We're gonna push through the snow, push through the ice,
and we're going to find some gold.
It's just not going to be easy.
Back at it.
It's already dangerous out here,
the ice and snow is just taking it up another level.
Hopefully, we can get more gold than we've ever had, though.
My goal every year is to keep getting more and more gold
to pay for this situation and pay for the next year, too.
And then, eventually, we're going to hit the big jackpot.
This is just like going to the casino and throwing dice.
Out here, you could go broke or you could get rich real quick.
This year, we're going to go bigger than we've ever gone before.
Hopefully, we are going to hit the big, big pot of gold.
But it's a gamble.
I want it bad, though. God, I want it back.
This could be the year that changes everything.
[narrator] On the all new season...
It's go time now.
...of Gold Rush White Water...
Fire in the hole!
[explosion]
Whoo-hoo!
...the Dakota boys are back.
Yes! Hoo-hoo-hoo!
This is the very first time you and I agree on where to dig.
Well, I'd back up about 20 feet.
[laughing]
[narrator] Dustin doubles down...
You guys are crazy, man.
...with fresh blood.
Someone's got to show the boys how to do it.
I've never worked this hard in my life.
[laughs]
It's frigging awesome!
[narrator] And Fred returns with shocking news.
I'm not going to be running a crew this year.
Wow.
[narrator] Two crews unite to chase their biggest payday ever...
Ain't nothing like diving the [bleep] creek.
Yeah, how many 78-year-olds you know doing this?
...as Mother Nature fights back...
[Kayla] A person cannot dive in that water.
[Dustin] We can dig in it. We're just the crew to do it.
This is probably the deadliest place I've ever been.
- It's coming down over here. -[Fred] Frigging earthquake!
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
Holy [bleep]!
Run, run, run! Run, run, run!
Get up here, Dad! Get up here!
[narrator] ...pushing them to breaking point...
[bleep] you!
Someone has to take charge.
[Dustin] We're always looking for our limit. This is our damn limit.
[narrator] ...in the hunt for millions in gold.
And I guarantee you there are some big nuggets down in there.
Holy [bleep]!
[Dustin] That's more gold than we've ever found.
[Kayla] Those are [bleep] pickers.
Yeah!
These guys are awesome. But it is going to put us to the test.
[gunshot]
Made it back to Haines.
This is my favorite time of the year.
It's when everybody's just charged up
and will do anything to get up there and...
I love this part of the year.
[narrator] In the southeastern corner of Alaska,
Dustin Hurt is back on the road to the richest gold ground of his life.
We're looking really hard to try to get started.
Winter would not end. There's so much snow up there, though.
It's got me worried.
The snow just kept coming and coming and coming.
[narrator] This winter, the Chilkat Mountains
suffered its worst snowfall for a decade...
[Dustin] We have more snow than we've ever seen here before.
[narrator] ...forcing Dustin and Carlos to return
to their McKinley camp using the only means possible...
[Carlos] This place is beautiful.
...to remove 20 tons of snow and ice from the roof of their cabin...
All right, man, let's start digging.
...that would have destroyed their camp
and with it, their mining season.
- Yeah-haw! -[laughs]
[Carlos] That was so awesome, dude.
I just need to get up there, we're gonna tear it up, get dredging.
We've been doing this for five years. This has to pay.
So, I feel like this is the year it's going to pay off big and that's what drives us.
[Carlos] Hey, man, you made it.
Hey, I've been waiting for y'all. What took y'all so long?
- Give me a hug, bro. - Good to see you, man.
[narrator] Returning for his fifth year diving for gold in raging white water,
Dustin is joined by his veteran crew willing to risk it all to strike it rich.
So you got the ATV. What do you got going on with that thing? I mean--
It's got tracks on it, man.
The tracks for ATV is necessary because
this is the only way we can get up there right now.
[narrator] With their mining camp inaccessible due to the record snowfall,
Dustin's season rides on his new tracked ATV.
-[Dustin] This thing should do it. - Yeah, that looks pretty good.
Let's get a camp. If we can get camp open,
we'll get across the line.
Don't know what's going to happen on the other side of the line.
I've never been over there with heavy snow.
[Carlos] Guarantee, we're going to be finding nuggets at the [bleep] chute.
- We did not hit the bottom of it. - Could be a huge payload.
Huge payload, man.
[narrator] Last year, the crew discovered
their best ground ever at Rockfall Ravine.
We got gold, baby!
[narrator] Chasing the gold upstream,
the crew were on to another big payday at the chute.
If it's big rocks, there's gonna be gold.
[narrator] But winter's floods almost forced Dustin over a fatal waterfall...
[cable snaps]
Oh, man!
[bleep] I can't hold it!
[bleep]
...and caused an abrupt end to their season.
- We'll finish it this time. -[Carlos] Yeah.
So let's get going.
Let the adventure begin.
[narrator] To reach the dive site,
they must first negotiate the frozen 8-mile trek to Porcupine Creek.
From there,
it will be a steep ascent, 2,000 feet up a snowy mountain trail
to reach their McKinley camp.
Look at that thing, man.
