1 00:00:04,241 --> 00:00:06,862 [narrator] Deep in the Alaskan wilderness. 2 00:00:06,862 --> 00:00:09,034 This year, we got something to prove. 3 00:00:09,034 --> 00:00:12,965 - Extreme gold miner Dustin Hurt... - Let's go. 4 00:00:12,965 --> 00:00:16,689 - ...leads his crew of fearless miners... - Whoo! 5 00:00:16,689 --> 00:00:19,758 ...to the most remote claims on Earth... 6 00:00:19,758 --> 00:00:23,000 [Dustin] I feel like the guys are hungry right now. 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,517 [narrator] ...hunting for nuggets where no one else would dare. 8 00:00:26,517 --> 00:00:28,965 Really hungry. I'm loving it. 9 00:00:28,965 --> 00:00:29,931 Good to go. 10 00:00:31,620 --> 00:00:32,517 Diver in. 11 00:00:34,448 --> 00:00:36,172 Risking everything... 12 00:00:36,172 --> 00:00:38,379 - Oh, get out of there! - Watch the swing. 13 00:00:38,379 --> 00:00:39,206 Do or die, amigo. 14 00:00:40,206 --> 00:00:41,689 - [all clamoring] - [grunts] 15 00:00:41,689 --> 00:00:42,827 - [bleep] - He would have been dead. 16 00:00:43,793 --> 00:00:45,310 [cheers] 17 00:00:45,310 --> 00:00:46,931 This is still not how I die. 18 00:00:48,275 --> 00:00:51,655 - ...for the big score... - There's gonna be giant nugget 19 00:00:51,655 --> 00:00:53,034 just about 10 feet down. 20 00:00:54,103 --> 00:00:58,551 This season, they finally hit the jackpot. 21 00:00:58,551 --> 00:01:01,000 - Nugget! - Oh, my God! 22 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:02,896 Everything we've heard is true. 23 00:01:02,896 --> 00:01:04,793 There is so much gold down there. 24 00:01:05,896 --> 00:01:07,448 Breaking the record books... 25 00:01:09,103 --> 00:01:11,620 That's the biggest nugget in Gold Rush history. 26 00:01:13,137 --> 00:01:15,172 ...but face a catastrophe... 27 00:01:15,172 --> 00:01:18,068 Hey, guys, I have some bad news. 28 00:01:19,068 --> 00:01:21,034 ...no one is ready for... 29 00:01:21,034 --> 00:01:23,137 Never known life without Fred Hurt. 30 00:01:32,034 --> 00:01:33,965 [all cheering] 31 00:01:33,965 --> 00:01:37,379 - [whoops] Yeah. - You guys ready for this? 32 00:01:37,379 --> 00:01:39,241 - Oh, yeah. - We don't have to set up camp. 33 00:01:39,241 --> 00:01:40,448 We don't have to move anything. 34 00:01:40,448 --> 00:01:42,862 We go in there, open everything up, 35 00:01:42,862 --> 00:01:46,137 get the dredge out, get up creek and go. 36 00:01:46,137 --> 00:01:48,689 [narrator] In remote southeast Alaska, 37 00:01:48,689 --> 00:01:53,000 veteran gold miner Dustin Hurt and his band of brothers 38 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,379 are heading deep into the Alaskan wilderness. 39 00:01:56,379 --> 00:01:59,482 Let's get some good gold, guys. 40 00:01:59,482 --> 00:02:04,448 On a mission to start mining operations earlier than ever before. 41 00:02:06,413 --> 00:02:08,379 And I can't find the tent or the camp. 42 00:02:09,344 --> 00:02:10,344 Did you see it? 43 00:02:10,344 --> 00:02:13,379 By the way, you can't see anything right here. 44 00:02:13,379 --> 00:02:16,206 I got to figure out how to get on top of this stuff. 45 00:02:16,206 --> 00:02:18,655 We can find the right ledge. We can probably do that. 46 00:02:18,655 --> 00:02:19,793 Y'all ready for that? 47 00:02:19,793 --> 00:02:20,862 Ah, yeah. 48 00:02:22,931 --> 00:02:24,551 We're probably going to run over a whole bunch of rocks, 49 00:02:24,551 --> 00:02:25,724 so everybody don't trip over. 50 00:02:27,862 --> 00:02:28,827 Whoa! 51 00:02:31,724 --> 00:02:32,896 [grunts] 52 00:02:34,965 --> 00:02:37,206 [grunts] Come on. 53 00:02:37,206 --> 00:02:39,000 Whoa. What the [bleep] was that? 54 00:02:41,448 --> 00:02:44,517 - We're not going to make it! We're not going to make it! - [bleep] 55 00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:50,068 Oh, my God! That was insane! 56 00:02:50,068 --> 00:02:53,034 [all laughing] 57 00:02:56,482 --> 00:02:57,655 That's not my intention. 58 00:02:57,655 --> 00:02:59,896 I thought hopefully I could get up on top of the snow 59 00:02:59,896 --> 00:03:01,586 and maybe it would go. 60 00:03:01,586 --> 00:03:04,379 All the ledges, look how tall all the ledges are. 61 00:03:04,379 --> 00:03:06,344 We're so close to camp. 62 00:03:08,724 --> 00:03:11,586 [narrator] 30 miles north of the nearest town 63 00:03:11,586 --> 00:03:14,172 lies Dustin's mining camp at Nugget Creek. 64 00:03:15,206 --> 00:03:18,172 He sunk his life savings into buying it, 65 00:03:18,172 --> 00:03:23,068 but getting there is a risky nine-mile journey up the Sercu River. 66 00:03:23,068 --> 00:03:26,068 The dangerous access is why it's rumored 67 00:03:26,068 --> 00:03:28,931 to still have legendary chunky nuggets. 68 00:03:28,931 --> 00:03:31,413 We have to freaking take all this snow out, dude. 69 00:03:31,413 --> 00:03:33,448 All right, let's get the shovels, and we got 70 00:03:33,448 --> 00:03:35,137 - to get some of the weight out. - Yeah. 71 00:03:37,034 --> 00:03:41,068 We're trying to find a water track for the airboat to ride on all the way to camp. 72 00:03:41,068 --> 00:03:44,344 And what it looks like is it got too narrow, 73 00:03:44,344 --> 00:03:48,000 and we started busting through snow, and I got us stuck. 74 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:49,896 The whole point of getting up here early 75 00:03:49,896 --> 00:03:54,206 was so we could get digging before the rain comes and floods us out. 76 00:03:54,206 --> 00:03:57,137 But right now, we can't even make it to camp. 77 00:03:57,137 --> 00:03:59,241 I knew we'd be digging snow, but I didn't think 78 00:03:59,241 --> 00:04:01,793 - we'd be digging snow out of the boat. - No. 79 00:04:01,793 --> 00:04:03,655 Dude, that was crazy even for me. 80 00:04:04,310 --> 00:04:05,241 Oh, my God. 81 00:04:07,068 --> 00:04:09,241 Sorry, guys, I tried. 82 00:04:09,241 --> 00:04:11,620 We got most of the way. If we can just get this out. 83 00:04:11,620 --> 00:04:13,689 Well, it was too narrow, obviously. 84 00:04:14,310 --> 00:04:15,862 We got no choice, man. 85 00:04:15,862 --> 00:04:17,206 We have to follow this. 86 00:04:18,655 --> 00:04:21,344 It's not looking good for us making it to camp, 87 00:04:21,344 --> 00:04:25,379 which we could see camp, but I can't get up on these banks. 88 00:04:25,379 --> 00:04:26,758 I'm going to keep trying, though. 89 00:04:29,206 --> 00:04:33,172 So I'm wondering if I should cut y'all loose, go by myself, 90 00:04:33,172 --> 00:04:36,827 - and try to jump up on top without killing us? - Yeah. 91 00:04:36,827 --> 00:04:39,862 And then try to come get you if I can ride on the snow. 92 00:04:39,862 --> 00:04:41,689 You ready to push out? 93 00:04:41,689 --> 00:04:43,517 Let's go for a shove. 94 00:04:43,517 --> 00:04:44,931 All this is just gonna slide off. 95 00:04:44,931 --> 00:04:46,724 We're gonna turn it on and... 96 00:04:46,724 --> 00:04:48,965 [motor whirring] 97 00:04:51,689 --> 00:04:53,172 There we go. Ready? 98 00:04:53,172 --> 00:04:54,137 Yep. 99 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:00,620 - All right, up. - Watch yourself. 100 00:05:01,482 --> 00:05:03,000 [engine revs] 101 00:05:05,448 --> 00:05:06,620 [yells] 102 00:05:07,758 --> 00:05:08,931 - [all laughing] - [bleep] 103 00:05:15,827 --> 00:05:19,379 - Oh, we made it! - Holy [bleep], we made it. 104 00:05:19,379 --> 00:05:21,482 We made it! Yeah! 105 00:05:21,482 --> 00:05:24,137 - No way! - [all] Yeah! 106 00:05:24,137 --> 00:05:26,137 I knew I should have stayed on. 107 00:05:28,172 --> 00:05:31,000 - What are you doing, Carlos? - Trying to get up on the shelf. 