Occupying a spot to maintain full attendance, refresh after one hour.
"Co back!"
Bi Fang grabbed the reins in his hand, stopping Sanshao who was still sprinting, but due to inertia, the sled still slid forward several dozen ters.
The undulating sea was now visible to the naked eye, and after a day of travel, they had finally returned to the shores of Greenland, which was much faster than traveling on foot.
Bi Fang took the tools he had prepared earlier from the sled and unleashed Sanshao, walking to the seaside to start extracting salt following the sa steps as before.
"I've extracted it many tis already, still the sa old routine, filter, evaporate, precipitate, dissolve..."
It wasn't until late at night, after hours of extraction, that Bi Fang finally managed to collect more than half a pot of sea salt, which was enough for survival.
Having obtained the essentials for survival, Bi Fang, who had labored all day, prepared to build a temporary shelter to rest.
Having run the entire day, it was already around seven in the evening when they reached the coast, and if he were to rush back overnight, it would an staying awake all through the night, which Bi Fang had no intention of doing.
Moreover, the main purpose of this trip was to gather salt, but not the only one, as Bi Fang also wanted to look around to see if he could catch so more ga, such as reindeer, musk oxen, or even puffins would be great.
"However, everyone must never rest by the coastline, as that's extrely dangerous, because you might encounter seals, walruses, or even polar bears coming ashore."
"The west coast of Greenland is ho to about six species of seals, which you can easily spot if you're touring the fjords by boat. These seals each weigh between 100 to 300 kilograms, depending on the species."
"Besides that, the walruses of Greenland are quite large and different from seals; they're often found on or near the eastern coastal beds of Greenland."
"Don't be fooled by their chubby, seemingly docile appearances on Animal Planet; walruses can have tusks several ters long and use them defensively. The males are over three ters in length and weigh between 1,200 to 3,000 kilograms."
"Although these guys move quite slowly, believe , if you encounter them while you're asleep, it would be an absolute disaster if caught off guard," Bi Fang said seriously.
How dangerous an animal is can be an extrely important reference, and the ones he was talking about are all several tis larger than humans.
Perhaps because of their physical structure, they're not as formidable for those who are prepared, but one still shouldn't take them lightly.
[My god, walruses are that fat? One to three tons?]
[Damn, aren't these things fatter than musk oxen?]
[One could eat for a long ti, right?]
[Eat, eat, eat, that's all you think about. Can't you think about their tusks for once (Dog's head)]
[After all, they're the elephants of the sea, it's far-fetched but not unbelievable.]
Moving nearly a kiloter away from the coastline, Bi Fang started setting up camp right there, digging a "top-side-communal snow hole" with Sanshao.
"Top-side-communal snow hole sounds fancy, but it's really just what it says, a hole that you can dig from the top and sides simultaneously."
"And the final result is the sa, which is to dig out a tunnel leading to an arched chamber. The required snow depth for the hollow must be consistent with the depth needed for the snow hole, at least one and a half ters deep, with three ters or more being optimal."
"The downside is that you need to cover the top hole with snow blocks, and the process of making and placing snow blocks is much more complex than digging the snow hole."
"However, compared to a snow hole, the main advantage of a top-side-communal snow hole is that it allows two people to dig simultaneously, so the construction is faster. Also, it eliminates the need to dig snow inside and then transport it out through a passage."
Even though there was only Bi Fang there, it didn't matter because he had three dogs! Given a direction, a simple three-ter tunnel was nothing for them, and a space of roughly one ter eighty square could accommodate two people.
Bi Fang found a spot with suitable snow depth and then compacted the snow at the selected location using his skis.
"The chamber for sleeping should be underneath this compacted area, and the compacted snow provides a base for the blocks to seal off the top. If the compacted snow is relatively shallow, you should shovel snow from elsewhere on top of the compacted snow to increase the depth. However, we're in the Arctic after all, where snow is abundant; in other places, you might need to create a location to gather snow blocks."
"If snow is brought from elsewhere, you don't need to compact it with boots, but you should compress it with a shovel. As soon as you find a suitable spot, compact the snow because you still need to construct the other parts, and it takes ti for the compacted snow to freeze together. Only then can you dig a sturdy snow hole."
"After leveling it, avoid walking in this area, or you'll create cracks in the snow. This is another task that should be done as early as possible because the blocks will be more solid after they freeze."
"For instance, if you marked a path to the snow shelter a day before moving camp, you could carve out thick and durable blocks from this path."
"Wait until the compacted snow can freeze solid, and then dig a hole in the center of the compacted area above the future snow hole. The hole shouldn't be too wide, only enough for soone to stand inside and shovel out the snow. The smaller the entrance, the easier it is to block with snow blocks."
"Be careful not to stand imdiately on the hardened snow around the entrance. If you do fall in, fill the accidental hole with compacted snow and try not to cover this fragile area with blocks afterward. If the snow is too dry and cannot be compacted to fill a mistakenly dug hole, you can quickly create 'epoxy resin' with water and snow."
"Dig down a few feet, then start digging to the side..."
While explaining the points to note, Bi Fang drew a circle and had Sanshao begin to dig down with all their might. From start to finish, it took less than an hour to construct a camp that could accommodate one man and three dogs.
The next day, Bi Fang took the refined sea salt, boarded the sled, and headed ho in a curved path, trying to find more signs of animals.
In the middle, he even saw a polar bear lying on the sea ice. When the bear saw Bi Fang, it didn't react at all, perhaps thinking that he was too far away to catch, so it lay there unconcerned, which was a relief for Bi Fang.
Perhaps the polar bear was eyeing a lair in the ice, Bi Fang mused rembering the lax deanor of the polar bear.
"Tssk!"
A massive rush of water suddenly exploded from the ground, shooting up high in the air. Standing on the sled, Bi Fang grabbed the reins and couldn't help but look in the direction of the commotion.
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