[laughs]
[Carlos] That looks like a beast right there.
We got snow. We got downed trees. We got bears.
You got to be ready for everything.
But, hey, as long as we get the gold.
The gold is at the end of the rainbow.
All right. You guys ready? Let's see how this thing rolls.
- All right. - Yeah, let's do this.
Here we go.
[engine starting]
[everyone laughing]
Oh, wow, this thing's badass, man!
This is great.
I think we're going to be able to make it just fine.
It's not even struggling.
This should be no problem, man.
Getting deeper.
[Carlos] Holy [bleep]! What the [bleep] is that?
[Dustin] Well, here's our first obstacle, boys.
[Wes] yeah.
- All right, so let's get a-- cut right there. - Right there. Yep.
Drop that. Make sure that limb doesn't catch you in the way,
so chop that limb and that limb, and then we'll start sectioning it up right here.
See what we can roll off. On our way to Porcupine,
there's a bunch of snow and there's obviously a pretty big tree
laying across the road.
We're going to have to take care of it before we can continue on.
[saw whirring]
-[Dustin] He stick it? -[James] He stuck it.
Oh, my [bleep] saw.
[Dustin] James, can you just do a cut?
[narrator] James attempts to free Carlos' saw by cutting a wedge.
[Dustin] Back out. Back out!
Bent the saw.
It's monster [bleep]!
[Carlos] That's brand-new. [groans]
[Dustin] I was yelling "back out," and he's balls deep in it.
Destroying the [bleep] saw.
As soon as you see it move, you back out and you feel it. Like, you start feeling it.
[exhales sharply]
[Carlos laughing] [bleep] Glad to be back!
I misjudged that one. I didn't pull up the bar fast enough,
and I bent the [bleep] bar.
Hopefully, Carlos' saw works.
Otherwise, we're turning around.
And I hope we don't have any more damn trees like this.
[chainsaw whirring]
[James] It's about go. It's close.
That-- It's cut, dude. It's cut.
Yeah, there it goes.
There it goes, there it goes, there it goes.
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
[Carlos laughing]
[Dustin] That'll be just fine. You can get a vehicle through that pretty good.
[Carlos] First obstacle down.
We're used to things like this. We're used to curve balls,
we're used to monkey wrenches coming our way.
That's what we do.
One tree down.
What's next?
[engine starting]
[Dustin] Beautiful.
[narrator] The journey to Porcupine Base
has taken four times longer than normal,
and they still face a 2,000 foot ascent
up the snow-covered mountainside to reach camp.
All right. Well, we made it to Porcupine, fellas.
There's lots of snow still. Oh, dude!
Oh-ho-ho-ho.
- That is deep. - It's deep.
- This is a lot of snow, man. - Yeah, it is.
- This thing sits right on top of it, doesn't it? - Yeah, it does.
In the eight or nine years I've been coming up here,
I have never ever seen it like this this late in the season.
This is insane.
[Carlos] This is Porcupine, what does it look like upstairs?
It's probably still freezing up there.
[Dustin] You want to try to make it up there?
- Machine's running perfect. -[Carlos] Yeah.
[James] I mean, we still got a couple of hours before dark.
- This could be dangerous, fellas. -[Wes] Yeah.
If this thing breaks, it's a long walk back in 5 foot of snow, guys.
[narrator] Nightfall fast approaching,
the crew face a tough decision,
abandon the mission
or attempt to climb the mountain and risk freezing to death
before they reach the safety of the cabin.
[Carlos] If you want the gold, the gold's up there.
A little bit of danger that's standing between us.
If it flips or anything like that, we're done.
I want you to know that's a possibility.
-[Carlos] Sure. - Okay?
Let's gear up to head up.
The next thing is to try to make it to camp, which is really steep.
We don't know how much snow or ice is up there.
No joke, this is probably one of the more dangerous things we've done
in a long time.
Well, here we go.
[Carlos] I'm just curious to see if this thing makes it up
- the fricking mountain, man. -[Dustin] Come on, baby!
[engine revving]
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
[all laughing]
[Dustin] Come on, baby. You can do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[James] This thing is [bleep] badass.
[Carlos] Yeah, dude.
-[Carlos] Ingram's, dude. -[Dustin] Watch your face.
Yep, yep. Got it.
[Dustin] Nothing I can do about it.
We're about to be in the place that I'm worried about.
Here we go, this is the [bleep] right here. Holy [bleep].
Look at this.
[narrator] Just 200 meters from the summit,
they hit the steepest part of the trail.
Come on, keep going.
Just keep going.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, [bleep].
-[engine revving] -[bleep]
[Carlos] Hey, let's put the winch on it.
That's what I was just thinking.
All right, I need that rope out the back,
and we'll go as far as you can reach with that longest rope.
[narrator] Carlos redirects the angle of the winch pull.
[Carlos] All right. Rock and roll!
All right. [bleep] it. Let's see what happens.
[cable whipping]
-[Dustin] Holy [bleep]! Carlos! -[James] Carlos!
[Carlos] All right. Rock and roll! Here we go!
[bleep] it. Let's see what happens.