108 00:05:32,482 --> 00:05:34,827 Woo-hoo! Yeah! 109 00:05:34,827 --> 00:05:37,448 - Hell yeah! - I didn't think I was going to make it. 110 00:05:38,827 --> 00:05:40,689 Let's go jump some [bleep]. 111 00:05:43,827 --> 00:05:45,241 Yeah, Carlos. 112 00:05:45,551 --> 00:05:47,241 Woo! 113 00:05:47,241 --> 00:05:48,896 Let's get to the other side now. 114 00:05:49,344 --> 00:05:50,758 I agree. 115 00:05:50,758 --> 00:05:52,689 All right, let's get a camp. 116 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:56,655 Look, we were so close to the gold last year. 117 00:05:56,655 --> 00:05:59,310 It's driving me crazy, knowing what we left out there. 118 00:05:59,310 --> 00:06:01,517 I just grabbed the dredge and just yank it up there 119 00:06:01,517 --> 00:06:02,758 and start dredging. 120 00:06:02,758 --> 00:06:04,275 That's all I want to do, too. 121 00:06:05,103 --> 00:06:07,000 Woo-hoo! We got this down. 122 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:08,172 [laughs] 123 00:06:09,068 --> 00:06:11,724 We're crash-test dummies. [laughs] 124 00:06:13,758 --> 00:06:15,896 - [bleep] Whoo! - We're here, boys! 125 00:06:15,896 --> 00:06:17,724 Back at Nugget Creek. 126 00:06:17,724 --> 00:06:19,310 Let's get in the water. 127 00:06:19,310 --> 00:06:22,517 [all whooping and laughing] 128 00:06:24,551 --> 00:06:28,172 [narrator] Last year, Dustin shifted his focus to the remote 129 00:06:28,172 --> 00:06:30,793 and inhospitable Nugget Creek claim, 130 00:06:32,482 --> 00:06:37,586 rumored to hold nuggets worth up to $50,000 apiece. 131 00:06:39,068 --> 00:06:43,000 The word is that Nugget Creek has more gold up there 132 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:44,000 than I can handle. 133 00:06:44,620 --> 00:06:47,034 More gold and bigger gold. 134 00:06:47,034 --> 00:06:48,620 [woman] That's promising. 135 00:06:48,620 --> 00:06:52,344 [man] With a little bit of luck, this could change our entire lives. 136 00:06:55,103 --> 00:06:58,586 [narrator] But those dreams quickly turned to nightmares 137 00:06:58,586 --> 00:07:03,172 when his two crews were annihilated by a series of ferocious storms. 138 00:07:03,172 --> 00:07:05,551 [woman] That [bleep] is so loud. 139 00:07:05,551 --> 00:07:07,862 You can hear the boulders rolling down the creek. 140 00:07:07,862 --> 00:07:10,413 Sound like I'm in a Texas thunderstorm right now. 141 00:07:10,413 --> 00:07:12,172 [Dustin] We're about to lose everything, 142 00:07:12,172 --> 00:07:14,034 and there's nothing I can do but watch it happen. 143 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,034 This place is destroyed. 144 00:07:19,965 --> 00:07:21,896 I'mma call in the season. That's it. 145 00:07:21,896 --> 00:07:23,103 We're done with this. 146 00:07:27,413 --> 00:07:30,275 Mother Nature beat us last year. 147 00:07:30,275 --> 00:07:33,172 After all that flooding, it destroyed my bank account, 148 00:07:33,172 --> 00:07:34,482 - I can tell you that. - Yeah. 149 00:07:34,482 --> 00:07:38,827 And it was a choice between completely stopping this 150 00:07:38,827 --> 00:07:41,241 or basically going to debt to do this. 151 00:07:41,241 --> 00:07:43,862 So I went into debt to do this, and this is where we're at. 152 00:07:43,862 --> 00:07:47,275 Couldn't afford to bring everybody back, so this is it. 153 00:07:47,275 --> 00:07:49,620 This is us. We either weren't going to come back, 154 00:07:49,620 --> 00:07:51,448 or we're going to have a single crew, and that's it. 155 00:07:51,448 --> 00:07:54,275 And I decided on us. 156 00:07:54,275 --> 00:07:56,275 We're going to have to hit it as hard as we can 157 00:07:56,275 --> 00:07:58,448 - because we know the rains are coming. - We got to. 158 00:07:58,448 --> 00:08:00,689 We got to make up for what we didn't do last year. 159 00:08:00,689 --> 00:08:01,896 That's true. 160 00:08:01,896 --> 00:08:05,413 [narrator] Dustin is down to just a five-person crew. 161 00:08:05,413 --> 00:08:08,034 And to make matters worse, he will have to face 162 00:08:08,034 --> 00:08:11,586 the season ahead without his most trusted ally. 163 00:08:18,517 --> 00:08:21,241 I have to find out how Fred's doing. 164 00:08:21,241 --> 00:08:25,413 They just diagnosed him with severe brain cancer. 165 00:08:25,413 --> 00:08:28,241 Quite frankly, I think that this is probably going 166 00:08:28,241 --> 00:08:29,758 to be the last time I see him. 167 00:08:30,068 --> 00:08:30,862 Um... 168 00:08:33,482 --> 00:08:34,344 We'll see. 169 00:08:34,344 --> 00:08:36,310 It's pretty sad to say that out loud. 170 00:08:36,310 --> 00:08:39,517 I think that's the first time I've really, really said that out loud. 171 00:08:44,275 --> 00:08:46,862 [narrator] Mining legend, Dakota Fred 172 00:08:46,862 --> 00:08:50,620 brought his son, Dustin, to Alaska over 10 years ago. 173 00:08:51,896 --> 00:08:53,862 They can go on by, baby. 174 00:08:53,862 --> 00:08:58,379 The two mined side by side, sharing good times... 175 00:08:58,379 --> 00:09:03,482 - 280 ounces of gold. - Yeah! 176 00:09:03,482 --> 00:09:04,793 - [whoops] - Hell yeah. 177 00:09:04,793 --> 00:09:05,758 ...and bad. 178 00:09:05,758 --> 00:09:08,206 What the hell are you doing? 179 00:09:08,206 --> 00:09:12,724 That does not sound like condescending bull [bleep] to you? 180 00:09:12,724 --> 00:09:16,344 But nothing could stand between father and son 181 00:09:16,344 --> 00:09:19,551 and their dream of a bonanza in gold. 182 00:09:19,551 --> 00:09:21,827 Hey, Fred, can you believe it? 183 00:09:21,827 --> 00:09:24,448 We're both diving in McKinley Creek together. 184 00:09:24,448 --> 00:09:27,931 Double the dredges, double the Hurts. 185 00:09:27,931 --> 00:09:32,103 But Fred's recent diagnosis changed everything. 186 00:09:37,275 --> 00:09:40,551 - Hey, Fred. - Hey, what's up, man? 187 00:09:40,551 --> 00:09:41,862 How's it going, man? 188 00:09:43,758 --> 00:09:45,482 - Good to see you. - Yeah. 189 00:09:45,482 --> 00:09:46,965 - Have a seat. - Okay. 190 00:09:51,275 --> 00:09:52,241 So how you doing, man? 191 00:09:52,241 --> 00:09:54,586 I guess you know I got, uh... 192 00:09:56,172 --> 00:09:58,275 good old brain tumors right now. 193 00:09:59,724 --> 00:10:02,448 My balance is down a little bit. 194 00:10:02,448 --> 00:10:06,586 A little bit of blurry vision. 195 00:10:06,586 --> 00:10:08,379 It's progressing every day. 196 00:10:09,448 --> 00:10:11,275 Sorry to hear that, brother. 197 00:10:11,275 --> 00:10:12,206 That's too bad. 198 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:18,724 So how long did they give you? 199 00:10:21,793 --> 00:10:23,482 They don't know. 200 00:10:23,482 --> 00:10:28,793 I mean, anywhere from a few months to six months. 201 00:10:33,413 --> 00:10:36,758 I know you're concerned, and I know it bothers you. 202 00:10:37,827 --> 00:10:39,586 Hell, I've lived a good life. 203 00:10:40,551 --> 00:10:42,827 - [chuckles] - Yeah. 204 00:10:44,827 --> 00:10:47,689 - Uh... - We're gonna miss you up there, man. 205 00:10:47,689 --> 00:10:50,068 Everybody likes having you around. 206 00:10:51,655 --> 00:10:55,103 I want you guys to go up there and have one hell of a season. 207 00:10:55,103 --> 00:10:59,758 I know you got a good plan, and I'll be rooting for you. 208 00:10:59,758 --> 00:11:01,758 Hopefully, you make it long enough 209 00:11:01,758 --> 00:11:05,862 to where we can show you some gold. 210 00:11:05,862 --> 00:11:08,206 - I'll be looking forward to it. - Okay. 211 00:11:08,206 --> 00:11:10,862 That's my goal. [laughs] 212 00:11:10,862 --> 00:11:13,103 To hold out long enough to see some gold 213 00:11:13,103 --> 00:11:14,482 come out of Nugget Creek. 