Chickens and beef cattle may dominate Kentucky’s farm fields, but a Boone County couple is trying to add some diversity to the agricultural landscape with their herd of alpacas.
Kentucky Life visited the farm of Greg and Linda Salisbury to learn about alpacas and their highly prized fleece. The program also visited a company that offers rock climbing adventures in the Red River Gorge, and explored how a New Deal project of the 1930s highlighted the work of the state’s artisans.
Eagle Bend Alpacas
With 150 animals, the Salisburys believe they have the state’s largest alpaca herd on their northern Kentucky farm near Burlington. Although generally associated with the Andes Mountains of South America, alpacas actually lived in North America thousands of years ago, explains Greg Salisbury. He says alpaca bone fossils have been found in every state. Either because of predation or climate change, alpacas eventually found a home in the upper elevations of South America.
Learn more about Eagle Bend Alpacas and watch the video.
Climbing the Gorge
The many sandstone cliff faces of Kentucky’s Red River Gorge have long attracted accomplished rock climbers seeking a new challenge. Now day-trippers without climbing expertise can also experience the thrill of scaling some of the gorge’s dramatic formations.
Torrent Falls Climbing Adventures of Campton has brought the nation’s first Via Ferrata to Red River Gorge. Translated as “iron way,” the Via Ferrata is a 3,000-foot course along a horseshoe-shaped canyon in the gorge. For safety, climbers wear a harness that clips into a steel cable that runs along the cliff. As they traverse the course, climbers use iron hand and foot holds anchored into the rock to ascend and descend the canyon.
Find out more about Torrent Falls Climbing Adventures and watch the video.
Kentucky by Design
During the depths of the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs created jobs for millions of Americans. Along with constructing schools, courthouses, parks, dams, and other large-scale public projects, a group of artists documented the works of craftspeople across the country.
An exhibit closing Feb. 12 at the Frasier History Museum in Louisville features Kentucky’s contributions to the Federal Art Project’s Index of American Art.
Continue reading about Kentucky by Design and watch the video.