[narrator] Dustin and his crew are stuck on the steep trail to their McKinley Camp.
[cable whipping]
[Dustin] Holy [bleep]! Are you all right, Carlos?
[James] Carlos, did you get hit?
[Carlos] Yeah, I'm good. That was pretty badass, huh?
- Holy [bleep], dude. - Oh, my [bleep].
[narrator] The nearest ER is over five hours away.
If any of the crew sustain a serious injury,
they could bleed out on the mountain.
We tried to winch ourselves. Cable broke.
It made a scary sound, bro.
Everybody was like, you know, when people start saying, "You okay? You okay?"
That's when everybody has to stop and count our fingers, "Okay,
I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. Are you okay?"
This frickin' snow is so sloppy, bro.
Yeah, it is. It's [bleep], man.
[Dustin] These tracks aren't even sitting on ice anymore.
All right, I'ma backup. Watch yourself.
[James] Yeah.
Keep going.
All right. Good deal. Whoo-hoo!
This machine is awesome.
I can see right now this thing will never make it up that.
There is so much snow on this aspect right here and it's so steep.
[Wes] It's just that this [bleep] is so [bleep] deep,
and you can't get on top of it.
[Dustin] So either we hike it or we turn around, it's about a half a mile.
[Carlos] You guys think we can make it?
Man, this freakin' temperature's dropping, so we need to get inside.
We're on foot. You guys want to get your stuff and let's get it done, then?
Let's not get caught freezing cold.
[clicking]
As always, if you're in Alaska, always have to have a gun.
Specially now,
bears are just waking up. They're hungry.
I look good. I'm a scrumptious meal.
But I'm going to make it hard for them.
[narrator] Southeast Alaska
is home to one of the densest bear populations in the world.
Right now, they're coming out of hibernation and they're hungry.
[growling]
This is just another animal here, isn't it?
[Wes] Geez, it's deep.
-[Dustin] Watch your footing. -[Carlos] It's almost June. 3 feet of snow!
[Dustin] Holy [bleep].
[James] Still, pretty [bleep] cold, isn't it?
[narrator] This exceptional winter
is forcing temperatures 20 degrees lower than the seasonal average.
[James] Man, there is a lot of snow here, boys.
[Dustin] Yeah, this is a bunch of snow.
Well, we made it.
[gasps] Ooh!
-[Dustin] You all right, James? - Yeah, I'm fine.
[grunting and laughing]
All right, well, let's work on trying to get the cabin open.
[James] Let's get a fire going.
-[Wes] I'm ready to get warmed up. -[Dustin] Finally, got here.
Didn't think we were even going to make it.
[Carlos] It's almost like we were returning to aftermath,
you know, of apocalypse fricking winter.
It was a long trek just getting through all that snow.
I am freezing. Holy crap. Nice to get some heat in.
So now that we know camp's all right,
we've got to make plans to try to get over there in the snow.
Tomorrow, definitely want to see what's-- what's up with the chute.
-[Wes] First crossing of the season. -[Dustin] You ready for this?
I'm a little shaky. I don't know why.
Why do I get nervous every time I do this?
[Carlos] You're afraid!
All right, here we go.
[yelps]
[screaming]
[narrator] The zip line is the only way to Dustin's McKinley Creek claims
on the far side of this 275-foot high ravine...
Look at that water.
...stretching 450 feet over Porcupine Creek.
[Wes] Holy [bleep], that's a lot of snow.
[Carlos] Holy moly.
[narrator] Then it's a short hike down to their dive site at the chute.
[laughing]
Oh, that's some funny stuff right there.
[laughing] He flipped upside down accidentally.
Ah, I love him. He makes me smile.
You sure it's not still February?
[all laughing]
[Dustin] Let's go see what's accessible.
[narrator] After abruptly abandoning the chute at the end of last season,
Dustin is anxious to get back on the richest ground of his life.
[Dustin] This is over the top of the chute.
I think we should get down there and get eyes on it and see what it looks like.
If it gets too dangerous, we'll back out.
[Carlos] Oh, [bleep], that's a lot of snow.
Do not slip down this, it will kill you.
All right? Let's find out what's down here, man.
Nobody get hurt. Nobody die.
This right here, at this time of year,
is just blowing my mind right now.
I don't know what to expect, to be honest with you.
Very, very dangerous.
Whoa!
[James] Wow, that's crazy.
[Dustin] That's a bunch of snow, man.
[Carlos] That waterfall is coming hard, dude.
[Wes] I know, right? And it's coming harder than it look like.
That's a strong, strong water.
I just need to make it over through the snow into the tunnel.
We'll leave the rope up. We'll just tied it off on something.
[Wes] There's under here. Be careful right there, buddy.
[Dustin] If I bail, I don't want you coming with me.
All right, here we go.
[narrator] To reach the tunnel entrance,
Dustin must traverse the snow-covered scree slope,
but it's thawing from beneath and could avalanche
dragging Dustin right down into the plunge pool.
You see this water right here? It's going right underneath the snow,
so we have no idea if it's hollow underneath.
You can literally fall right through the snow.
Whoa!
[Wes] I never thought we would see this. This is crazy.