214 00:11:15,482 --> 00:11:18,275 So, bring me some. 215 00:11:18,275 --> 00:11:21,862 I'm gonna try with all my might, but, yeah. 216 00:11:21,862 --> 00:11:23,344 - All right. - All right. 217 00:11:23,344 --> 00:11:25,517 Love you. You take care. 218 00:11:28,586 --> 00:11:30,137 I love you. 219 00:11:30,137 --> 00:11:31,551 Hope we get to see you again. 220 00:11:47,275 --> 00:11:48,482 Pretty damn sad. 221 00:11:50,206 --> 00:11:52,482 I've never known life without Fred Hurt. 222 00:11:56,448 --> 00:11:59,034 Nobody's ever ready to let somebody go. 223 00:11:59,034 --> 00:12:00,724 You just deal with it when it happens. 224 00:12:00,724 --> 00:12:01,758 That's it. 225 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:05,931 - Love you, hon. - I love you, too. 226 00:12:08,620 --> 00:12:10,931 I'm heading up to Alaska with his blessing. 227 00:12:10,931 --> 00:12:13,275 He wants me to succeed. 228 00:12:13,275 --> 00:12:16,620 He wants me to find gold. 229 00:12:17,655 --> 00:12:20,413 He wants me to have adventure. 230 00:12:20,413 --> 00:12:24,103 He doesn't want me sitting here watching him die. 231 00:12:38,827 --> 00:12:41,482 So, it's gonna be a little rough. 232 00:12:41,482 --> 00:12:42,827 Snow's a little deep. 233 00:12:42,827 --> 00:12:45,517 The things that we do to go for this gold, 234 00:12:45,517 --> 00:12:49,448 [narrator] It's a 1,000-foot hike through deep snow to their camp, 235 00:12:49,448 --> 00:12:50,965 which they left under wraps 236 00:12:50,965 --> 00:12:52,827 through the harsh Alaskan winter. 237 00:12:53,517 --> 00:12:55,586 [bleep]. He found a spot. 238 00:12:57,413 --> 00:12:59,965 Oh, [bleep]. Gotta catch a breath. 239 00:12:59,965 --> 00:13:02,310 [laughs] 240 00:13:04,793 --> 00:13:07,000 That's destroyed. 241 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,724 Oh, [bleep], that's not good. 242 00:13:10,724 --> 00:13:11,655 Oh, [bleep] 243 00:13:12,551 --> 00:13:14,000 That's not what I wanted to see. 244 00:13:16,034 --> 00:13:18,827 To give themselves a head start this year, 245 00:13:18,827 --> 00:13:21,275 the crew left all their mining gear 246 00:13:21,275 --> 00:13:25,172 in a steel-reinforced tent to protect it from the elements. 247 00:13:25,793 --> 00:13:27,655 Everything is under snow. 248 00:13:27,655 --> 00:13:31,275 Our tent, our buggies, the dredges are buried. 249 00:13:31,275 --> 00:13:34,689 This mother [bleep] was supposed to be snowproof. 250 00:13:35,965 --> 00:13:37,655 [Dustin] This was a big setback. 251 00:13:37,655 --> 00:13:40,310 Yet again, I messed up. 252 00:13:40,310 --> 00:13:42,172 I bought the wrong tent, obviously. 253 00:13:43,137 --> 00:13:45,689 And now we're set back. 254 00:13:46,275 --> 00:13:47,896 Um... 255 00:13:47,896 --> 00:13:50,586 The most perfect day to go out and start dredging, 256 00:13:50,586 --> 00:13:52,620 and I'm not out there. 257 00:13:52,620 --> 00:13:54,586 I'm picking up the damn mess. 258 00:13:56,551 --> 00:13:58,000 Did we lose everything? 259 00:14:09,827 --> 00:14:13,586 On our first day, it's a rescue mission for all our gear. 260 00:14:13,586 --> 00:14:18,000 Phase one, find out what's in this destroyed tent. 261 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,689 [narrator] At Dustin's Nugget Camp, the collapsed storage tent 262 00:14:21,689 --> 00:14:26,034 threatens to derail their early start to the season. 263 00:14:26,034 --> 00:14:29,827 We had an idea right before the end of last season, 264 00:14:29,827 --> 00:14:36,000 put up a nice tent rated for freaking, kind of, buku snow, like Arctic snow. 265 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,482 And we thought we would come back this season 266 00:14:38,482 --> 00:14:40,482 With all our gear nice and toasty, 267 00:14:41,310 --> 00:14:42,793 obviously, 268 00:14:43,379 --> 00:14:44,724 snow wins. 269 00:14:49,206 --> 00:14:51,413 That's slick. Whoa. 270 00:14:51,413 --> 00:14:53,344 - Dang it. - It's like a maze in here. 271 00:14:53,344 --> 00:14:54,517 I [bleep] can't move. 272 00:14:56,827 --> 00:14:58,034 I'm literally stuck. 273 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Solid ice down here, too. 274 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,206 - We need this snow out. - Gotcha. 275 00:15:03,206 --> 00:15:05,103 Oh, [bleep], there's a shovel right here, James. 276 00:15:05,103 --> 00:15:06,620 - Oh, boy. - Can you get over here? 277 00:15:07,689 --> 00:15:09,275 Can you reach it? 278 00:15:09,275 --> 00:15:12,448 - You have to bring it back to where you were before. - Okay. 279 00:15:13,793 --> 00:15:15,965 - [groans] - Good job, dude! 280 00:15:17,551 --> 00:15:18,344 [grunts] 281 00:15:24,931 --> 00:15:25,724 [grunts] 282 00:15:26,275 --> 00:15:28,241 Get out of town! 283 00:15:28,241 --> 00:15:30,275 It's not even about trying to beat the rains. 284 00:15:30,275 --> 00:15:31,758 I need my gear to be okay. 285 00:15:31,758 --> 00:15:34,482 If it's smashed and all of my dredges are destroyed, 286 00:15:34,482 --> 00:15:36,103 we're done. We're done here. 287 00:15:36,103 --> 00:15:37,862 We got to just go, because I can't afford 288 00:15:37,862 --> 00:15:39,448 to replace all this stuff. 289 00:15:39,448 --> 00:15:40,758 It's just not going to happen. 290 00:15:42,275 --> 00:15:45,103 All right, I'm going to see if I can get the dozer running 291 00:15:45,103 --> 00:15:47,517 and start cleaning out some of the snow around the camp. 292 00:15:47,517 --> 00:15:50,379 Hell, yeah. There's a lot. 293 00:15:50,379 --> 00:15:52,034 I mean, we can work at it and get it. 294 00:15:52,034 --> 00:15:53,689 - Yeah, man. - Arnold. 295 00:15:56,896 --> 00:15:59,689 - [engine starts] - [laughs] 296 00:16:01,517 --> 00:16:02,448 Yeah! 297 00:16:03,241 --> 00:16:05,068 [bleep] yeah! Fired right up! 298 00:16:05,068 --> 00:16:06,793 Well, the dozer started right up, 299 00:16:06,793 --> 00:16:09,137 so that's a good sign already. 300 00:16:11,172 --> 00:16:13,724 That means we can get rid of snow. 301 00:16:13,724 --> 00:16:15,103 It's a big deal here. 302 00:16:16,517 --> 00:16:20,724 Getting rid of snow is always a plus. 303 00:16:20,724 --> 00:16:25,310 [narrator] Dustin gets to work clearing the snow, while inside the tent, 304 00:16:25,310 --> 00:16:28,241 there's a search-and-rescue mission. 305 00:16:28,241 --> 00:16:29,931 Oh, there's a lot of snow on top. 306 00:16:29,931 --> 00:16:32,620 - Oh, [bleep] - I'm going to go to the other end. 307 00:16:35,172 --> 00:16:37,137 - Jeep got [bleep] up, too. - Did it? 308 00:16:37,137 --> 00:16:38,000 Yep. 309 00:16:39,482 --> 00:16:41,413 - Yeah, the windshield. - Oh, [bleep]. 310 00:16:41,413 --> 00:16:43,103 Dude, it popped the tires. 311 00:16:43,103 --> 00:16:44,758 - Yeah. - [bleep] bad. 312 00:16:44,758 --> 00:16:46,310 Holy [bleep]. 313 00:16:46,310 --> 00:16:49,206 - That crushed in the whole roof. - Oh, my God. 314 00:16:49,206 --> 00:16:50,689 I don't even know if we should be in here. 315 00:16:50,689 --> 00:16:52,206 - They're crushed. - Oh, [bleep]. 316 00:16:52,206 --> 00:16:53,655 Holy moly, dude. 317 00:16:53,655 --> 00:16:54,862 That's not good, bro. 318 00:16:55,689 --> 00:16:57,000 - Ah. - That's not going to happen. 319 00:16:57,931 --> 00:16:59,310 The tires are popped... 