of snow (1976-77)? I do believe I enjoyed the ride, and reminiscing about my childhood rides, far more than I enjoyed seeing the musk ox.