Tied off, but be careful, there's a big gorge right here.
[Carlos] Got you.
It's just a drop off.
If Dustin made it across, we put us a safety rope, so I think we'll be all right.
[Carlos] Whoa! That is a cavern.
[Dustin] Welcome back.
[Carlos] Well, that was different.
[James] That was different, wasn't it? Snowmageddon.
[narrator] After a 2-day battle to get up the mountain,
the miners finally reached the tunnel which leads to the chute.
[Dustin] What the [bleep], dude? Oh, look at that!
That's crazy.
[James] Holy [bleep]! What happened?
[Carlos] It looks like the water came up
and filled this thing up halfway with rock.
That is incredible.
[narrator] Normally, there's 7 feet of clearance in the tunnel.
Now there's less than four.
[Carlos] Dude, that's a lot of fricking snow still, man. Holy [bleep].
[James] Why are you going out there, bro?
[Dustin] I want to see. You don't want to see?
- Oh, you're crazy, man. - I want to see.
[James] This is nuts.
[Dustin] You see that snow edge?
[Wes] That's insane-looking...
[Carlos] Oh, [bleep] man, that's over our-- Oh.
[Dustin] So that is that snow edge right there, right there.
-[Wes] Yeah. - See it?
Yeah.
[Wes] This thing could slide off.
[James] There's a [bleep] couple of tons of snow sitting right there.
[Carlos] That's a lot of [bleep] snow, dude.
[Dustin] I can tell you that we won't be digging this for a while.
You see how bad this is over here?
[Carlos] Oh, [bleep]!
[Dustin] We're a ways off before this stuff melts.
Even if we could get in this water, there is so much hazard ice out here, dude.
[narrator] The near-vertical rock face surrounding their dive site
is chock-full of ice sheets and compacted snow.
As temperatures rise, tons of ice will come crashing down
right where the miners are working,
turning the chute into a kill zone.
[Dustin] This is a no-go, boys.
I really was hopeful that this would be
the exception to the snow and ice rule right now,
and we could get in here and start digging it out.
I want to know what's at the bottom of that chute so bad, man.
-[Wes] Me, too. - It's the best ground we've ever had.
It's a death trap right now.
This is disheartening, brother, because we knew where the gold was at.
The hard part was done.
We didn't have to look for it no more. We just have to get it.
Now, we've got to go look for gold and get it.
Well, I don't know what our options are,
because if the ice and snow is this bad here,
all the other places we looked at is going to be just as bad or worse.
[bleep] sucks that we know where the gold's at and can't get to it.
It's a damn death trap.
[Wes] Mother Nature can be a beast, I'm telling you.
I actually don't like being in here right now.
-[Carlos] All right, let's get out of here. - This is a bad spot, man.
And we're on loose rock with a lot of loose ice over us.
Let's get out of here.
We have to regroup. All right?
Let's get out of here before we die.
[narrator] The deadly conditions at the chute
mean the miners must scramble to find a new gold-rich dive site
to salvage their season before it's even begun.
I mean, I'm calling it quits on this for now.
When it's safer, we'll come back.
We know there's gold right there.
We need to go dig it up, but not like this.
We got to come up with a new plan.
I don't know what anything else looks like here,
but if everything's as bad as this, we might be stumped.
I'm usually pretty optimistic, but this is not looking good for us.
I'm just like bad weeds. I just keep coming back.
[laughs]
[narrator] For the last two decades, 77-year-old
Fred Hurt has mined the rugged Alaskan wilderness.
Dustin and I are going to have to discuss how things are going to go this year.
It's going to be quite different.
Might be a little bit of a surprise to him.
[narrator] But this year, everything is about to change.
- Hey, Fred. - Hey, what's up, man?
Hey, I was wondering when you were going to show up
or if you were going to show up.
- Come on, have a seat, man. - Yeah.
- All right. Good to see you. - Yeah, man.
- Thanks, man. - How's it looking up there?
Oh, man, it's horrific right now.
The chute is terrifying.
If you were trying to make a place to catch humans and kill them,
that's what it would look like.
[laughs] Oh, Lord.
I'm at a roadblock right now, but I don't know what's going to happen up there.
So where's your crew, man?
Uh, Dustin...
I'm not going to be running a crew this year.
Wow.
You're going to be running the whole operation.
This could be really weird. Never actually done a season without you up here.
[Dustin] Whoo! We're digging gold now, baby!
[narrator] For a decade, father and son have worked side by side
on the hunt for gold in Alaska,
starting at the glory hole.
This is where I'm gonna get my nugget from.
[laughs] Ah-ha!
[narrator] Battling their way through 100 feet of rock and earth, and each other.
What the hell are you doing?
You're [bleep] off about everything I say.
And digging up nearly a million dollars worth of gold...
[Fred] I'm proud of you, Dustin.
...followed by four years of death-defying adventures,
diving the whitewater creeks high up the mountain.
[Dustin over radio] Damn, Fred, do you believe it?
We've both dived in McKinley Creek together!
This is absolutely one of the highlights of my career.
What the hell are you going to do if you're not working a crew, man?