320 00:16:59,310 --> 00:17:00,655 - All our vehicles are done for. - ...from all the weight. 321 00:17:01,724 --> 00:17:03,344 Well, they're going to need a lot of work. 322 00:17:03,344 --> 00:17:05,068 Who's going to be the first one to tell Dustin? 323 00:17:05,068 --> 00:17:06,344 Not me, amigo. 324 00:17:15,103 --> 00:17:16,896 - How's it going over there? - It smashed everything. 325 00:17:16,896 --> 00:17:19,000 They digged up the ATV. It's smashed too. 326 00:17:19,896 --> 00:17:21,103 Somewhat. 327 00:17:21,103 --> 00:17:24,241 The whole bed is crushed to the ground. 328 00:17:25,172 --> 00:17:26,862 I can't tell on the axles yet. 329 00:17:26,862 --> 00:17:30,310 I can't get over there to actually see. 330 00:17:30,310 --> 00:17:34,413 We'll just have to assess it once we can get some of that [bleep] off of there. 331 00:17:34,413 --> 00:17:36,413 - Let me take a look. I haven't looked in here yet. - Yep. Okay. 332 00:17:36,413 --> 00:17:37,793 I've been out here playing in the mud. 333 00:17:40,103 --> 00:17:42,862 The excavator's fine, but I need to take that bar off 334 00:17:42,862 --> 00:17:45,034 down there before I can get the excavator out. 335 00:17:45,034 --> 00:17:47,448 Can we maybe get it out of the tent, or... 336 00:17:50,206 --> 00:17:51,827 - Yeah. - Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! 337 00:17:51,827 --> 00:17:53,482 - Don't you think it's smashed up? - Yeah. 338 00:17:53,896 --> 00:17:55,241 Yeah. 339 00:17:56,068 --> 00:17:57,275 It took it pretty roughly. 340 00:17:59,551 --> 00:18:01,241 Don't get in here. There ain't no reason. 341 00:18:01,241 --> 00:18:03,620 - Just let it happen. - Okay, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. 342 00:18:03,620 --> 00:18:05,000 Don't get in here. 343 00:18:11,620 --> 00:18:13,586 Ooh, it's got me pinned. 344 00:18:13,586 --> 00:18:15,068 - Wow. - What do you need? 345 00:18:15,068 --> 00:18:17,034 - Balls. - There you go. 346 00:18:18,586 --> 00:18:20,103 - Um... - It might come. 347 00:18:20,103 --> 00:18:22,724 Just let us get out of the way and... 348 00:18:25,551 --> 00:18:26,931 Okay, you're good. 349 00:18:28,965 --> 00:18:30,655 - Free at last. - You got it. 350 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,137 All right. Let's pull this Jeep out, 351 00:18:36,137 --> 00:18:37,172 see what's left of it. 352 00:18:38,310 --> 00:18:39,275 Sit tight. 353 00:18:42,137 --> 00:18:43,310 Keep driving. 354 00:18:45,655 --> 00:18:48,379 - Watch your fingers and toes. - Go for it. 355 00:18:48,379 --> 00:18:50,241 - I'm about to bounce on you. - Go for it. 356 00:18:51,241 --> 00:18:52,344 Ooh. 357 00:18:53,379 --> 00:18:55,793 [bleep]. Wow. 358 00:18:55,793 --> 00:18:56,689 She's in there. 359 00:18:58,551 --> 00:19:01,275 Carlos, James, come hang off the back of this thing, man. 360 00:19:01,586 --> 00:19:02,551 Yeah! 361 00:19:07,931 --> 00:19:09,827 - Okay. Here goes. - There it goes! 362 00:19:10,310 --> 00:19:11,827 Yeah! 363 00:19:11,827 --> 00:19:13,034 Thank you, guys. 364 00:19:13,034 --> 00:19:15,413 [bleep], man, it's so apocalyptic, dude. 365 00:19:15,413 --> 00:19:16,793 Oh, that poor Jeep. 366 00:19:16,793 --> 00:19:18,931 Let's get the ATVs out. 367 00:19:18,931 --> 00:19:20,413 We might have a flat tire. 368 00:19:22,413 --> 00:19:23,793 [engine starts] 369 00:19:24,413 --> 00:19:25,448 It's alive! 370 00:19:28,379 --> 00:19:30,206 Yeah! [laughs] 371 00:19:30,206 --> 00:19:32,137 You don't even need to tow it, dude. 372 00:19:32,137 --> 00:19:34,827 - It works. - Holy [bleep]. 373 00:19:34,827 --> 00:19:37,172 - That's a good sign. - Yeah, it is. 374 00:19:37,172 --> 00:19:38,344 [groans] 375 00:19:38,344 --> 00:19:41,482 I thought that thing was trashed completely. 376 00:19:41,482 --> 00:19:44,310 It's all wonky, but God, man, it still goes. 377 00:19:44,310 --> 00:19:45,896 That tire flat on the front? 378 00:19:45,896 --> 00:19:48,206 Man, I bet you that ice came down, 379 00:19:48,206 --> 00:19:50,620 just pushed the air out of that. 380 00:19:50,620 --> 00:19:52,379 - Yeah. - We're trying to get to this dry spot. 381 00:19:52,379 --> 00:19:54,000 That thing was pancake. 382 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,620 You couldn't tell if it was going to drive or not. 383 00:19:56,620 --> 00:19:58,448 It looked like it was toast. 384 00:19:58,448 --> 00:20:00,275 Now we got an ATV we can drive. 385 00:20:00,275 --> 00:20:02,034 We'll be able to get around in the snow. 386 00:20:02,931 --> 00:20:05,379 That's a huge win for us right now. 387 00:20:05,379 --> 00:20:07,655 - So... - Yes, it is. 388 00:20:07,655 --> 00:20:09,724 - Takes a licking, keeps on ticking. - Right. 389 00:20:09,724 --> 00:20:11,517 How are the dredges looking over there? 390 00:20:11,517 --> 00:20:13,034 - Did they make it? - Huh. 391 00:20:13,034 --> 00:20:14,586 You know what? 392 00:20:14,586 --> 00:20:16,482 All the dredges are on this side, 393 00:20:16,482 --> 00:20:18,275 and they all look just fine. 394 00:20:19,172 --> 00:20:21,344 I cannot believe that made it. 395 00:20:21,344 --> 00:20:22,689 That is awesome, man. 396 00:20:22,689 --> 00:20:26,620 The one thing that it didn't smash is my dredges. 397 00:20:26,620 --> 00:20:29,655 They made it, and it was just blind luck. 398 00:20:29,655 --> 00:20:31,586 - That was it. - Hang on, hang on. 399 00:20:31,586 --> 00:20:34,482 The dredges got pontoons and we've got snow. 400 00:20:34,482 --> 00:20:36,482 Why don't we try to stage that dredge? 401 00:20:36,482 --> 00:20:38,862 - You want to drag it up on the snow? - Drag it up with the ATV. 402 00:20:38,862 --> 00:20:40,310 Then it's just a short jog to get it to the site. 403 00:20:40,310 --> 00:20:41,827 Yeah, we can stage it. 404 00:20:41,827 --> 00:20:44,482 Tell you what, right now, we need to finish getting our cabins fixed up. 405 00:20:44,482 --> 00:20:45,931 Yes, then we can go check it out. 406 00:20:45,931 --> 00:20:49,137 So first thing tomorrow, we'll get the tracks on that ATV, 407 00:20:49,137 --> 00:20:51,655 and we'll drag that dredge up to the creek. 408 00:20:51,655 --> 00:20:53,931 - [chuckles] - That's a great idea, Paul. 409 00:20:54,896 --> 00:20:57,310 Hopefully, we can get minin' real soon. 410 00:21:07,448 --> 00:21:10,034 Well, you slept hard, cos I could hear you snoring. 411 00:21:10,034 --> 00:21:12,586 - [bleep] yeah, I slept hard. - You didn't wake up at all? 412 00:21:12,586 --> 00:21:15,793 Uh-uh. I woke up at 1 o'clock. 413 00:21:15,793 --> 00:21:18,482 It was still dark. I had to take a piss. 414 00:21:18,482 --> 00:21:20,551 Then that freaking light, Paul's light came on. 415 00:21:20,551 --> 00:21:23,275 - I said, oh, thank you, God, man. - [all laughing] 416 00:21:23,275 --> 00:21:25,965 Check it out. I've got something cool to show you. 417 00:21:25,965 --> 00:21:27,137 It's in a map. 418 00:21:28,344 --> 00:21:32,206 - And it's from 1928. - Wow. 419 00:21:32,206 --> 00:21:35,517 This is the known perimeters of our claim 420 00:21:36,344 --> 00:21:39,620 If you go on the online stuff, 421 00:21:39,620 --> 00:21:42,448 it is different than the original stuff. 422 00:21:42,448 --> 00:21:44,827 I got ahold of the original stuff, 423 00:21:44,827 --> 00:21:48,758 and this is, uh... this is our boundaries. 424 00:21:48,758 --> 00:21:53,068 And what I've been told is we, and this kind of proves it, 425 00:21:53,068 --> 00:21:58,620 that we're about 200 to 300 feet upstream, 426 00:21:58,620 --> 00:22:01,379 - too far, what we thought was our property line. - Mm-hmm. 427 00:22:02,517 --> 00:22:05,206 Dustin spent the whole of last season 428 00:22:05,206 --> 00:22:09,724 battling at what he thought was the southernmost limit of his claim. 