American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 106 Snowmelt Season in Alaska
Time flies, and it's already mid-April. The grass in Montana is starting to turn green.

But Ethan and Olivia were too young to withstand the long journey and Alaskan climate.

After discussing it with his family, Lin Yu-an decided to go to Alaska alone to lay a solid foundation for his family.

Arya and the children, on the other hand, waited until summer, when everything was settled, before going there.

After saying goodbye to his wife, children, and family, Lin Yu'an once again boarded a flight to Fairbanks.

This time, his feelings were completely different from when he scouted the location last time. It was no longer about exploration and selection, but about conquest and challenge!
The production team of "Life Below Zero" is on high alert.

When Lin Yu-an walked out of the airport, he was greeted not only by his old friend Jack, but also by David, the director who was filming him, who gave him a big hug.

"Herman, welcome back! From this moment on, your Alaskan legend officially begins filming!"

Lin Yu'an, from the Northern Lights Hotel in Fairbanks, participated in an online meeting.

A huge map covered the entire table, and smoke filled the air.

Director David, local coordinator Jack, and guide Stan, who was participating in the video conference, all had solemn expressions on their faces.

Stan began by saying, “In mid-to-late April, during the snowmelt season, the northern section of the Dalton Highway will turn into a sea of ​​mud, and the road leading to your land will be a disaster. There will be mud and puddles everywhere, and heavy equipment simply cannot get in.”

Director David pushed up his glasses and added, "No effective civil engineering work can be carried out this season. Does that mean the plan has to be postponed until June?"

Silence fell over the meeting room.

The postponement means a hiatus of more than a month, which is unacceptable for a high-cost reality show project.

Lin Yu'an remained silent. He had long considered the issue of the snowmelt period, which was why he had made a large-scale purchase during his recent trip back to China.

He even brought back some equipment in advance to combat the mud during the snowmelt season.

He pointed to the simple road on the map that led from Dalton Highway to Plot A, and asked in a deep voice, "How long is this road expected to last?"

This question surprised all three people present.

Stan replied, "At the current temperature and the rate of snowmelt, it can only last for two more weeks at most. After two weeks, it will become a completely impassable mud pit. No wheeled vehicle will be able to pass through."

"Two weeks."

Lin Yu'an repeated the word, tapping lightly on the map with his fingertips.

He raised his head, looked around at everyone, and then said something that plunged the entire conference room into dead silence.

"Great, let's give it a try."

He looked at David and said in a calm tone, "Now, I need you and Mike to both take a break and get some rest."

"what?"

David almost thought he had misheard.

"Lin, what do you mean? Are we going to postpone the filming schedule?"

Lin Yu'an shook his head: "No, it's not a postponement, it's my personal action, let's begin now."

"I need to find a way to transport the supplies I need over these two weeks by myself. Your current filming is meaningless."

"This is impossible!"

David stood up excitedly: "Lin, one person, two weeks, and facing the impending road closures—this is simply beyond human capability!"

Lin Yu'an did not argue with him, but said firmly.

"I will contact you in two weeks. Believe me, when I contact you again, you will see a perfect start that is worth filming."

"At that time, you will only need to take a helicopter to come in."

Lin Yu'an's confident and powerful aura silenced all of David's doubts.

Ultimately, at Lin Yu-an's insistence, David, filled with doubts, temporarily left Fairbanks.

Lin Yu'an hitched a ride with him to Fairbanks.

His moving plan has officially begun!
His first target was an internet trading platform in an industrial area on the outskirts of Fairbanks.

This platform gathers all the information on various heavy equipment companies and logistics warehouses that serve the surrounding mining areas and oil fields.

They bought a 40-foot standard shipping container with an old appearance through a cash transaction of $1,500.

This is a raw, unmarked shipping container that I bought from a construction company that was preparing to replace its equipment.

The container is slightly smaller than his space, but it fits perfectly.

Then he went straight to the heavy equipment and used car market.

Instead of choosing those glamorous chain car rental companies, he went to a local company that specializes in providing long-term vehicle rental services for oil fields and construction sites.

None of the cars here are clean, but each one exudes an aura of "durability and reliability".

He told the boss directly, "I need a pickup truck with two rear wheels that can tow heavy loads, and it's been modified for off-road use. The rental period... is tentatively set at 15 days, but I might extend it."

The boss was a burly man with a full beard. He looked Lin Yu'an up and down, then pointed to a steel beast in the corner of the yard.

It was a Ford F-450, its body covered in dried mud, but it was clearly in excellent condition.

Its front bumper was replaced with a heavy steel crash beam, which was also fitted with a WARN 16500-pound heavy-duty winch.

The suspension has been noticeably raised, and six huge all-terrain tires have been installed—this is a vehicle truly born to conquer Alaska! The owner patted the tires: "This guy just came back from an exploration team on the North Slope, and we gave it a full service."

"The rent isn't cheap, it's $1,700 for half a month, plus a hefty insurance premium and deposit."

"no problem."