Sit in my rocking chair, watch TV.
I'll be drinking my prune juice.
Hey, honey, when's the bingo game startin'? No.
[laughs]
No, that's not happening. I got some other mining opportunities
I want to look at.
They're just not as crazy as McKinley Creek.
I'm not retiring, but I'm stepping back a little bit.
All right, Fred, I got to get up there,
so I'll see you around Porcupine.
Good luck on the season, man.
- All right. Well, appreciate it. Thanks. - All right.
- Let me know if you need anything, man. - All right.
This is not the end for Fred Hurt.
There's a lot more gold out there
and I got to find out where it's at.
He's not going to just leave leave.
Maybe he'll just skip a season and come back,
because he can't stand being away.
I was counting on all that gold from the whole winter,
that we was going to get that gold right there in the chute.
- I mean, it was just easy pickings. -[Wes] Yeah.
- What's up man? - Hey, y'all.
- Just met up with Fred. -[Wes] Well, what did Fred have to say?
So it looks like Fred will not be running a crew this year.
Wow.
[Carlos] That's a heck of a disappointment, man.
So I guess it's just us up here, then.
Fred is going to be 79 this year, so...
[Dustin] This is hard for us.
We still kind of feed off each other a little bit,
so that's going to be weird not having him up here.
We're going to mine, right?
What are we going to do?
I know that it's not ideal to go look for a new place right now,
but I don't think that the ice is going to melt in the chute for almost a month.
So now, we're back to square one looking for gold again.
[Dustin] Yeah. What I'm wondering is,
is there a spot where we can actually start digging,
get to the bottom of it, clean it out. Once that is done,
hopefully, the weather will be better, there'll be no ice,
and we can get back and go knock out the chute.
And I think one of the places
that I wanted to check out was that big House Rock.
[Wes] House Rock did look promising.
I wonder how much snow is... I mean, it might be over,
but-- I don't know, as long as we can get down there and check it out.
Let's get eyes on House Rock,
see what's going on down there.
True that, man. We got to do something.
All right. Uh, let's suit up, do another hike.
Go check it out. Yeah?
[narrator] Last season, Dustin's crew went on the hunt for gold-rich ground
untouched by the old-timers...
[Wes] Wait till y'all look right down there.
[Carlos] Oh, wow!
...finding boulders bigger than ever before.
Look at that.
There are boulders as big as houses.
[narrator] Big boulders mean big gold.
Yep, there's gold. Oh, man. There's like five pieces in here.
[Dustin] Five pieces! That's what I wanted to hear.
[laughs]
Well, watch your step.
[Carlos] I'm going to follow in your fricking footsteps, dude.
- Whoa! -[Carlos] Oh, dude!
[narrator] It's a quarter-mile hike to the cliffs above House Rock.
[Wes] This is where it drops off.
[Dustin] This is it though, right?
It doesn't look the same. Does it look the same to you?
[Wes] It does not look the same.
[James] Man, it doesn't, does it?
[narrator] But heavy snowfall and landslides have completely changed the landscape.
[Dustin] I can't figure out where to go.
[James] Can we go down that ice or what?
[Wes] I wouldn't go down no [bleep] ice.
[Dustin] This doesn't look right.
It's a [bleep] drop off. What are you-- [bleep] that!
I'm not doing it.
[Carlos] Not on ice man, not on snow, [bleep] that.
[Dustin] Back there looks feasible, at least.
You see how the truck and all would sit right there?
Is that it? I can't tell.
And this is the section we came up
with all the [bleep] boulders, right?
Yes, this creek. Yeah.
Everything looks different right now. There's more downed trees.
There's snow everywhere.
I don't want to get stuck, but I need to get down there.
I just can't tell where the hell I'm at, to tell you the truth.
So I'm just going to go, what I normally do.
No more second guessing. Just go.
Don't kick anything off. Watch these loose rocks.
All right. This is definitely where we [bleep] came up.
This is it, right here. Everybody get ready. This is the way down.
[narrator] Up ahead...
I hate negotiating when a guy's got a knife in his hand.
-[Dustin] You guys ready? -[Wes] Fire in the hole!
[gunshot]
[Carlos] Did you hit it?
[Dustin] Good job, Carlos.
[Carlos] Where's House Rock at?
[Wes] See that rock right there?
-[Carlos] That's House Rock? - Yeah.
[narrator] At McKinley Creek,
Dustin's mining operation is at a standstill
while his crew explore their potential new dig site.
I thought it was something different. For some reason, I'm way off.
This has got to be chocked with gold through here, man.
The bigger the rocks, the more gold you're going to find.
There could be a bonanza sitting right there.
We could work all of this stuff here around these big rocks.
There could be huge nuggets underneath that big boulder.
I mean, I want to finish the chute, but till we can get to it,
this looks pretty good.
[narrator] Somewhere up the mountain, gold from the mother lode
washes down McKinley Creek, traveling until it reaches an obstruction.
Huge boulders, such as House Rock, act as natural dams,
slowing the flow of water, causing the area around the massive boulder
to collect heavy gold.
Exactly the kind of nugget trap the miners are looking for.