429 00:22:09,724 --> 00:22:12,379 But the 1928 survey map 430 00:22:12,379 --> 00:22:17,448 has revealed that his boundary extends 250 feet further down creek, 431 00:22:19,034 --> 00:22:23,172 gifting him the potential of new gold-rich territory. 432 00:22:24,931 --> 00:22:26,931 So I'm pretty psyched about this map, guys. 433 00:22:26,931 --> 00:22:28,689 - Yeah. Me too. - And what it did for us, 434 00:22:28,689 --> 00:22:31,275 I think it's a good spot to dig. 435 00:22:31,275 --> 00:22:33,000 Last year, we had to walk right by it, 436 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,758 - because I thought it wasn't on our property. - Yeah. 437 00:22:34,758 --> 00:22:37,758 But it's within our reach to dig there. 438 00:22:37,758 --> 00:22:40,137 It's a good settling area for ancient gold that came down. 439 00:22:40,137 --> 00:22:41,103 Yep. 440 00:22:41,103 --> 00:22:42,344 And it settled there, and everything else 441 00:22:42,344 --> 00:22:43,310 smoothed off on the other side. 442 00:22:43,310 --> 00:22:44,965 - That's freaking awesome, dude. - Come on. 443 00:22:44,965 --> 00:22:47,310 You see, the way I see it, too, big boulders, big gold. 444 00:22:47,310 --> 00:22:48,965 You know, if the big boulders stopped right there, 445 00:22:48,965 --> 00:22:50,241 the big gold's gonna drop out right there. 446 00:22:50,241 --> 00:22:52,137 [Carlos] It's gonna be it, man. Nugget patch, bro. 447 00:22:52,137 --> 00:22:54,275 Just picking them up and putting them in your basket. 448 00:22:54,275 --> 00:22:55,620 I haven't seen any damn gold. 449 00:22:55,620 --> 00:22:57,413 - Man. - There's no speculation until I see it. 450 00:22:57,413 --> 00:22:58,793 - Yeah. - Right, right, right. 451 00:22:58,793 --> 00:23:01,724 This is not real until we actually hold it in our hands. 452 00:23:01,724 --> 00:23:02,758 - Yeah. - Exactly. 453 00:23:02,758 --> 00:23:04,896 So we can talk about how much we're gonna get, 454 00:23:04,896 --> 00:23:08,137 but the truth is, if we don't beat the rain, 455 00:23:08,137 --> 00:23:10,793 - It's all for nothing anyways. So we have to beat it. - Mm-hmm. 456 00:23:10,793 --> 00:23:14,034 - Yeah. - We have to be to the bottom of this thing. 457 00:23:14,034 --> 00:23:16,206 No time wasted. We have to get up there. 458 00:23:16,206 --> 00:23:17,206 We have to smash this. 459 00:23:17,206 --> 00:23:19,620 Just absolutely dig it out. 460 00:23:19,620 --> 00:23:22,689 Just... [grunts] just everything you can. 461 00:23:22,689 --> 00:23:24,965 - Mm-hmm. - And then when it's flooding, you can take your break. 462 00:23:24,965 --> 00:23:26,034 - All right? - Yep. 463 00:23:26,034 --> 00:23:27,586 All right. Everybody know what they were doing? 464 00:23:27,586 --> 00:23:28,689 - Mm-hmm. - All right. 465 00:23:29,517 --> 00:23:32,206 Man, I can't wait to go mining. 466 00:23:32,206 --> 00:23:34,655 Last year, we found out how hard it was to drag 467 00:23:34,655 --> 00:23:37,517 these dredges up to the creek. 468 00:23:37,517 --> 00:23:41,241 So we need to put tracks on this ATV. 469 00:23:41,241 --> 00:23:43,896 We're going to put these dredges on the snow 470 00:23:44,517 --> 00:23:45,793 and slide them right up. 471 00:23:45,793 --> 00:23:47,172 We want to take advantage of the snow 472 00:23:47,172 --> 00:23:49,586 so we don't have to drag it over all the boulders. 473 00:23:52,413 --> 00:23:53,448 Come on. 474 00:23:55,965 --> 00:23:58,344 Yeah, a little bit more. Yeah, there you go. 475 00:23:58,344 --> 00:24:00,517 - Back on. - That's it. [bleep] yeah. 476 00:24:01,275 --> 00:24:02,620 That is almost it. 477 00:24:02,620 --> 00:24:04,931 Hold on. Stay right there. Stay right there. That's it. 478 00:24:04,931 --> 00:24:06,793 I just got to tighten this up, but it's over with. 479 00:24:06,793 --> 00:24:08,241 It shouldn't be a huge accomplishment, 480 00:24:08,241 --> 00:24:10,379 - but it really is right now. - It really is. 481 00:24:10,379 --> 00:24:13,586 All right. That's it. Tracks are on. 482 00:24:13,586 --> 00:24:15,448 Let's move the dredge up to the cul-de-sac. 483 00:24:15,448 --> 00:24:16,413 All right. 484 00:24:18,275 --> 00:24:19,724 Oh, we're way ahead of the game right now. 485 00:24:19,724 --> 00:24:20,896 - Yes. Absolutely. - I love it. 486 00:24:20,896 --> 00:24:21,827 Just ride in. 487 00:24:21,827 --> 00:24:23,000 Just make sure we don't hook anything. 488 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:24,241 Yeah, we'll have to watch those boards. 489 00:24:24,241 --> 00:24:25,862 - I'll walk behind it to help us guide it. - [engine starts] 490 00:24:27,793 --> 00:24:28,793 Yeah, baby. 491 00:24:31,241 --> 00:24:34,206 Oh, that's no problem, dude. Get on top of it, Paul. 492 00:24:34,206 --> 00:24:36,448 - There you go. - [laughs] 493 00:24:39,275 --> 00:24:41,517 Look at the mountains behind him. That's badass. 494 00:24:41,517 --> 00:24:43,862 How badass is this, dude? 495 00:24:43,862 --> 00:24:47,034 - Looks like a freaking dog musher, dude. - [all laughing] 496 00:24:49,965 --> 00:24:52,551 So we're going to beat one of the all-time honors this year. 497 00:24:52,551 --> 00:24:54,758 They did it in the fall and the winter when there was snow. 498 00:24:54,758 --> 00:24:56,517 Get it set up, things melted down, 499 00:24:56,517 --> 00:24:57,862 their equipment was sitting there, 500 00:24:57,862 --> 00:24:59,827 and they were ready to go as soon as the snow melted. 501 00:25:03,068 --> 00:25:05,103 [narrator] The frenzy for Alaskan gold 502 00:25:05,103 --> 00:25:10,655 began over 120 years ago when the discovery of gold in the Yukon 503 00:25:10,655 --> 00:25:13,413 sparked the original gold rush. 504 00:25:13,413 --> 00:25:17,586 Thousands of intrepid adventurers raced to the Chilkat Mountains, 505 00:25:17,586 --> 00:25:21,896 eventually digging out more than 80,000 ounces of gold 506 00:25:21,896 --> 00:25:27,413 worth over $160 million in today's money. 507 00:25:27,413 --> 00:25:31,344 It's estimated there's 200 million ounces of gold 508 00:25:31,344 --> 00:25:33,620 still in the ground in Alaska, 509 00:25:33,620 --> 00:25:37,000 but only in the hardest to reach locations. 510 00:25:39,724 --> 00:25:40,965 We made it! 511 00:25:40,965 --> 00:25:43,000 Oh my gosh, it's so bright out here. 512 00:25:43,724 --> 00:25:45,344 We're weeks ahead now. 513 00:25:45,344 --> 00:25:46,689 Dude, we're way ahead, man. 514 00:25:46,689 --> 00:25:48,068 - That saved a lot of time. - Good job on the idea 515 00:25:48,068 --> 00:25:49,896 of dragging it up in the snow. 516 00:25:49,896 --> 00:25:51,931 It's better than trying to carry it out here by hand, man. 517 00:25:51,931 --> 00:25:53,689 - Oh, my God. - Let's get this going. 518 00:25:53,689 --> 00:25:55,655 We're just one step closer. 519 00:25:55,655 --> 00:25:58,482 We need to be in that water yesterday, all right? 520 00:25:58,482 --> 00:26:00,275 Yesterday. 521 00:26:00,275 --> 00:26:02,689 All right. Let me go look at this creek, man. 522 00:26:02,689 --> 00:26:04,034 Just see what we were dealing with, right? 523 00:26:04,034 --> 00:26:05,137 Yep. 524 00:26:05,137 --> 00:26:07,862 - It sounds mild right now. - Man, look at that water. 