Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 16 Spring Blossoms

After leaving the cave, Zhou Xin did not continue walking along the river.

Because he knew that the gold mining team from a hundred years ago was digging out the very gold mine belt he was looking for.

They should have already mined most of the gold here, and the rest, after a long period of geological changes, has long been washed away by the river to the bottom of the waterfall.

Although no richer gold deposits were found, the unexpected acquisition of 6 ounces of gold was still a pleasant surprise.

He collected a lot of fireweed roots along the way, and also picked some usable plant shoots, so he can now replenish his missing carbohydrates and vitamins.

He returned to the camp around 8 p.m.

As soon as the cabin door was opened, Logan the wolf cub immediately howled and rushed over, circling around his feet, looking very nervous.

"Why are you so nervous? It's not like I'm not coming back!"

Zhou Xin put down his things, bent down, and patted its head.

Logan wagged his tail and let out two cheerful howls.

"If you don't speak up, people will definitely think you're a dog."

He turned around and closed the door, keeping the cold wind out.

Although the weather is getting warmer, the temperature is only a few degrees Celsius, and it is still quite cold.

After living here for so long, this little wooden house has become very cozy and is increasingly resembling a small home.

There were not only neatly stacked firewood, a warm stove, and a soft mattress, but also plenty of food.

Due to the melting of ice and snow, the fish caught can no longer be stored using refrigeration.

He decided to make a fish-smoking rack to smoke and dry all the fish for storage.

Now that the ice has melted, setting fish traps has become much easier. He only needs to catch fish every three to five days, which is more than enough for him and Logan to eat.

But fish isn't the main dish for dinner tonight.

He carefully sorted through today's harvest: about four pounds of fireweed roots, some shoots, and wild onions.

Although it wasn't much, the extra 6 ounces of gold were enough to make up for everything.

I must have a good meal tonight.

But after climbing the mountain all day, he was still quite tired, so he lay down on the bed and slept for a while.

I slept very soundly and woke up at 10 pm.

Collect the roots of the fireweed into a simple basket woven from branches some time ago, take out about a pound, peel and wash them.

Then, he pulled out the last can of luncheon meat that he had been saving for so long.

Tonight's dinner is a hot pot of stewed potatoes and meat.

It must be said that fireweed roots and potatoes do look very similar, but they are much smaller, generally only the size of an egg yolk.

After peeling, it is snow-white and at first glance looks more like a yam bean.

Cut the fireweed root in half and into chunks, and slice the luncheon meat.

Wash some tender shoots and wild onions, then separate the white roots and green shoots of the wild onions and chop them into small pieces.

Heat oil in a wok, add the white parts of scallions and sauté until fragrant, then add the nearly empty chili sauce and minced ginger and garlic and continue to sauté until fragrant.

Next, add the sliced ​​luncheon meat and stir-fry.

The sizzling sound of frying oil filled the air, and the wooden house was filled with an enticing aroma.

Logan didn't seem to like the somewhat pungent smell and curled up in his nest.

After stir-frying the luncheon meat until slightly browned, add water and bring to a boil, then add the fireweed root chunks.

After stewing for about twenty minutes, he picked out a piece of fireweed root that had turned yellow and tasted it. It was soft, tender, and flavorful, almost like a replica of potatoes.

I felt incredibly satisfied to be able to taste carbohydrates again.

It was already past 11 p.m. (or rather, 12 p.m.), but since the sun doesn't set until midnight, it felt more like the time when the sun was setting.

He lit a fire he had built with stones by the river, placed the pot on the fire, moved a small folding stool over, sat by the river, and enjoyed the beautiful wilderness scenery under the Alaskan midnight sun while eating hot pot.

The sun had been hovering in the sky for almost the entire time, and it was finally about to set below the horizon, but night would not fall. The sun would rise again in two or three hours.

The setting sun cast countless rays of light on the clouds on the horizon, reflecting them into the shimmering water of the river.

The distant mountain peaks were still covered in ice and snow, and the setting sun dyed them golden, making them look like golden mountains.

At the top of the waterfall, the water cascades down like a white dragon rushing into the water.

A rainbow appeared beside the waterfall, as if in a dream.

Enjoying hot pot amidst such beautiful scenery is an indescribable delight.

The luncheon meat was bubbling and bubbling in the pot, and the wild fireweed roots gave it a second life, making it incredibly tender.

Fire grass root is soft, chewy, flavorful, and sweet.

Adding a handful of fresh, green chopped wild onions elevates the aroma even further.

He then scalded the cleaned, tender wild vegetables into the hot pot, let them simmer for a few seconds, and then picked them into his mouth.

Sweet, tender, and refreshing; very delicious.

And so, enjoying the beautiful scenery while eating a simple yet delicious hot pot was quite comfortable.

……

Time flows slowly like the river in front of us, and another month has passed in the blink of an eye.

In July, Alaska was finally no longer as bitterly cold as before.

The mountain is covered with lush green grass, blooming flowers, and swarms of bees and butterflies.

No need to wear thick winter clothes, the body becomes incredibly light.

When panning for gold, my hands no longer felt cold, and the work became much easier.

The gold panning became more efficient, but since all the mud and sand along the lake had been mined out, he had to go down into deeper water to dig for more mud and sand.

Fortunately, the gold content here is so high that he can harvest nearly an ounce of gold every day.

Sometimes, if you're lucky enough to find a slightly larger piece of gold, the value can double.

Adding the 6 ounces of gold found in the cave, the harvest has now reached 83 ounces.

Even roughly disregarding purity factors, its value is at least $16!

This result far exceeded his expectations before he set off.

Moreover, with nearly two months of good weather ahead, he was confident that he could harvest 30 ounces of gold each month during the warm months of July and August.

If it weren't for the increased difficulty and time-consuming process of dredging mud and sand, he was confident he could harvest 40 ounces a month.

Moreover, the abundance of gold reserves in the lake far exceeded his expectations; it was simply impossible to mine it all this time.

He is already considering using the money he earned from this gold rush to build a reliable gold mining team and purchase gold mining equipment, so that he can use the equipment to mine the gold here when the gold rush season comes next year.

However, that would involve considering a series of things such as land leasing and handling procedures, which would be more troublesome.

However, if one truly wants to make a fortune through gold mining and achieve upward social mobility, this step is essential.

While panning for gold by hand offers freedom and flexibility, human resources are limited. Even working 24 hours a day, the harvest from panning for gold by one person is always finite.

We must transform from small-scale, haphazard operations to large-scale, formalized gold mining.

The gold-mining team must be reliable enough that it doesn't matter if it takes a little longer to search.

After all, large-scale gold mining requires talent in various fields such as equipment operation, machinery maintenance, and mine planning; it's not something that can be done by just assembling a makeshift team.

You must find someone with excellent professional skills, a strong interest in gold mining, and most importantly, someone who is willing to obey your leadership.

Thinking about this, Zhou Xin suddenly realized that the difficulty of forming a gold mining team was no less than that of gold mining itself.