American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 117 The log cabin is basically complete! (5k-word long chapter, no filler)
Early the next morning, a foundation engineering team officially assembled in the forest.

Old George arrived as promised, driving his well-maintained old Ford with his beloved concrete mixer in the back.

Lin Yu'an had already replaced the XCMG loader with a auger drilling machine attachment rented from Fairbanks.

David and Mike were on high alert; they knew a real, hardcore show was about to unfold!

"Alright, boys!"

Old George gave a loud shout, like an experienced foreman.

"Our first goal today is to drill all the pile holes! Lin, you're in charge of operating the loader to drill the holes, and I'll be in charge of directing and calibrating the verticality!"

"What about Stan?" David asked curiously.

Stan smiled and said, "My task is to call for help. The two of us old guys can't do much work on our own."

The battle for permafrost has now officially begun!
Lin Yu'an drove the XCMG XC760K and aimed the huge auger bit at the first marked point on the foundation outline.

"This is it, kid, straight down!"

Old George held a long-handled level close to the drill rod, his eyes narrowed to ensure the borehole angle was absolutely vertical.

Lin Yuan steadily operated the hydraulic handle, and the auger began to rotate, emitting a deep rumble.

The first 1.5 meters were a layer of active frozen soil that had already thawed. The auger drilled in easily, and a large amount of black mud was thrown out.

But when the drill bit went in to about two meters, it was accompanied by a piercing scream!

The auger's rotation speed suddenly slowed down, and the entire loader body began to tremble! The engine emitted a dull overload sound.

Old George shouted, "We've hit permafrost! Hold on, Lin! Reduce the RPM and increase the torque! Press down with pressure!"

Lin Yu was completely focused on operating the two hydraulic handles, feeling every bit of resistance coming from the drill bit.

He kept pecking at the ground like a woodpecker, lifting and drilling, nibbling away at the hard frozen soil bit by bit.

After nearly an hour of hard work, amidst the roar of the machines, the first pile hole, five meters deep, was finally successfully drilled!
Lin Yu'an had just pulled the drill bit out and hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath when Stan arrived with "reinforcements."

“Hey, Lin! I’ve brought you some help!” Stan shouted.

The three "reinforcements" jumped out of the car, all with hearty smiles, and took the initiative to shake hands with Lin Yu'an.

Stan introduced them to him one by one.

He pointed to the tallest man and said, "This is Hank. He's the only pilot in town and is in charge of all our air transport and emergency rescue."

"This is Patton, an Athabasca Indian, and the best hunter and guide in town."

"The last one is Cody. He works as a mechanic in the oil fields on the north slope and is also responsible for maintaining all the generators and water pumps in the town."

The pilot, the Native American hunter, and the mechanic—these three are practically the epitome of the "social elite" in a remote Alaskan town.

"Hello, I am Lin Yu'an. You can call me Lin or Herman, either is fine." Lin Yu'an shook hands with each of them.

Pilot Hank smiled and said, "Don't mention it, Lin. Stan told us you're going to build a big house here."

“We were all very curious, so we came here today to lend a hand and see if you are as capable as the rumors say.”

Old George laughed and scolded, "Alright, enough talk! You've come at the perfect time, let's get to work! Complete the drilling of all twenty-one pile holes and the fabrication and installation of the reinforcing cages by today!"

This insane plan made everyone gasp, but then, a fierce fighting spirit ignited in everyone's eyes.

The addition of new members instantly doubled the efficiency of the entire construction site.

Lin Yu-an is still responsible for operating the loader to carry out the most critical drilling operation.

Old George, on the other hand, was like a strict quality inspector. After each hole was drilled, he would use a long measuring rod to probe into the bottom of the hole to ensure that the depth and verticality met the standards.

Stan and the hunter Barton took over all the physical labor.

They took turns using shovels to clear away the mountains of mud and ice piled up around each borehole, clearing the area for the next drilling operation.

Meanwhile, mechanic Cody put his expertise to good use, studying Lin Yu'an's XCMG loader with great interest.

One after another, deep pile holes appeared on the land of the woodland.

While drilling operations were in full swing on one side of the construction site, the steel cage fabrication production line had also started operating simultaneously on the other side!
Old George, being an experienced foreman, kept everyone busy.

He took out his professional rebar bending machine and tying hooks and quickly provided technical guidance to the three strong laborers.

Old George directed, "Patton! You're strong, so you'll be in charge of cutting! Use that abrasive wheel cutter to cut all these rebars into 6.5-meter lengths!"

"Hank, Cody! You two."

He picked up the hook and wire and gave a demonstration: "Watch closely, just twist your wrist like this and the wire will be secured."

"Your task is to tie these stirrups to the main reinforcement bars, one loop at a time, according to the markings I've drawn. Remember, don't be afraid to go slow, just make sure they're secure!"

Stan took the initiative to do the most delicate work.

He used a rebar bending machine to bend the ends of each main rebar into standard 90-degree hooks to ensure they could be better anchored in the future concrete platform.