525 00:26:07,862 --> 00:26:10,068 Look how clear! Whoo! 526 00:26:10,068 --> 00:26:10,965 Oh, man. 527 00:26:11,517 --> 00:26:13,896 Holy [bleep], dude. 528 00:26:13,896 --> 00:26:15,724 Do you remember how hard of a time we had just 529 00:26:15,724 --> 00:26:18,344 getting across from here over to there last year? 530 00:26:18,344 --> 00:26:19,551 Yeah, I do. 531 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,034 One of the things I'm worried about right now 532 00:26:23,034 --> 00:26:27,000 is last year when we went up there, it was ice. 533 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,517 Giant slabs of 15-foot thick ice. 534 00:26:31,517 --> 00:26:34,206 And you can't see up there to see what's going on. 535 00:26:34,206 --> 00:26:36,034 So I'm going to grab my little drone. 536 00:26:36,034 --> 00:26:37,413 I'm going to fly it up there 537 00:26:37,413 --> 00:26:38,551 and see what we're going to see. 538 00:26:40,206 --> 00:26:41,965 Hopefully, when the drone goes up creek, 539 00:26:42,862 --> 00:26:44,827 He can locate our dive site. 540 00:26:44,827 --> 00:26:47,827 Best case scenario, we can set shop up 541 00:26:47,827 --> 00:26:49,275 and start dredging tomorrow. 542 00:26:55,068 --> 00:26:57,103 Let's just tilt this straight down, shall we? 543 00:26:58,689 --> 00:27:01,103 I am so confused at what I'm looking at right now. 544 00:27:01,103 --> 00:27:03,137 That's got to be Big-ass Boulder right there. 545 00:27:03,137 --> 00:27:06,034 That's all that ice that we were looking at last year, isn't it? 546 00:27:06,896 --> 00:27:08,241 Whoo. Look at that. 547 00:27:09,413 --> 00:27:10,448 So let's back up. 548 00:27:11,655 --> 00:27:13,068 All right, where's my new property line? 549 00:27:14,620 --> 00:27:15,724 Let's look up. 550 00:27:18,862 --> 00:27:21,482 There it is. That's it right there, look. 551 00:27:22,172 --> 00:27:24,068 That looks perfect, actually. 552 00:27:25,551 --> 00:27:28,241 So do we have to go through that ice bridge to get up there? 553 00:27:30,517 --> 00:27:31,482 I think so. 554 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:33,310 [all groaning] 555 00:27:35,965 --> 00:27:39,000 It's the snow bridges that freak me out, man. 556 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,448 That's stopping us from dragging that dredge up that creek. 557 00:27:42,241 --> 00:27:43,931 That is a big snow bridge, man. 558 00:27:43,931 --> 00:27:45,482 I got to make a plan. 559 00:27:46,965 --> 00:27:49,758 Uh, in order to pull our dredge all the way up 560 00:27:49,758 --> 00:27:53,241 to our dig spot, there is one snow bridge. 561 00:27:53,241 --> 00:27:56,172 And we have to melt through this stuff really quick. 562 00:27:56,172 --> 00:27:57,275 Not like last year. 563 00:27:57,275 --> 00:28:00,068 We spent so much damn time cutting on ice. 564 00:28:00,068 --> 00:28:02,310 I'm not having it this year. 565 00:28:02,310 --> 00:28:04,620 We need to be in this water yesterday. 566 00:28:18,275 --> 00:28:19,689 You guys ready to melt some ice? 567 00:28:19,689 --> 00:28:22,931 Hell yeah. That snow bridge has to go. 568 00:28:22,931 --> 00:28:26,068 [narrator] Desperate to get a jump start on the season, 569 00:28:26,068 --> 00:28:28,620 the crew waste no time getting to work 570 00:28:28,620 --> 00:28:31,862 on the 20-foot snow barrier blocking their path 571 00:28:31,862 --> 00:28:33,896 to the new section of their claim. 572 00:28:34,620 --> 00:28:37,172 - Yep. Got it. - There we go. 573 00:28:37,172 --> 00:28:38,275 Going for the drop. 574 00:28:38,275 --> 00:28:41,137 [narrator] This year, they've come prepared with 575 00:28:41,137 --> 00:28:42,793 a new weapon in their arsenal. 576 00:28:42,793 --> 00:28:45,896 Right now, what we have is kind of... 577 00:28:46,724 --> 00:28:47,931 convoluted. 578 00:28:47,931 --> 00:28:49,310 We have a water pump. 579 00:28:49,310 --> 00:28:51,103 It's gonna pull out of the creek. 580 00:28:51,103 --> 00:28:53,034 It's gonna pump it into a high-pressure 581 00:28:53,034 --> 00:28:57,068 water pump over to a heater that's gonna convert 582 00:28:57,068 --> 00:28:59,551 the water into really hot steam. 583 00:29:00,275 --> 00:29:02,344 Dustin's plan? 584 00:29:02,344 --> 00:29:05,137 Use the BushFix device to create a jet 585 00:29:05,137 --> 00:29:09,344 of pressurized hot water capable of slicing through 586 00:29:09,344 --> 00:29:13,344 the 20-foot-high snow barrier like a hot knife through butter. 587 00:29:14,655 --> 00:29:16,137 - Ready to run? - [bleep] yeah. 588 00:29:17,034 --> 00:29:17,965 Oh, man. 589 00:29:21,482 --> 00:29:22,448 Oh, yeah! 590 00:29:23,448 --> 00:29:26,206 - Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! - Nice! 591 00:29:26,206 --> 00:29:27,586 Yeah! 592 00:29:28,724 --> 00:29:29,931 Good pressure! 593 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,000 Oh, look how quick that is! Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! 594 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:35,275 That thing works great! 595 00:29:35,275 --> 00:29:37,482 This thing's working perfect! 596 00:29:40,103 --> 00:29:41,517 Look what we got now! 597 00:29:42,103 --> 00:29:44,241 No, no problem. 598 00:29:44,241 --> 00:29:46,965 Big boulders, no problem. 599 00:29:48,103 --> 00:29:49,000 Flood? 600 00:29:51,931 --> 00:29:53,103 We're working on that. 601 00:29:57,137 --> 00:30:00,000 Dude, this water is scorching hot, dude. 602 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,241 - Yeah. - Scorching hot. Holy moly. 603 00:30:02,241 --> 00:30:04,655 I can see the steam coming out underneath it. 604 00:30:04,655 --> 00:30:06,517 So the hot water helped, right? 605 00:30:06,517 --> 00:30:08,172 Oh my gosh. 606 00:30:08,172 --> 00:30:09,689 That's a game changer, man. 607 00:30:09,689 --> 00:30:11,551 This is cheating, dude. 608 00:30:11,551 --> 00:30:12,724 I love it. 609 00:30:16,482 --> 00:30:19,241 Dude, I bet you can get that big chunk to come off. 610 00:30:19,241 --> 00:30:21,965 - I bet you can get that. - That's what I'm trying to do. 611 00:30:21,965 --> 00:30:22,793 Nice. 612 00:30:27,379 --> 00:30:29,551 The hot water and the pressure together 613 00:30:29,551 --> 00:30:31,103 cutting right through ice bridges. 614 00:30:31,103 --> 00:30:33,931 That's pretty awesome. That's a win for me today. 615 00:30:33,931 --> 00:30:36,586 It's going to cut weeks of snow cutting 616 00:30:36,586 --> 00:30:40,793 the way we were doing it into hours. 617 00:30:40,793 --> 00:30:44,551 It's nice that it worked, but I've accepted that it's going to work. 618 00:30:44,551 --> 00:30:47,137 And now I've already moved on to the next stage, 619 00:30:47,137 --> 00:30:51,793 which is decision making and where to dig 620 00:30:51,793 --> 00:30:52,862 and how to dig it. 621 00:30:52,862 --> 00:30:55,241 And what are you doing and... 622 00:30:55,241 --> 00:30:57,931 And the only person to blame when this is over with, 623 00:30:57,931 --> 00:31:00,413 if I fail, is me. 624 00:31:00,413 --> 00:31:03,551 But if I succeed, I get that too. [laughs] 625 00:31:03,551 --> 00:31:05,241 Hopefully I succeed this year. 626 00:31:08,068 --> 00:31:09,448 This is where we're going to dig? 627 00:31:09,448 --> 00:31:11,379 This is what I want. 628 00:31:11,379 --> 00:31:15,068 While James and Carlos battle the mammoth snow barrier, 629 00:31:15,068 --> 00:31:20,034 Dustin, Paul, and Wes head upstream to inspect the ground 630 00:31:20,034 --> 00:31:22,448 inside their new claimed boundary. 