August 3, 2018 Gerstle River Bridge Wayside

Mileage:  46,520

It was a chilly 47 degrees this morning.  The rain had stopped and the clouds were lifting.

The ride east to Paxson was every bit as beautiful as it was coming in from the other end on Wednesday.

As we drove past a lake, I caught sight of a “V” making its way through the water.  It was a beaver towing an 8-foot piece of log wider around than he was…it would have made a great picture.  There is no way to suddenly stop in the middle of the road with the RV towing the Jeep.  It is a nice memory!

This is Gulkana Glacier.

This is the Rainbow Ridge.  The colors in the picture are not nearly as vivid as they are to look at in person.  The red and green rock is volcanic rock.  The yellows and other pastel colors are the siltstone and sandstone.  When the light hits the mountain just right it is a sight to behold.

We saw in the distance a moose and calf wading in a pond.

This is our last picture of the pipeline.  At this particular viewpoint, we learned how the pipeline is made to flex with earthquake activity where it crosses a faultline.  The whole system is designed to move as much as 22 feet horizontally and 5 feet vertically if there is a sizable quake.  There are built-in sensors to detect movement that alert engineers so that they know which valves and joints might need special attention after they are stressed.  The pipeline is also designed to be bullet proof and fire resistant.  In some areas, headache bars have been installed to prevent large vehicles from driving into the pipe in an attempt to cause damage.  The pipeline was so successfully designed that all other pipelines, worldwide, and built since, emulate this design.

In Delta Junction we stopped at the Buffalo Center Drive-in…only we walked up.  We had delicious buffalo burgers for lunch.

We stayed in Delta Junction long enough for me to post the last 3 days’ worth of blogs…this is like writing a book report every day!

It was time to look for a campsite.  The Milepost said that there was free camping at the Gerstle River Bridge Wayside.  We are camped right along the river on a sandy beach.  It is raining but it is warm enough to sit under the awning and enjoy a fire.

We stopped at Delta Meat and Sausage Company.  We are having buffalo steak for dinner tonight!