King of the Wilderness

After finishing that high-calorie rabbit feast, Lin Yu’an felt a steady stream of warmth spreading from his stomach to every part of his body!

The pure fat and protein provided by this meal were exactly the energy reserves he needed for the high-intensity physical exertion to come.

He did not rest, took a few sips of water to rehydrate, and then directly walked towards the already excavated pit.

The afternoon sunlight passed through sparse clouds, casting a gentle light, but the temperature still hovered around zero degrees.

Time was pressing; he had to lay the most solid foundation for the entire shelter project before nightfall.

In a shelter project that needs to last just over 50 days, he must face a critical issue: moisture.

Lin Yu’an stood in front of the pit, facing the camera, elucidating his design blueprint like a professional architect.

”In a semi-earth-sheltered building, ground moisture will continuously seep upward.”

”If wood directly contacts soil, the moisture will rapidly dampen the walls and interior space, taking away precious heat. In Labrador’s winter, moisture equals hypothermia.”

”The dominant wind direction in Labrador in winter is a strong northwest wind, so my rear wall utilizes this natural northwest-facing rock face.”

”This means my entrance must face southeast, to avoid the main wind and to receive precious sunlight in the morning.”

”Therefore, I plan to first use stones to build a damp-proof layer, constructing a complete, closed ’U’-shaped foundation platform with stone masonry.”

”This will also provide an absolutely stable platform to support the future roof, ensuring the tops of the east, west, and south walls are perfectly level.”

”This equates to providing a zero-error starting point for subsequent carpentry, enabling me to erect the upper wooden walls quickly and accurately on this solid platform.”

The core of this decision is energy exchange.

By using current physical strength to complete an absolutely standardized stone platform, it can significantly reduce the difficulty of the subsequent carpentry phase.

It can also save more calories needed in the future to fight moisture and cold.

His goal is to use dry-stone masonry to build a waist-high foundation wall on the east, west, and south sides of the pit.

He would then reserve an entrance on the south wall facing southeast.

The initiation of this work begins with meticulous material planning.

He walked to the pile of stones that had been deliberately sorted during excavation and began a secondary selection process.

This was no longer a simple transport task but a rigorous classification based on experience and an understanding of physical structure.

”To build a stable dry-stone wall, we need three stones with different functions.”

He moved the stones with difficulty while explaining to the camera.

”The first type is the foundation stone.”

He used a wooden lever as leverage to laboriously separate a granite block nearly the size of two and a half basketballs, with a relatively flat base, from the pile.

”These are the load-bearing foundations of the entire base, they must be large and stable enough, each must be deeply embedded in the soil at the bottom of the pit to prevent any form of settlement or displacement.”

”The second type is the main wall stone.”

He pointed to a large pile of medium-sized, variously shaped stones and said, ”These will form the main part of the wall; ideal main wall stones should have a certain thickness.”

”And at least one relatively flat surface, which is conducive to layered stacking, requiring various shapes of stones to interlock and secure tightly.”

”Finally, and also the most numerous and crucial, are the wedge stones.”

”In dry-stone walls, no large movements are allowed; these small stones are used to fill all visible gaps between larger stones.”

”And to adjust height to ensure each main wall stone is absolutely stable when placed, preventing any wobbling.”

Over the next hour or so, Lin Yu’an was completely immersed in this tedious sorting work.

He categorically transported the sorted stones to the construction area within the pit.

A dozen huge foundation stones were laboriously moved to the edges of the pit’s three sides using leverage and rolling.

The main wall stones and countless wedge stones were neatly stacked within easy reach.

”Not enough, far from enough.”

He counted and sorted the stone pile, speaking to the camera: ”Most of what was dug out of the pit are rubble and small to medium-sized stones, with a severe shortage of those that can truly be used as foundation and main wall stones.”

Wasting no time, he immediately took his pry bar and gloves, starting his ”stone quarrying journey.”

He then focused his attention on the slopes and dried creek beds around the shelter, where nature’s true building material market lay.

He first arrived at a gently sloped area, where many variously sized rocks were scattered on the ground.

After repeated prying and adjusting, he finally separated stubborn stones intact from the permafrost.

Instead of transporting them, he piled the qualified stones at a spacious and easily accessible place on the slope.

Over the following few hours, he continued to search and quarry stones on the slope.

The pile of building material reserves he had mined by hand on the slope grew visibly larger.

When he felt there were enough main wall stones, he turned his attention to the dried creek bed.