631 00:31:22,448 --> 00:31:23,724 Yeah. Check it out, man. 632 00:31:23,724 --> 00:31:25,862 Our property line, just so you know, 633 00:31:25,862 --> 00:31:28,482 - Okay. - is right the [bleep] here. 634 00:31:28,482 --> 00:31:31,517 This is our property line. It goes right through here. 635 00:31:31,517 --> 00:31:35,965 The fact that this is going down, and as wide as this is, 636 00:31:35,965 --> 00:31:39,137 it makes a great gold catch, because the canyon 637 00:31:39,137 --> 00:31:41,620 narrows back down, it's going to slow the water down, 638 00:31:41,620 --> 00:31:43,344 and this is a fallout area. 639 00:31:43,344 --> 00:31:44,551 - Yep. - Oh. 640 00:31:44,551 --> 00:31:45,896 - That would be the inside bend. - I think that's so close. 641 00:31:45,896 --> 00:31:47,172 - That's tough. - Yeah. 642 00:31:49,655 --> 00:31:55,482 Fifty feet up from the ice bridge lies Dustin's newly extended boundary line, 643 00:31:55,482 --> 00:31:59,241 containing a section of prime ground as it lies just 644 00:31:59,241 --> 00:32:02,931 below a steep, narrow drop-off in the river. 645 00:32:02,931 --> 00:32:05,586 Capable of carrying the largest and heaviest 646 00:32:05,586 --> 00:32:07,517 material on the creek, 647 00:32:07,517 --> 00:32:10,793 it runs directly into the slower-moving waters 648 00:32:10,793 --> 00:32:13,000 of the inside bend 649 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,551 where gold, 19 times heavier than water, 650 00:32:16,551 --> 00:32:20,413 can settle and could have deposited the monster nuggets 651 00:32:20,413 --> 00:32:22,103 this creek is famous for. 652 00:32:24,068 --> 00:32:26,482 We're going to start right here. 653 00:32:26,482 --> 00:32:31,413 Where the snow patch is, we're going to go right through that. 654 00:32:31,413 --> 00:32:34,448 Matter of fact, while he's cutting that ice, 655 00:32:34,448 --> 00:32:37,000 we can start popping some of these rocks, man. 656 00:32:37,586 --> 00:32:38,448 Why not? 657 00:32:39,379 --> 00:32:41,103 They're going to be done with that soon. 658 00:32:41,103 --> 00:32:42,275 I need these rocks. 659 00:32:42,275 --> 00:32:44,862 That one, that one, that one, anything that'll crack. 660 00:32:44,862 --> 00:32:47,137 All right. I'll do that. 661 00:32:47,137 --> 00:32:48,620 Don't get hurt. Don't die. 662 00:32:50,344 --> 00:32:52,724 To quickly remove the heaviest boulders 663 00:32:52,724 --> 00:32:55,793 from their dive site, Paul will blast them 664 00:32:55,793 --> 00:32:58,448 into smaller pieces using targeted 665 00:32:58,448 --> 00:33:00,931 rock fracturing technology. 666 00:33:00,931 --> 00:33:03,482 So the mission for today, drill and crack 667 00:33:03,482 --> 00:33:06,000 as many big rocks as I can find. 668 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,620 It's the perfect time for me to come over here and break rocks. 669 00:33:09,620 --> 00:33:11,758 The more rocks we get broke now, the better off 670 00:33:11,758 --> 00:33:14,620 it'll be when we get the dredging spot. 671 00:33:14,620 --> 00:33:17,241 Years past, there's no way we'd be busting rocks right now. 672 00:33:17,241 --> 00:33:19,344 We'd be still trying to set up camp. 673 00:33:19,344 --> 00:33:21,482 It's so nice being ahead of the game right now. 674 00:33:21,862 --> 00:33:22,827 What? 675 00:33:22,827 --> 00:33:25,448 Don't need no frickin' blanket. 676 00:33:25,448 --> 00:33:27,655 I'd like to see the rocks explode. 677 00:33:27,655 --> 00:33:31,241 You guys are so frickin' sappy, man. 678 00:33:33,344 --> 00:33:34,275 Everybody ready? 679 00:33:38,310 --> 00:33:40,896 - Fire in the hole! - [explosion] 680 00:33:40,896 --> 00:33:43,931 [whoops and exclaims] 681 00:33:45,551 --> 00:33:49,931 Perfect! [laughs] Whoo! 682 00:33:49,931 --> 00:33:51,965 That did more than I thought it would do. 683 00:33:51,965 --> 00:33:55,137 - Yeah, George, it's a lot more. - Holy [bleep] 684 00:33:55,137 --> 00:33:56,827 Right now it's working great. 685 00:33:56,827 --> 00:33:59,206 We're making big boulders into pebbles. 686 00:34:01,931 --> 00:34:03,965 That looks like bedrock underneath this one. 687 00:34:04,827 --> 00:34:06,241 That might be interesting. 688 00:34:06,965 --> 00:34:08,103 I'm seeing that bedrock. 689 00:34:08,103 --> 00:34:10,310 It could be a good thing because it might just be a fin 690 00:34:10,310 --> 00:34:12,275 that comes across, and if that's the case, 691 00:34:13,103 --> 00:34:15,068 we've got a plunge pool up there. 692 00:34:16,517 --> 00:34:17,551 There's a plunge pool. 693 00:34:17,551 --> 00:34:19,379 The gold's not going past that plunge pool. 694 00:34:19,379 --> 00:34:20,896 There's going to be a lot of gold up there. 695 00:34:20,896 --> 00:34:24,724 So hopefully, that's just a fin that's going across. 696 00:34:25,965 --> 00:34:28,344 I think we're going to cut through this ice like nothing. 697 00:34:28,344 --> 00:34:30,586 This is going to be easy for us this year. 698 00:34:30,586 --> 00:34:33,172 Paul has already busted rocks to clear space 699 00:34:33,172 --> 00:34:34,758 for our new dive site. 700 00:34:34,758 --> 00:34:37,586 - Fire in the hole! - [explosion] 701 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:41,137 [laughs] This is awesome. 702 00:34:48,379 --> 00:34:49,896 Oh, [bleep]. 703 00:34:49,896 --> 00:34:53,068 - James, look at the water. - I see that. 704 00:34:53,068 --> 00:34:55,482 Look at this water, dude. Cave-in, dude. 705 00:34:55,482 --> 00:34:57,275 We're about to have a landslide. 706 00:34:57,275 --> 00:34:59,275 Holy [bleep] 707 00:34:59,275 --> 00:35:00,655 We got to get out of here. 708 00:35:11,689 --> 00:35:14,068 Every so often, we get that steam 709 00:35:14,068 --> 00:35:15,413 coming underneath the ice. 710 00:35:15,413 --> 00:35:18,241 Oh, that's a telltale sign that we broke through. 711 00:35:18,241 --> 00:35:20,551 [narrator] For this crew to succeed in the untamed 712 00:35:20,551 --> 00:35:21,931 wilderness of Alaska, 713 00:35:23,103 --> 00:35:24,689 they must operate in the zone 714 00:35:24,689 --> 00:35:28,620 between craziness and insanity. 715 00:35:28,620 --> 00:35:31,103 - Okay, that's getting a little scary. - Yeah, dude. 716 00:35:31,103 --> 00:35:33,137 It's starting to scare me, man. 717 00:35:33,137 --> 00:35:34,448 [both chuckle] 718 00:35:35,068 --> 00:35:36,931 - Oh, [bleeping] - Oh. 719 00:35:36,931 --> 00:35:37,965 There it goes. 720 00:35:37,965 --> 00:35:40,000 - Woo-hoo! - Man. 721 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:40,862 Yeah! 722 00:35:40,862 --> 00:35:43,137 Oh, it scared the [bleep] out of me. 723 00:35:43,137 --> 00:35:45,517 We need gold. Everybody needs gold. 724 00:35:59,758 --> 00:36:01,482 Oh, [bleep] 725 00:36:01,482 --> 00:36:04,827 - James, look at the water! - I see that. 726 00:36:04,827 --> 00:36:09,413 [narrator] At Nugget Creek, a landslide upstream has turned the creek 727 00:36:09,413 --> 00:36:12,793 into a raging torrent of murky whitewater. 728 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,620 Holy [bleep]! 729 00:36:15,620 --> 00:36:17,586 We must have had a landslide! 730 00:36:19,206 --> 00:36:22,241 With all these snow bridges that we have, just like 731 00:36:22,241 --> 00:36:25,413 the one we're trying to cut, there's a bunch of them upstream, 732 00:36:25,413 --> 00:36:27,724 so anytime one of them lets go, 733 00:36:27,724 --> 00:36:30,137 it puts a lot of dirty water and debris... 734 00:36:32,758 --> 00:36:34,655 It closed up. We gotta get out of here 735 00:36:34,655 --> 00:36:37,137 because that means it dammed up the creek 736 00:36:37,137 --> 00:36:40,482 and when it melts that snow, it's gonna be a wall of water. 