You guys are feeling this?
- Yeah. - This is diveable water.
I mean, for us.
I think so, man.
[Carlos] This is not like the chute, man,
where it has killer ice that were really gonna kill us.
Nothing looks too dangerous over the top of us.
[Dustin] It could be past 20 feet. Uh, it could take us all season.
If we decide to dig this, we're going to need a second dredge.
This is a two-dredge operation right here, dude.
[narrator] The last time they mined a site like this,
it took them two years to get down to the gold at bedrock.
You can't run two dredges off of four people.
We're going to need a second crew.
So we have to find enough gold to justify two crews.
[Carlos] Two crews can go twice as fast.
The main objective is get this done and get back to the chute,
because we've got a lot of gold sitting there.
We need to finish it if we're going to start it.
[Carlos] Throw the dice, man.
-[Wes] Whoa! Whoa! Rock! -[Carlos] Rock, rock, rock, rock!
[James] Where did that [bleep] come from?
[Dustin] You see those rocks right there?
[Carlos] Ah, I seen that. Yeah.
[Dustin] This is dangerous.
[Wes] There's nothing about any of this that's not dangerous, though.
[Dustin] So the only concern I have right now
for our dig site is the rock breaking loose.
[Carlos] We're on some unstable ground right here.
[Wes] Oh, yeah.
[Carlos] We got beaucoup widow-makers on top of the [bleep] dang dive site.
But the area on the water, House Rock, that's diveable. We can do that.
Let's make a plan. I'll work on seeing if I can get another crew.
If we want to dive here,
we're going to have to do something about these rocks.
[narrator] If the miners can remove the overhanging widow-makers,
they can begin their season and start digging down to bedrock gold.
House Rock looks like a great place to dig.
Truth is, once we start digging, if it's too deep,
then we're going to be stuck here the whole season.
So we need a second crew.
But this is not an easy job.
You've got to be a very specific type of person
to want to do this.
[Fred] All right. Back in Porcupine.
[narrator] Before Dakota Fred can move on
to his next golden opportunity,
he has some loose ends at Porcupine Creek to tie up.
Well, it looks like everything survived.
This is my claim. We've got a bunch of reclamation to do, tidy up everything.
I've got all kinds of equipment sitting over there.
I've got to do something with it.
Well, let's go see what
the rest of this claims are doing around here.
[Scott] Hey, boss.
Hey, some help has arrived, man.
How you doing, Fred? Good to see you. Good to see you.
Same here, man. I'm glad to see you up here.
[narrator] Fred has brought back last season's hire, Scott Allen,
for a week of hard labor.
We got a lot of stuff to kind of get ready.
How soon are you going to be able to go to work?
Well, I didn't come here for a vacation, so, I mean.
[Fred] We got some boxes that's collapsed
and plywood laying all over the place, every which direction.
We'll get that cleaned up.
The first thing we're going to have to do is get that loader running.
I've got a bunch of reclamation to do.
[Scott] All right. Sounds good.
Wow. Oh, wow.
Is that terminal still okay? I mean...
[Scott] Enough wire here that we could strip that off real quick with just a knife
and have nice clean, fresh wire on there.
[Fred] I like that idea.
Right now, we've got a battery terminal problem.
We've got to get this thing running, because this is a workhorse out here.
This is a 48-year-old machine.
We've done tons of reclamation with this thing,
and this is one of the things that I need it for right now.
We're still doing some reclamation out here.
We got a little bit more water to cover up in the
glory hole.
There you go.
Look like that's going to work.
[engine starting]
Yeah.
[laughs]
- Yeah. - All right.
Big gal is ready to go.
[narrator] Having pulled over 500 ounces of gold from this site,
Fred now must pay his dues
and reclaim the hole to its natural state.
[Fred laughing]
[Dustin] I'm heading down to Porcupine.
I know Fred has a dredge and he's not going to be using it, apparently, this year.
So I'm wondering if I can get a dredge off of him.
After I get the dredge, I got to get a crew up here.
I don't see any reason to not run a second crew.
There's Fred there.
- Hey, Fred. what's going on? - Hey, Dus, what's up, man?
So what's happening out here anyway?
So there's a new area that I went to look at,
but it's a huge area.
And we don't know how deep it is.
So we need to get two dredges in the water
because I don't think we could finish it in one season,
because it looks deep like trifecta.
So the first step is I came over here to find out
if you were going to be using your dredges this year, and if you're not,
can I get one of them off you?
Yeah. I'm not going to be using.
I'm up to selling some of that stuff.
Okay.
Any chance we can make a deal?
Well, what are you thinking?
[Dustin] Well, I don't have the cash for it right now.
All right.
What if we make it-- How about, all right, how about this,
would you go for this, uh,
five ounces of gold for the dredge?
Oh, no.
Look, if you don't have the cash right now, I can understand that.
But I have total confidence that you're going to get some gold this year.
How about 10?
I was thinking maybe six.
You're going to get plenty of pretty little yellow rock.
Six and you got a deal, man.
Come on.
- Let's do six. - Come on.
I hate negotiating when a guy's got a knife in his hand.