This makeshift steel bar processing plant is incredibly efficient!

When Lin Yu'an finished drilling the third pile hole, the first perfect steel cage had been completed by Patton and Hank working together.

However, they soon encountered an even more troublesome enemy than the hard permafrost—mosquitoes.

In mid-June, as the ground thawed, countless puddles became breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Thousands upon thousands of mosquitoes, like a black swarm of fighter jets, swooped in from all directions, launching a frenzied attack on this group of "fresh flesh and blood" radiating heat and sweat.

"Oh, damn vampires!"

Hank was tying the steel bars tightly while patting his neck repeatedly.

Lin Yu'an was prepared. He took out a full set of protective gear from the supply box, including high-concentration DEET mosquito repellent, a mosquito net to cover his entire head, and several coils of mosquito coils that he brought from China, which were said to have miraculous effects.

"Everyone, put these on!" He distributed the headnets to everyone.

Everyone immediately put on head nets. Although they obstructed their vision somewhat, the thin nets effectively blocked out the most aggressive harassment.

They kept spraying mosquito repellent on themselves, and the entire construction site was filled with a pungent smell.

The battle continues! They implemented a shift system to cope with this extreme marathon that lasted more than twenty hours.

Inside the warm tent, Lin Yu'an had set up several cots in advance, and used thin wooden poles to prop up a large mosquito net to cover all the cots. He also lit a mosquito coil inside the tent.

This is their "safe house" where they take turns recovering their strength.

Lin Yu'an and George, as the core of the technology team, have always been on the front line of drilling, and the roar of XCMG loaders has hardly stopped.

Stan, Barton, Hank, and Cody split into two groups, taking turns making the steel cage and resting.

While one group slept inside the tent for an hour, the other group braved swarms of mosquitoes outside, frantically tying up steel bars.

"Alright! The sixth cage is finished!"

Barton shouted, and he and Hank worked together to carefully lift the steel cage, which was more than six meters tall and weighed nearly 100 kilograms, to the side of the sixth hole that had just been drilled, after attaching padding components to the bottom.

Then, they slowly and vertically placed it into the hole.

With a muffled thud, the pad component at the bottom of the steel cage hit the ground.

Old George immediately stepped forward and used a wooden wedge to fix it in the center of the hole, ensuring that there was a uniform protective layer gap between it and the hole wall.

"Next!" he shouted at Lin Yu'an.

Then he turned to Stan and Cody, who had just emerged from the tent full of energy, and shouted, "You two, take over from them! Keep building the cages! Hurry up!"

Once a pile hole is completed, a steel reinforcement cage is in place.

The entire process, like a sophisticated war machine, operated efficiently under the endless sunlight of the midnight sun. Time ticked by, and after a full twenty hours of continuous effort, the process was complete.

When the last hole was drilled through, everyone present cheered in victory! Almost everyone was so exhausted that they could hardly stand up straight.

However, after they calmed down, old George said loudly, "Don't be too happy, boys! We have the vertical skeleton, but we still need to connect the horizontal ribs to it!"

Under his command, Lin Yu'an once again drove the XCMG loader, this time with a bucket installed.

Between the pile holes where the steel cages had already been placed, trenches about half a meter wide and forty centimeters deep were quickly dug.

All the pile holes were connected into a huge "L" shaped grid.

Cody looked at the XCMG loader and said, "Lin, your XCMG loader is really good! It has been working continuously for more than 20 hours without a single problem!"

"Of course, Cody, this is purely made in China! If you can, you should definitely get one too!"

Everyone burst into laughter, and a joyful atmosphere began to permeate the construction site.

Old George looked at the twenty-one pile holes and ground beams where the steel cages had already been installed, wiped the sweat from his face with satisfaction, and announced to everyone!
"Well done, guys! Today, we defeated the initial permafrost! Get a good night's sleep! Tomorrow, we have an even tougher battle ahead!"

Lin Yu'an slept very soundly.

Even under the bright light of the polar day, the intense fatigue quickly put him into a deep sleep.

When Lin Yu'an woke up again, it was already noon the next day.

Old George didn't go home last night; instead, they stayed in the tent together.

Lin Yu'an stepped out of the tent and found that old George and David were grilling several thick moose steaks, while Mike watched them with drooling eyes.

"You're awake, kid?" Old George handed him a cup of coffee.

Once everyone had arrived, old George began to announce today's plans.

"After we finish this meal, we'll begin. Remember, once we start today's work, we absolutely cannot stop! We'll continue until the last pile hole and ground beam are filled."

"Otherwise, cold joints will form between the concrete poured first and the concrete poured later, which will seriously affect the overall strength of the pile foundation. So we must finish it today!"

These words instantly turned the previously relaxed atmosphere serious. Everyone understood that another difficult battle was about to begin.

Old George was in charge, while Patton and Hank were responsible for placing the thick main steel bars of the ground beam horizontally into the bottom of the ground beam trench.

The most crucial step is that these main reinforcement bars need to be close to and pass through the side of the steel cage in each pile hole.