Lin Yu'an didn't even haggle over the price. After checking the chassis, engine compartment, and winch's working condition and confirming that the vehicle was in good condition, he said directly.

“This is it. I also need a heavy-duty flatbed trailer that can carry more than three tons of cargo. I’ll rent the trailer for two days.”

Half an hour later, Lin Yu'an signed a one-month lease agreement and paid a deposit and rent of nearly ten thousand US dollars.

He got the car keys, jumped into the driver's seat of this steel beast, and felt the steady, powerful vibrations of the diesel engine.

He drove his F-450, towing a flatbed trailer, and personally picked up the huge empty container, then pulled it to a temporarily rented parking area in southern Fairbanks.

I stopped at a gas station outside the city to fill up the F-450's fuel tank and also filled several spare diesel and gasoline drums.

All around was quiet; there were no cameras or extraneous eyes watching.

A thought.

"boom--"

Lin Yu'an placed the heavy "Warm Winter S-200" cast iron heating stove, encased in a wooden frame, at the very back of the container.

Then, the red tricycle appeared out of nowhere in the container!
Lin Yu'an stepped forward and used industrial-grade nylon strapping and ratchet fasteners to firmly secure the "warhorse" to the pre-reserved anchor points on the container floor.

It is secured to the container wall with several thick chains to ensure that it will not shift at all during the severe bumps of land transportation.

Then, he cleverly nested the two large iron pots, each 80 centimeters in diameter and seemingly large enough to stew a bear, into the gap next to the heating stove.

Commercial vacuum packaging machines, small electric heaters, boxes of seeds of various models, bundles of farm tools gleaming coldly...

All the "miracle products" he purchased in China were categorized and precisely stacked into every corner of the container.

Finally, the XCMG XC760K loader and all its accessories were placed on the outermost edge of the container space and secured firmly with professional fastening chains.

Hours later, the once empty container was filled to the brim with all sorts of "miracle devices" from China.

Lin Yu-an personally used high-strength bolts and lead seals purchased from China to firmly lock the container doors.

After doing all this, he returned the flatbed trailer to the rental company.

He contacted Polaris Logistics, a local heavy transport company known for its ability to handle any troublesome route.

Because the goods are picked up locally, the whole process becomes simpler and more straightforward.

He told the logistics dispatcher on the phone, "I have a 40-foot container in the old warehouse district in the south of the city."

"Inside are my personal equipment and supplies. I need you to send a vehicle to transport it to an open area near the Dalton Highway, near Milestone 115."

The dispatcher paused for a moment after hearing the address.

"Sir, the road conditions on the Dalton Highway in April are...very bad, especially after the Yukon River. Our tolls will be high, and we cannot guarantee an exact arrival time."

“That place is practically deserted. Our drivers have to leave immediately after unloading the goods, and you will have to pay a huge deposit.”

"Money is not a problem. I just want you to deliver it safely as soon as possible. Once it arrives, just unload it on the ground."

After the logistics company inspected and filed the customs clearance documents, Lin Yu'an paid a transportation fee of up to $15,000, which included a "bad road conditions risk fee".

This special transport mission has been officially put on the agenda.

Having completed the crucial logistics setup, Lin Yu'an still has important things to do.

He carefully reviewed the situation in his mind. The goods in this container had been cleared through customs by professionals, and the taxes and fees had been paid in full.

Now, Lin Yu'an is not afraid of inspections from relevant departments at all. All the procedures are legal and compliant. All he needs is to speed up the transportation process.

The biggest potential problem was the shipping time, but unexpectedly, another container has already arrived at the deep-water port of Haines, Alaska, and is currently undergoing customs clearance, which is expected to take one to two weeks.

Lin Yu'an never expected to arrive in Alaska in just 17 days! If he had known it would be this fast, why would he have used his cheat code to save time?

All that scrambling and effort to prepare all those documents, trying to squeeze in a month's work, only to end up with nothing to show for it! All I can say is, the speed of China's express delivery is amazing!

Now, even the last high-risk loophole of inconsistent delivery times has been exposed.

All that remains is the step of presenting legitimate documents to close the last loophole.

Before the courier arrived to pick up the goods, Lin Yu'an carefully reviewed everything again to make sure everything was correct. Then he turned on his action camera and began to record the footage of this "first step in building a home".

He used selfies to introduce all of this, especially emphasizing his expectations for Chinese-made equipment!
They took photos of the container's exterior, a close-up of the seal, and showed a fax containing customs clearance documents prepared by a dark web company, explaining that it was a package from China.

Then, the contract signed with the logistics company was shown, indicating that the courier company would soon transport the container to the vicinity of the new home camp.

Although the process is somewhat convoluted and troublesome, all of this will become material that will legitimize everything when the show airs in the future.

The filming was completed quickly, and everything was ready!
All he needs to do now is drive the F-450 north, away from downtown Fairbanks.

He drove along the muddy Dalton Highway toward the unloading point that awaited him!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(7K words updated this morning, 3K words tonight)

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(End of this chapter)