Come on now, I can't give this thing away.
I think 10 ounces is fair.
No, I'm not doing-- I'm not going to agree to 10.
[narrator] At Porcupine,
Fred Hurt and son Dustin are in a standoff
over the price of Fred's dredge.
[Dustin] If we can't get a second dredge, we're stuck.
I want ten, you're offering six,
offer me eight.
All right. That sounds good, man.
Eight ounces it is.
That's going to get me on my way for sure.
We need a second crew, and the first step of that is a second dredge.
Hopefully, I can get a crew up here,
but we'll see.
Hey, Scott, what's going on, man?
- What's up, Dustin? How are you doing, brother? - I am hiring a second crew.
Hey, you interested in that?
If you want me for the season, you got me.
That's exciting, man. I'm... I'm... That's awesome.
Well, I didn't know if you were available or not, so.
Yeah.
- Yeah, you got me, brother. - All right, man.
You got me, man.
[Dustin] Scott, he's already trained up.
That's a big plus.
Put up with Fred, so he could definitely put up with me.
I got to break the news to my wife now that I'm staying up here
for a few more months rather than just a couple of weeks.
I'm heading away from the claims right now,
go and find cell service.
I've got a lead on someone that may be able to come out here.
[narrator] One crew member locked and three more to go.
Dustin sets his target on an experienced dredger
he's known for six years.
This job is not for everyone,
and it takes a special kind of crazy to stick with us.
[line ringing]
[Kayla on phone] Hello.
Hello, Kayla, this is Dustin Hurt.
Uh, I am looking for crew members.
So what kind of dredging experience do you have?
Last year, I dredged full-time
in a river here in Alaska using a 6-inch dredge by myself.
[narrator] Kayla Johanson started panning as a teenager in North Carolina,
inspired by her grandfather.
For the last two years, she's run her own gold dredging operation
in Southcentral Alaska.
[Dustin] Have you done whitewater before?
[Kayla on phone] Not whitewater, but it's fast enough
to not turn your head or your mask gets ripped off.
That's the kind of experience we're looking for up here
because that's basically all we do.
There's always a risk, but if this ground is as good as I think it is,
we're all going to get paid.
Are you interested in coming to work with us?
Yeah, I would definitely be interested in coming up.
Okay. If you could start your way out here,
we'd like to get you up here as fast as we can.
I'll start packing my stuff up and I'll be on my way.
We've got a second dredge. I've got half a crew.
We're halfway there.
Oh, wow!
[Scott] You're all set there, boss?
Hey, yeah. Let me get this in the truck.
[narrator] After tying up his loose ends,
Fred is ready to head back to the lower 48
and begin a new adventure.
We got a lot of stuff done.
I'm going to tell you what, that was not bad
for the short period of time I was here.
- Hey, Fred. -[Dustin] What are you up to?
- I'm getting ready to head out. - All right.
I wish you guys luck.
Looking forward to seeing how you guys do.
Go get a bucket of gold.
[laughs]
[Wes] That's our plan.
Well, thanks for everything, especially the dredge, Fred.
- All right. - Appreciate it, man. Have a good trip.
- Glad you made it. - Yeah. Thank you.
And, uh, y'all take care of my man there.
[laughs]
[narrator] It's the end of an era
of the father and son team.
Adios, Porcupine.
Wow!
I'm going to miss Dustin.
You know, I've worked together with him for the last ten years.
We've had our differences, but I'm going to miss him.
I've been coming up here since I was 60.
God, that makes me almost nearly 80 years old.
There's something wrong with me saying that.
I will be back.
I might have to come up and check on my investment.
You can count on that.
Yeah, we're gonna tie off on that tree right there.
[narrator] On the cliffs above House Rock,
before they can get to the gold,
Dustin's crew and new recruit, Scott,
need to remove killer boulders overhanging their new dive site.
So just below us right here is a big rock face
with a whole bunch of loose rocks on it.
Underneath that is where we're going to be digging this year.
Our job today, break rocks loose,
send them down to the creek as far as you can.
- Everybody clear? -[all] Yeah.
All right, I'll go over first. Just don't kick anything on me.
We want to get to dredging as soon as possible,
but we've got to get some of the rocks out of the way.
So when we start working,
we don't have any issues with rocks falling on our head.
[Dustin] This is what's over our heads right now.
This crumbly stuff.
It's got to be moved, because it's... it's going to come down and just
pop us in the head.
If we can get these rocks cleared,
we can get set up and dredging by next week.
There's a couple of pieces right here I want gone.
This [bleep] is scary.
[rumbling]
I just lost a big [bleep] rock about this big out of here,
and I barely touched it.
Hey, guys, everything you step on is loose.
You see how big that's going to go, right?
This is nuts.
Holy [bleep], that's a big [bleep] piece.
[narrator] The Chilkat Mountains run directly
over the eastern Denali Fault line.
Even a small tremor would send these rocks down,
killing anyone below.
[James] That's a big [bleep] is what it looks like.
[Carlos] Oh, my gosh! There it goes! There it goes!
[laughing] Oh-ho-ho-ho!