Then, Cody and Stan were responsible for placing the square stirrups onto the main reinforcement bars of the ground beam according to the spacing, and began to tie them with hooks.

David was a little confused. He asked, "George, I noticed that the steel bars in the ground beam and the steel bars in the pile foundation are not directly tied together. Will this connection be secure?"

Old Joe glanced at David, then explained, "Good question, kid! That's the secret of reinforced concrete."

“We don’t need to tie every single steel bar tightly; we just need to ensure that they intersect each other in space! The steel bars in the pile foundation are vertical, while the steel bars in the ground beam are horizontal. They intersect and support each other.”

"Wait a minute, when this flowing stone of concrete is poured in, it will fill all the gaps and form a truly unified whole!"

This clear and simple explanation made David suddenly understand.

After several hours of intense work, the "skeleton network" of the entire foundation was finally completed.

Old George started his gasoline concrete mixer, and the iron pot began to clang and whir, sounding the battle cry!
Stan and the hunter Barton once again took on the most strenuous physical labor.

They took turns using sturdy wheelbarrows to transport loads of sand and gravel to the mixer.

The mechanic, Cody, took the initiative to take over the work of moving cement and adding water.

He was quite strong, easily lifting a 50-kilogram bag of cement onto his shoulder and pouring it into the mixer with swift and efficient movements.

Old George, the experienced ingredient preparer, stood in front of the mixer, shovel in hand, judging the moisture content of the sand and gravel, and accurately determining the amount of each material to use each time.

He was also responsible for controlling the amount of water, which is the most delicate part of concrete mix design.

On the other side of the construction site, Lin Yu'an was making the most crucial preparations, replacing his XCMG XC760K with a standard bucket attachment.

Then, with the help of Hank and Buck, construction paper tubes made of high-strength kraft paper and special adhesive were fitted over the openings of each pile hole and precisely vertically aligned with a spirit level.

"What is this? A tube made of cardboard?" David curiously stepped forward, tapped it with his hand, and found it to be unusually sturdy.

Lin Yu-an explained, "These are specially designed for making concrete cylindrical formwork. Once the underground pile holes are filled, the concrete will continue to rise and fill these paper tubes."

"This forms the circular piles that are higher than the ground level that we need. Once the concrete has hardened, we can tear off the outer paper."

After all the paper tubes were in place and secured, Lin Yu'an began the next step of manually pouring concrete.

In the center of the construction site, they placed a huge "transfer material hopper" made of thick iron plates.

The concrete mixed by George's team is first poured into this material hopper to form a temporary concrete supply station.

Lin Yu'an drove his XCMG XC760K loader, precisely inserting the bucket into the material hopper and easily scooping up a full bucket of viscous concrete slurry.

He then steadily transported the bucket of concrete to the first pile hole.

There, Hank had already firmly fixed an equally large funnel directly above the cardboard tube template.

Lin Yu'an slowly raised and tilted the bucket, precisely aligning it with the opening of the large funnel.

The viscous concrete slurry slid into the funnel without a single drop being wasted, smoothly poured into the pile hole, and gradually rose upwards, filling the entire cardboard tube!
Hank immediately inserted a long, electric concrete vibrator into the wet concrete.

"Om-"

The high-frequency vibrations allow air bubbles inside the concrete to be quickly expelled, making the slurry denser and tightly encasing the steel reinforcement cage inside, forming a perfect whole from deep underground to the surface.

Seeing this perfect move, David couldn't help but shout, "Wow! Well done, Lin! You handle that spatula better than I can drink soup with a spoon!"

Mike carried the camera and ran back and forth excitedly, recording the work on the entire construction site.

"Hey! Lin! Don't just stand there! Next plowshare! Hurry up! There's still the ground beam to be poured!"

"Hank! Tamp it down deeper! Bring all the air bubbles to the surface!"

Old George once again demonstrated his responsibility as a contractor, supervising the work of everyone on the construction site.

When the eleventh pile hole was also filled with concrete, the project was just over halfway complete, and old George announced a short break.

Lin Yu'an took out chilled beer and energy drinks from the refrigerator and distributed them to everyone.

Everyone plopped down on the ground, tilted their heads back, and drank heartily, letting out joyful shouts.

Everyone raised their beer cans.

"Cheers! To this damn foundation!"

Cheers! To our new neighbors!

After a short rest, the battle resumed.

The afternoon sun became even more scorching, and the mosquitoes became even more rampant, but no one had time to care.

Only one goal remained in their minds—to fill the remaining ten holes!
Finally, as the sun began to set again, it was already late at night.

After working continuously for more than twelve hours, Lin Yuan steadily poured the last bucket of concrete into the twenty-first pile hole.

As Hank pulled the vibrator out, he straightened up and shouted into the valley in a hoarse but incredibly loud voice!

"Our pile foundation is complete!"

"oh--!!!"

Everyone erupted in a thunderous cheer, thinking the hardest part was over! They hugged each other, patted each other on the back, and shared the joy of this hard-won victory!

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.

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(End of this chapter)