Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 2 Gold Rush Preparations

Back at his residence, Zhou Xin had no desire to sleep and immediately began to think about his next steps.

He currently works as a decorator, mainly responsible for repairing houses for residents of the town and Fairbanks.

I earn a little over $2000 a month, which is barely enough to live on here.

However, now that he has the "smell of gold," he knows his chance to make a fortune has arrived.

Gold prices are ridiculously high right now. Even if you only manage to buy one or two ounces of gold a month, it's still better than your current job.

He began to draft a gold rush plan.

First, there are the procedures. Mining permits for individual gold mining are easy to obtain; just pay a small fee and you can easily get it done at the local natural resources department.

After obtaining the permits, individuals can freely mine for gold on all federal and state lands, except for Indigenous and private lands.

Then comes the choice of gold mining sites. Although there are many gold mines in the surrounding areas, most of them have already been mined and are not worth going to.

In the past two years, professional gold mining teams have been settling in even more remote wilderness areas, such as the Mount Katz mentioned in the bar earlier.

These gold-mining teams had already leased large tracts of land for mining, and outsiders were not allowed to get involved.

Zhou Xin decided to head north to Livinggood.

Livinggood is a deserted town on the northwestern frontier of Alaska, located at the starting point of the famous Arctic Highway—the Dalton Highway, and is considered a remnant of the early 20th-century gold rush.

It's practically a ghost town now, filled with abandoned mining machines and wooden houses, with only a few stubborn residents still living there.

Although countless people panned for gold there more than a hundred years ago, Zhou Xin firmly believed that with the technology at that time, it was impossible to sweep away all the gold.

Today, the area around Livinggood is more like an undeveloped virgin land.

Zhou Xin was absolutely certain that there was still a large amount of gold waiting for him to discover there.

Once the destination is determined, it's time to depart.

In April and May, various regions of Alaska gradually thaw, and the gold rush season begins around this time.

The further north you go, the later the thaw occurs, and the shorter the gold rush season becomes.

When the cold returned, everything was frozen, and it became impossible to continue panning for gold.

The snow and ice in Livinggood won't completely melt until mid-to-late May, but Zhou Xin doesn't plan to wait until then to set off.

Finding gold deposits will take a considerable amount of time; he must find gold-rich deposits before the snow melts.

Because Livengood only has a little over three months free from freezing, which is also the time he can pan for gold.

A person panning for gold by hand will naturally not be efficient; he can only compensate by working longer hours.

All the time spent melting ice and snow is spent panning for gold, not searching for mineral deposits.

So he decided to spend a day tomorrow shopping for supplies and then head to Livinggood the day after tomorrow.

After making a list of all the supplies he could think of, he finally drifted off to sleep.

The next day, he drove his secondhand pickup truck, which he had bought a few years ago, to Fairbanks to buy supplies.

Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska, but it has a population of only 30,000.

After running around for most of the day, he finally managed to buy all the necessary supplies.

He made ample preparations for living alone in the wilderness for three or four months.

First and foremost is the equipment for outdoor survival in the cold winter, such as polar tents, thick sleeping bags, and folding stoves.

As for knives, fire-starting tools, jars and bowls, these are naturally indispensable.

Temperatures in Livinggood are still below zero, and the snow is only just beginning to melt, making survival in the wilderness there extremely difficult.

Fortunately, Zhou Xin is a seasoned outdoor enthusiast, and Bear Grylls, Ed Stafford, and Roland Garros are among his idols.

During his years in Alaska, he would spend a few weeks each year living alone in the wilderness.

However, this was the first time I had spent half a year living in the wild.

This is quite a challenge for him.

Therefore, he prepared a satellite phone for emergencies and carried a solar charging panel and an outdoor power source that could store two kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Of course, medical supplies such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, wound medicine, and bandages must also be prepared.

In terms of food, he only brought two weeks' worth of rations, as well as seasonings such as oil, salt, chili sauce, and pepper.

To survive there long-term, food can only be found in the wilderness.

Fortunately, Alaska has abundant animal resources, and with just a portable fishing cage and a CZ G2 double-barreled shotgun, he was confident that he could harvest a steady stream of food.

As for hunting licenses, fishing licenses, and gun licenses, he obtained them in his second year in the United States.

With his gold-mining tools and other essential supplies, his outdoor backpack was packed full, weighing about 40 kilograms.

Years of training and the nature of his work have given him a physical endurance that surpasses that of the average person, making it not too difficult for him to carry such a heavy load through the wilderness.

This purchase has cost him most of his savings, and if he fails to find gold this time, he fears he will go bankrupt.

However, he is not worried about these things at the moment.

His biggest concern right now is the brown bears and wolves in the mountains.

Brown bears are a common sight in Alaska. Although they are currently hibernating, they will soon awaken as the climate warms.

The brown bear, which had been sleeping all winter, was starving.

Zhou Xin, a creature with smooth skin and no hair, is naturally a food with an excellent taste.

However, as long as you don't provoke brown bears, they aren't that fierce. If you spot them in time and keep your distance, you can avoid being attacked.

Compared to brown bears, wolf packs are more dangerous. They are more ferocious and have a stronger desire to attack. Moreover, they live in groups, so encountering one is almost certain death.

Fortunately, wolves are more afraid of fire than brown bears. As long as a fixed gold mining spot is found in time and a fire is lit and kept burning, wolf attacks can be avoided.

Of course, Zhou Xin also knew that all of this was based on theoretical judgment. The reality was often complex and ever-changing. This time, venturing into the wilderness alone was still full of danger and uncertainty.

However, fortune favors the bold, and to obtain precious gold, one must take certain risks.

After everything was ready, it was already dark, and he went to the Brown Bear Bar again.

We're about to endure a few tough months, so let's have a couple more drinks before we leave.

Since the town has a small population, almost everyone knows each other, and Zhou Xin was already familiar with the people here.

He told Whitebeard Creek, Bemon, and others about his plans to go gold panning.

This matter cannot be hidden, after all, he will be disappearing for several months, and once he finds the gold, he will have to find a way to exchange it for money, and sooner or later everyone will find out.

However, his words still caused a stir.

"Xin, you must be joking, right? As far as I know, you have no gold panning experience!"

Creek's words were clear: without gold panning experience, going to pan for gold would be a waste of time.

Bemon chimed in, "Gold panning isn't as simple as you think. Without exploration, even the most experienced gold prospectors might not find a place with gold."

Zhou Xin shrugged and said, "Maybe I'll be lucky and find soil rich in gold."

Of course I can, because I can smell them.

Creek and Bemon naturally didn't believe that a novice like Zhou Xin could find gold, and they both advised him to give up his plan.

They had known Zhou Xin for a long time and were seasoned drinking buddies. Their advice at this moment was entirely out of good intentions, as they didn't want him to waste his time and energy.

But Zhou Xin clearly wouldn't listen to their advice. He smiled slightly and said, "Thank you, but I'll pay for your meals tonight!"

He then turned to Dawn, who was already drunk but still chugging drinks in the corner, and said:

"And you, Mr. 'Drunken Wolf,' drink to your heart's content. I hope I can share some of your good luck and not encounter any real wolves on the road."

Dawn didn't say anything, but simply shook the bottle in his hand to show his gratitude.