Whoo-hoo!
Somebody's dredging, somebody's dredging, somebody's-- Boom!
Ooh, killed a diver. Killed a diver.
James, good job, bro. Rock and roll, amigo.
[Dustin] You did good, man.
Holy moly. You definitely saved some lives with that.
That's right.
This is the beginning of a bowling lane and we're the fricking pins.
Talk about Boulder Dash.
All those rocks I was prying on just came loose,
and there was a big granddaddy piece,
and if we would have left it there,
it would have took everything in its path and it would have tooken us.
Guaranteed.
[Dustin] Scott, come on down.
[Scott] This is my first day.
These guys do things a lot more extreme than what we do with Fred,
so it's exciting.
But at the same time, you have to respect the situation.
You have to respect the danger.
If you don't respect it, you're going to get bit, and out here,
if you get bit, it's lights out, it's done.
Hey, Scott, you know how to climb, bro?
[Scott] I haven't rappelled in a little while.
I've got that nervous feeling going on. That adrenaline's pumping.
My heart's sitting there, going thump, thump, thump, thump.
[narrator] It's the first chance for Scott to prove himself
to the new crew.
Watch out, watch out. Rock, rock, rock.
[Dustin groans] Argh!
This whole side of this mountain is just bunch of rocks
being held together with luck.
Scott being the new guy on the team,
we're going to give Scott a chance on it.
Watch out, watch out. Rock, rock, rock.
[Dustin groans] Argh! That hurt.
[Carlos] You all right?
[Dustin] Yeah. Got a pretty good-size rock to the shin.
Scott, every step you take is knocking [bleep] down.
[narrator] At House Rock,
new recruit, Scott, helps Dustin clear
killer boulders overhanging their dive site.
- Holy [bleep]. - Look how fast that's going. Wow!
[Wes] Nice one. Nice one, Scott.
[Carlos] That could've killed somebody. Holy moly.
-[Wes] There it goes. -[James] Oh! Damn, dude.
[Dustin] Rock, paper, scissors.
Rock's always going to win here.
He took off probably 10 yards of this [bleep], man.
That's amazing.
- That's awesome, man. -[Scott] Holy [bleep].
[James] Dude, we're going to have to figure something else out,
I can't pry this [bleep] out, it's too heavy.
[Wes] That one's locked in, isn't it?
[Dustin] It still needs to come down, but not with us under it.
[narrator] The biggest widow-maker
is too heavy to dislodge with a crowbar.
But Dustin's come prepared.
We got to a section here we can't get out and pry on.
So Carlos brought some exploding targets.
And I have a rifle.
So I don't see any reason why we shouldn't just use it.
We got these explosive charges that we use for our frickin' target practice.
The only thing that can set these things off is a high-velocity bullet.
[Dustin] Where are you thinking, right there?
[Scott] Yeah. [bleep], yeah.
Think so, man.
This should free the last of everything that we're worried about.
[Dustin] Yeah, this-- this is going to take care of it for us.
Now we're going to go shoot it from a distance
and see if we can't get it to cut loose.
If that's the case, that's the last section we got to deal with,
and it'll be more or less,
more safe than it was than when we started.
All right, fellas, you guys ready for this?
[Carlos] Yeah, dude!
-[Scott] Ready! - Ready!
[Wes] Fire in the hole!
[clicks]
Do you know how to turn it on?
[Carlos laughing] "Did you turn it on?"
[James] Jump-start it.
[gunshot]
[Wes] What?
That didn't set it off. It should have.
[Dustin] I think I hit it.
[gunshot]
[bleep]
[Wes] What the hell? That should go off.
Did he hit it?
I can see a hole in it.
Come on, [bleep]!
[explosion]
[rocks rumbling]
[cheering]
[James] Dude, that worked great!
[Carlos] Oh, here it comes!
[Dustin] Oh, yeah!
[all laughing]
That was [bleep] awesome.
[laughing]
Oh, my [bleep]!
I loved that too much.
[Dustin] We got off what we could,
some of that rock came down.
I'm gonna say if it stayed, it's going to be safe enough.
[Wes] I think so.
[James] I think so too, man.
[Dustin] We got a lot of rocks down. It's a lot better than it was.
I think it's a job well done.
You guys did great today, by the way.
[narrator] Widow-makers removed,
now, the miners can finally start their season
and get diving for a life-changing pile of gold.
I'm taking a huge risk at House Rock.
I've invested into two crews
and a second dredge.
This has to pay off.
Just going on a guess here,
there has to be gold down there.
[narrator] On the next
Gold Rush White Water...
[Dustin] Everybody, meet your new crew member. This is Kayla.
Hopefully, they don't get me killed.
[Dustin] Everybody has to prove themselves.
Let's see what she's got.
Feeling good?
[Kayla] Scared [bleep].
[excited scream]
[Dustin] Whoa! Heads up.
I've never seen it that dirty.
[James] Holy [bleep]!
[Dustin] Get out of the water!
I expect that there's going to be gold around that boulder...
-[explosion] - Whoo-hoo!
I think we're going to get a lot of gold. God, I want it bad!