Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 83 Finding the Stream

The two continued their journey through the jungle, their nerves on edge even more than before.

Fortunately, the jaguar must have gone far away, as the two did not find any trace of it along the way.

Around noon, a light rain began to fall.

Although the rainfall was not much, it was enough to make the ground more slippery.

The two of them fell several times as they walked.

As for their clothes getting wet, they didn't care at all, because their clothes were never dry.

The rain stopped in less than an hour. After the rain, in addition to the ground being more difficult to walk on, there was another problem: leeches became more active.

Many leaves were covered with leeches with upright bodies and wide-open mouths; if you touched one, it would immediately attach itself to you.

Despite their best efforts, several weevils still managed to crawl onto them without their knowledge.

This is where the advantages of traveling in pairs become apparent.

You usually don't feel anything after being bitten by a leech, so if you are bitten on your back or other places that you can't see, it will be hard to notice.

With a partner, the two can check each other and help remove the leeches that have attached themselves to them.

Although the journey was arduous, there were also unexpected gains.

While passing through a patch of low bushes, Zhou Xin discovered a lot of porcini mushrooms.

Porcini mushrooms have a thick, fleshy texture and a unique flavor, making them a fantastic jungle delicacy.

The two of them swept up the entire clump of porcini mushrooms, harvesting three or four pounds.

In addition, they also collected some tender Eclipta prostrata.

The leaves of this plant have a crisp and tender texture, making it a very delicious wild vegetable.

The two of them continued to gather food as they walked, and although there were thorns and obstacles along the way, they also experienced the joy and satisfaction of their harvest.

As it approached 2 p.m., the two suddenly heard the sound of running water.

They glanced at each other, both seeing excitement in each other's eyes.

The presence of flowing water means that one can take a bath, replenish water supplies, and may also indicate the possibility of discovering traces of gold.

Encouraged, the two walked excitedly toward the sound of flowing water.

Soon, they arrived at the water's edge.

This is a stream with a strong current, and the banks are covered with various kinds of vegetation.

The two ran to the stream, squatted down, scooped up the cool water and splashed it on their faces, then rubbed the sweat and dirt off their faces.

Refreshing!

After washing their faces, the two filled their own water bottles and drank them in large gulps.

Although rainforest water may contain various parasites, flowing water poses a much lower risk.

They were also extremely thirsty, and since they hadn't found many water vines that day, neither of them had drunk much water.

Otherwise, it would be safer for the gentleman to boil the water over a fire.

After drinking the water, the two immediately felt much better.

"Next, we can walk downstream along the stream," Zhou Xin said, checking their current location on his phone map.

After two days of travel, they had already traveled more than ten kilometers away from Edward's camp.

Without cell phone location tracking, they would almost certainly get lost.

"Will we find gold if we follow this stream?" Alo asked.

Zhou Xin smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true, but at least there's hope."

Alo nodded.

"We went down the stream and then found a place to camp by the stream to get a good rest tonight."

The two hadn't gotten much rest last night due to the appearance of the jaguar, and today was another difficult day of travel, leaving them both exhausted.

Even though it was incredibly tough, Alo never complained and never asked to rest.

Even if he falls to the ground and his arms and legs are badly scraped, he gets up and keeps walking, never slowing down his journey.

This boy was resilient. Although his physical strength was not as good as Zhou Xin's, he was afraid that he would affect Zhou Xin's gold-hunting plan. Even though he was exhausted, he kept up without saying a word.

Zhou Xin had witnessed all of these situations.

Therefore, he decided to stop early today, set up camp, and rest before continuing his journey.

The two walked downstream for nearly an hour, and the stream had grown considerably larger.

At that moment, the two heard a loud rumbling sound.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the stream in front of us had a drop of seven or eight meters.

The stream cascades down from the top of the cliff and rushes into a large pool at the bottom.

This drop in elevation stopped them in their tracks.

"We need to find a way down from the side," Alo said.

Zhou Xin looked at the surroundings on both sides of the stream and frowned slightly.

Both sides are extremely steep rock walls, and to find a way down, you might have to go a long way around.

After a moment's thought, he turned his gaze to the pool in front of him.

The water rushed into the pool, making a loud booming sound.

It's clear that the water is quite deep near the point where the water is impacted.

perhaps……

Zhou Xin thought for a while, then turned and walked into the woods by the stream.

"Come and help."

Zhou Xin only said one sentence, and A Luo immediately ran over.

Zhou Xin selected a tree that was about the thickness of an arm and relatively straight, and he and A Luo quickly felled it down.

Next, trim the branches, cut off the top, and you get a stick about five meters long.

Because it was damp wood, it was quite heavy, so the two of them carried it together to the edge of the cliff.

With Alo's help, the stick was erected and then dropped straight down to the bottom of the pool.

The wooden stick was inserted straight into the water and almost completely submerged, then bounced up due to buoyancy and eventually floated.

"Very good, it's at least five meters deep in the middle, so it's safe to jump down," Zhou Xin judged based on the buoyancy of the wooden stick.

Then he turned to Alo and asked, "You should be able to swim, right?"

Zhou Xin thought that since he dared to live in a bridge arch that was half submerged in water, he must know how to swim.

Sure enough, Alo nodded.

"Aren't you afraid to jump off from here?" Zhou Xin asked, pointing to the cliff in front of them.

Alo glanced at the rumbling pool of water, a fleeting look of fear in his eyes, which quickly turned into determination.

He shook his head.

As long as Zhou Xin tells him to jump, even if he's terrified, he'll jump without hesitation.

Zhou Xin was very satisfied with his performance.

"Okay, I'll go down first, then you can jump!"

After Zhou Xin finished speaking, he first took off his clothes and stuffed them into his bag, then threw the bag directly from the top of the pool into the shallow water.

Then, he stood at the top of the cliff, took a deep breath, and jumped off.

thump!

He landed precisely in the center of the pool.

After sinking a short distance, he began to rise, and soon he was floating on the surface of the water.

His body did not touch the bottom of the pool, which means the strategy worked.

He swam to the shore, picked up the bag, and then Alo, who was on the cliff top, nodded.

Following Zhou Xin's example, A Luo quickly jumped down as well.

It was clear that he was a little nervous when he jumped, but he did not hesitate.

The two sat on the rocks by the shore for a short rest.

"We'll camp here tonight. I just saw lots of fish in the pond. Tonight, we'll have a porcini mushroom and river fish hot pot!"