Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 7 Camp Construction

After the initial excitement and exhilaration, Zhou Xin quickly calmed down.

Although gold deposits have been found, it's not yet possible to start panning for gold directly.

First of all, the river water has not yet thawed, and the surface is as hard as granite, making it impossible to reach the soil at the bottom.

Secondly, even if the river thaws, the water depth in the center of the pool is estimated to be at least ten meters.

He can dive, but without diving equipment, he can only stay underwater for two or three minutes at most, which is not enough to continuously excavate soil from the bottom of the pool.

Moreover, even with diving equipment, it is clearly impractical to rely solely on manpower to dig and transport soil from the bottom of the pool time and time again.

At least one sand suction machine is needed to extract large quantities of gold-rich soil from the bottom of the pool.

After using a sand suction machine, the huge amount of soil obtained cannot be washed by hand, so a ore washing machine is needed to clean it.

In other words, to fully exploit the gold here, a small mine must be built.

Zhou Xin clearly does not possess such conditions at present.

However, although we can't start mining on a full scale yet, we can still do some small-scale mining.

The pool is very large. The soil in the deep water area cannot be mined, but the soil in the shallow water area and near the shore can be easily excavated.

After walking around the pool, Zhou Xin confirmed his judgment.

Although gold is more abundant in deep water areas, the soil in other areas also has a considerable gold content.

He decided to start with the area closer to the shore.

After making up his mind, he began preparations for the gold rush.

It seems he'll be staying here from now until the warm season is over.

The gold content here is enough for him to stay for an entire gold rush season.

To do a good job, one must first have the right tools. The first thing to do is to build a proper camp.

He didn't want to live in a tent for three or four months.

After searching the surrounding area for a while, he found an excellent spot to set up camp.

This is a flat open space only a dozen meters away from the high water level of the river. Four large spruce trees are arranged in a roughly square shape, enclosing an area of ​​about five square meters.

Zhou Xin quickly sketched out the basic shape of the camp in his mind.

Although it is relatively easy to set up, it is not something that can be completed in a short period of time.

He first pitched the tent in the open space, and then collected firewood and other materials to build the camp.

The sky grew even darker, as if night was about to fall.

The cold wind howled, making the forest whistle and murmur.

Zhou Xin knew that a blizzard could arrive at any moment, and he had to hurry up and collect firewood.

Not knowing how long the blizzard would last, and knowing that nothing could be done during the snowfall, he gathered more firewood.

He didn't return to the tent until the firewood was piled up next to the stove and there was a large pile outside the tent.

Not long after the fire was lit, it started snowing heavily outside.

Snowflakes were falling heavily, and it looked like they would continue to fall for a long time.

"Hopefully the snow will stop tomorrow, I'll get some rest today!"

It was only around 4 p.m., but if it had been a sunny day a few days ago, the sun would still be high in the sky.

But it seems like it's already evening outside, so it looks like this snow will be heavy.

However, Zhou Xin believed that his polar tent could withstand the harsh weather.

With a treasure trove of gold right beside them, the weather seemed irrelevant.

In a good mood, he splurged on two packets of spicy beef noodles and added two pieces of luncheon meat to them.

Outside the tent, the cold wind howled and snow fell heavily.

The tent was quite warm, with firewood burning brightly and water bubbling away in a cup on the stove.

Wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, he placed a large pot of spicy beef instant noodles on a small table, opened the cached version of "My Own Swordsman" on his phone, and leisurely ate and watched it.

After finding the gold mining spot, I felt completely relaxed.

After finishing his meal, he nestled comfortably in his sleeping bag, watched a classic movie, then watched some videos about gold panning, stoked the fire, and drifted off to sleep to the sound of the wind.

The next day, he slept until almost ten o'clock before getting up.

When I opened the tent, all I could see was a vast expanse of white outside.

But the snow had stopped, and the sky had brightened considerably.

The surroundings seemed even quieter, as if he were the only person in the world at that moment.

A line of poetry immediately came to his mind:

Birds have vanished from the mountains, and human tracks have disappeared from the paths.

He then thought that his current appearance really resembled that of an old man fishing alone on a snowy river.

"This line of poetry should be revised like this: A lone gold panner in his boat, panning for gold all over the river."

These days, he often talks to himself, partly to bolster his courage and partly to combat his loneliness.

I kept the fire burning and brewed a cup of tea. Then I took out some flour, added salt and pepper to make a thin paste, and fried it into a pancake.

He carried a small stool, trudged through the thick snow to the riverbank, and enjoyed his breakfast while admiring the beautiful snow-covered scenery that was just for him.

After eating and drinking his fill, he continued the work he hadn't finished the day before—collecting materials to build the camp.

Last night, another ten centimeters of snow fell, and the snow on the ground was knee-deep, which greatly restricted walking speed even with snowshoes.

Fortunately, wood was plentiful in the forest, and he collected enough materials in just over three hours.

He tied the two ends of the collected sticks to adjacent spruce trees among the four spruce trees in the camp, and tied them up row by row until they were level with his head, and a wooden wall was completed.

Following the same method, it only took two hours to complete three walls.

The last wall was a bit more complicated to make because it needed to have a door, but he still managed to finish the fourth wall before 7 p.m.

The tent was conveniently surrounded by a wooden wall, which made me feel even safer.

He gathered some more firewood and finished his work for the day.

Another night passed, and he continued setting up the camp.

Roof construction is more complicated than wall construction.

First, use thinner wooden branches to tie together a sloping roof frame that leans to one side. Then, layer the dry grass collected over the past few days on top and tie it up.

Then, cover the surface with a canopy with chimney holes, and you have a sloping roof that is warm and rainproof.

At this point, the basic framework of the camp was complete.

To ensure there was no draft, he then used dried moss and soil to seal the gaps between the wooden sticks.

This step requires meticulous attention to detail to ensure that every gap is sealed; otherwise, it will be very uncomfortable if cold air gets in.

The work continued until noon the next day before it was completely finished.

He stood in the newly built wooden hut, closed the door, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that not a single ray of light could penetrate the surroundings.

Although it's simple, it's much more spacious than a tent, and you can stand up straight indoors.

He packed up the tent, moved the stove to a suitable location, and arranged the inflatable mattress, small table, small stool, and other items in order.

Before setting off, he even considered bringing an inflatable sofa, but ultimately gave up due to weight concerns.

Now at least we can guarantee that we live relatively comfortably.

"This will be my home for the next three months!"