737 00:36:41,620 --> 00:36:43,137 Keep an eye on that for sure. 738 00:36:47,827 --> 00:36:51,655 It's not doing nothing, dude. It's not even cutting, man. 739 00:36:51,655 --> 00:36:54,206 Yeah, we did get some chocolate milk in the water, 740 00:36:54,206 --> 00:36:56,655 meaning that we got a landslide up above us. 741 00:36:58,103 --> 00:37:02,000 That's a big, big problem with any machinery that uses hot water 742 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,793 or any kind of water filtration. 743 00:37:04,793 --> 00:37:08,793 We went from 100% destroying down to 50%. 744 00:37:09,931 --> 00:37:10,931 No heat. 745 00:37:12,172 --> 00:37:14,724 What the [bleep] is up with that pressure washer? 746 00:37:16,724 --> 00:37:18,586 [whistles] They have no pressure. 747 00:37:20,310 --> 00:37:22,310 - They have no pressure. - No pressure. 748 00:37:24,137 --> 00:37:25,965 What's going on? 749 00:37:25,965 --> 00:37:28,000 For some reason, they got no pressure at the wand. 750 00:37:29,344 --> 00:37:30,862 - I don't get it. - So it was pumping, 751 00:37:30,862 --> 00:37:32,482 - but it... - Yeah, they don't have... 752 00:37:32,482 --> 00:37:34,758 They just barely got a [bleep]. It's just barely pushing out. 753 00:37:34,758 --> 00:37:36,241 It may have sucked some rocks in, so... 754 00:37:36,241 --> 00:37:37,655 That's what it did, I'm guessing. 755 00:37:37,655 --> 00:37:40,379 [narrator] The silt and debris from the landslide 756 00:37:40,379 --> 00:37:43,103 has found its way into the pressure washer 757 00:37:43,103 --> 00:37:45,931 and is blocking the flow of hot water. 758 00:37:45,931 --> 00:37:48,620 - Let's find out about this. - [motor whirring] 759 00:37:48,620 --> 00:37:50,724 Yeah, he sucked up some rocks. 760 00:37:50,724 --> 00:37:54,586 Every setback costs the crew precious mining time 761 00:37:54,586 --> 00:37:58,137 in the small windows between the floods of Nugget Creek. 762 00:37:59,310 --> 00:38:00,724 You want to put this on the end? 763 00:38:00,724 --> 00:38:02,034 - Yep. - Yeah. 764 00:38:02,034 --> 00:38:04,689 Double, triple it up, whatever the [bleep] you got to do. 765 00:38:06,103 --> 00:38:09,000 That's clean now, so it can't get anything through it 766 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:10,172 that's smaller than that screen, 767 00:38:10,172 --> 00:38:12,000 so we should be good there. 768 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:14,172 Ooh, she's pressurized, I think. 769 00:38:14,172 --> 00:38:16,517 Without having a foot valve, there's nothing to keep us 770 00:38:16,517 --> 00:38:18,620 from sucking rocks up into the impeller. 771 00:38:20,068 --> 00:38:22,482 Once we get a rock in the impeller, 772 00:38:22,482 --> 00:38:24,655 we don't have no water pressure at all. 773 00:38:25,689 --> 00:38:27,137 So hopefully this mosquito net... 774 00:38:28,241 --> 00:38:31,275 is going to act like a little bit of a screen. 775 00:38:31,275 --> 00:38:35,310 Water can go through, but the rocks and the gravel can't. 776 00:38:38,034 --> 00:38:39,931 We've got to have that impeller working. 777 00:38:40,482 --> 00:38:42,586 [motor whirring] 778 00:38:45,931 --> 00:38:47,517 Just as much water pouring through there. 779 00:38:47,517 --> 00:38:49,517 You'd think it wouldn't be able to pick that [bleep] up. 780 00:38:49,517 --> 00:38:50,620 Oh, here it goes. 781 00:38:52,172 --> 00:38:53,965 It won't come until I squeeze the trigger. 782 00:39:00,448 --> 00:39:01,241 [whistles] 783 00:39:02,275 --> 00:39:03,206 It fired up! 784 00:39:04,172 --> 00:39:05,103 There it goes. 785 00:39:07,448 --> 00:39:08,586 I just want to go clear it. 786 00:39:09,344 --> 00:39:10,448 It's going? 787 00:39:11,275 --> 00:39:12,068 Oh! 788 00:39:13,310 --> 00:39:16,275 - Something happened. - We got fire! 789 00:39:16,758 --> 00:39:18,206 It's working! 790 00:39:18,965 --> 00:39:20,137 Nailed it. 791 00:39:22,241 --> 00:39:23,344 Woo! 792 00:39:24,482 --> 00:39:25,862 Now let the fun begin. 793 00:39:27,586 --> 00:39:29,724 Ah, we're at full steam ahead, amigo! 794 00:39:29,724 --> 00:39:32,068 Woo-hoo! 795 00:39:34,517 --> 00:39:38,793 The best part is watching that fall off, one chunk at a time. 796 00:39:39,896 --> 00:39:41,103 Oh, yeah. 797 00:39:41,103 --> 00:39:43,103 Oh, look, you see? Hey, you see the steam? 798 00:39:43,103 --> 00:39:44,310 It broke through. 799 00:39:44,310 --> 00:39:45,931 That's our telltale sign. 800 00:39:48,724 --> 00:39:50,344 Getting this out of the way will mean 801 00:39:50,344 --> 00:39:53,689 that we'll be dredging way faster than last year. 802 00:39:53,689 --> 00:39:57,103 So that's great. That's frickin' awesome. 803 00:39:57,103 --> 00:39:59,413 We need this. This season, we need this win. 804 00:40:01,827 --> 00:40:03,034 - Whoa! - It's gonna go! 805 00:40:03,034 --> 00:40:04,103 It's gonna go! 806 00:40:04,103 --> 00:40:05,896 Holy moly, man! 807 00:40:05,896 --> 00:40:09,413 Whoo! Yeah! I saw! 808 00:40:09,413 --> 00:40:11,137 I came and got my weapon! 809 00:40:11,137 --> 00:40:12,655 I kicked its butt! 810 00:40:13,206 --> 00:40:15,310 [laughs] 811 00:40:15,310 --> 00:40:17,827 [narrator] The huge ice bridge demolished, 812 00:40:17,827 --> 00:40:22,724 the crew can now access the inside bend of Dustin's new claim 813 00:40:22,724 --> 00:40:25,620 and begin digging down for bedrock gold. 814 00:40:28,344 --> 00:40:30,034 Man, it looks amazing. 815 00:40:30,034 --> 00:40:31,862 We can now bring the dredge up here. 816 00:40:31,862 --> 00:40:34,103 I think what we have is about a month and a half 817 00:40:34,103 --> 00:40:36,379 before all hell breaks loose here. 818 00:40:36,379 --> 00:40:38,655 Can we get enough gold in that month and a half 819 00:40:38,655 --> 00:40:39,862 to stretch out? 820 00:40:39,862 --> 00:40:42,413 - We're here already, man. We're already here. - I know. 821 00:40:42,413 --> 00:40:44,931 I feel like there's going to be giant nuggets, right, 822 00:40:44,931 --> 00:40:47,517 where we're standing, just about 10 feet down. 823 00:40:48,965 --> 00:40:51,137 I'm loving our new style. 824 00:40:51,137 --> 00:40:53,034 This is going to be a good season, guys. 825 00:40:53,758 --> 00:40:55,206 Let's get some good gold, man. 826 00:40:58,000 --> 00:40:59,793 [narrator] On the season ahead... 827 00:40:59,793 --> 00:41:01,896 So what do you see, man? What do you see? 828 00:41:01,896 --> 00:41:04,172 It just drops off, man. Completely. 829 00:41:04,172 --> 00:41:05,482 We have to win this time. 830 00:41:05,482 --> 00:41:08,206 - There's no second chances on this one. - [grunts] 831 00:41:08,206 --> 00:41:10,000 [grunts, bleeps] 832 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:11,137 I'm so hopeful, but... 833 00:41:11,137 --> 00:41:12,241 - No gold? - No. 834 00:41:12,241 --> 00:41:13,344 ...this place scares me. 835 00:41:13,344 --> 00:41:14,758 - Oh, get down in there! - [bleeping] 836 00:41:14,758 --> 00:41:17,413 - Watch the swing. - Don't think about me, man. 837 00:41:17,413 --> 00:41:20,344 Get out there and frickin' find that damn gold. 838 00:41:20,344 --> 00:41:22,655 Oh! [bleeping] 839 00:41:22,655 --> 00:41:23,931 [grunts] 840 00:41:25,413 --> 00:41:26,965 - Whoo-hoo! - [bleep] 841 00:41:26,965 --> 00:41:29,206 - [all cheering] - [overlapping chatter] 842 00:41:29,206 --> 00:41:31,241 - I told you so! - [all cheering] 843 00:41:31,241 --> 00:41:32,551 Yeah! 844 00:41:32,551 --> 00:41:35,724 - It's our season! It's not just stories anymore. - Whoo-hoo! 845 00:41:35,724 --> 00:41:37,068 This place is for real.