"Can a guy risk it all in America anymore?" "You're about to lose your house." "Don't lose faith." "Go get your glory." "Let go." "(bleep) Don't talk to me that way." "Don't try and intimidate me." "Holy..." "It's like nothing lives here except bears" "Bang" "Where is the gold." "We got gold." "I'm ready to die for it." "That I guarantee you." "Here we go." "It's a fir fest." "Whoa" "There isn't one man in America if he's got anything inside him wouldn't want to be here with us." "Hey dad." "I've got to talk to you about fuel." "I don't think we can afford to get any fuel." "So" "I don't know what we're gonna do." "run a small airfield." "We may have to sell the airport." "It might be the best deal." "I just don't know." "The American downturn means this family business is struggling." "This recession has just decimated the aviation business." "It's just bad." "the future looks bleak." "I don't have a degree." "You know." "I can't go out there and go get a job." "there isn't anything out there." "Gold." "We're over $1200 an ounce." "I thought it was good at $400" "This is going to be a life changer if we can pull this off." "Jack and Todd are about to risk everything they own on the biggest gamble of their lives." "Our business is struggling." "I'm throwing everything I've got into it." "We're gonna go gold mining." "the Hoffman's are traveling to America's last frontier." "Buried in the Alaskan wilderness is an estimated $250 billion worth of gold." "men have risked their lives here in the hope of getting rich." "and nearly went bankrupt." "you know" "He was digging nuggets out of the ground when the price of gold was just too low." "gold has gone sky high." "Jack and Todd have been on a mission to find the right place to start mining." "And now Jack thinks they've found a claim that's a prospector's dream." "What do you got here." "I've seen a lot of ground." "And this is it." "Holy cow." "They got 29 grams in that one test hole." "There's millions of dollars." "I'll go.." "I know we got a shot." "south-eastern Alaska." "It belongs to an old mining buddy of Jack's named Earl Foster." "Eighteen years." "Glad you made it dude." "you take 100 ounces of gold." "prospectors have pulled out nearly $100 million of gold from the Porcupine Creek area." "Dude." "That's all gold nuggets right there." "Earl." "there are 100 who never make it." "less than 1% of those who set out struck it rich." "But no one's ever prospected on Earl's claim with heavy machinery." "And the geological samples suggest there's still $15 million worth of gold in the ground there." "I would work this piece of ground first." "he can beat the odds." "he he." "how we do." "they're selling everything that's not nailed down." "another $1000" "To pay for the machinery to get at the gold." "and thousands of dollars worth of supplies." "they're building." "They're making a shaker and a trommel from scratch." "and reconditioning a pump capable of emptying a swimming pool within minutes." "What they need is mining equipment spec'd out for the wilderness." "The Hoffmans are assembling an unemployed bunch of buddies to operate this equipment in Alaska." "But there's no spare cash for wages." "until we strike gold." "They're not gonna get paid." "Until we dig the gold out of the ground." "but I'll tell you what." "That's the way it is." "everyone of these guys is prepared to take their chances on a share of the profits." "There's gonna be a lot of people that are friggen surprised at what this group of nutballs can put together." "James Harness." "I'm the guy that everybody brings stuff to after no one else can fix it." "I'm stubborn and I'll make sure it happens." "You're rockin dude." "Rock and Roll buddy." "Harness can fix anything." "But he can't fix himself." "I've got a fractured neck from a car wreck." "I have an implant in my ankle." "My ankle was completely taken off my body." "impossible to deal with." "is get spinal surgery." "then I'm sunk just like everybody else." "a construction superintendant." "hey." "One guys got to be directing here." "This is how somebody's gonna get killed." "But he's hit hard times too." "for the last year." "He's taking handouts to put food on the family table." "I hate relying on my parents for help." "41 years old." "I should be able to wipe my own bottom." "an unemployed metal worker." "he had a successful business." "Now he's about to lose his home." "One more late payment on my mortgage and we go into foreclosure." "So..." "Rounding out the team is Jimmy Dorsey." "I am learning how to use this thing." "Whoa." "He's an ex realtor who's had to move out of his home." "We are at my mother-in-law's house." "I don't wish this upon anybody." "It's really humbling to ask for this type of help." "The future of every one of these guys is resting on Todd's dream." "I'm no miner." "I'm just your average guy tired of sitting here not making any money." "and they went out into the frontier." "which means the mining season can begin." "to carry the four hundred thousand pounds of mining equipment on the long journey north." "Alright." "Let's go." "We gotta get this stuff moving." "Every day they're not mining is money going out with nothing coming in." "and get out of here." "we're a week behind." "We gotta keep moving forward." "The team is going to use their 2 backhoes to get their equipment onto the lowboys." "Ex Realtor Dorsey is at the controls." "Stop." "just stop." "has just hit his own car." "you try to get it off there." "Ha ha ha ha ha ha." "It's never ending with these guys." "You didn't break any windows." "You're alright." "He always is giving me a hard time." "Where do you want it?" "Jack's got about 20 years more experience at this than Dorsey." "So he's taking charge of the loading." "This is scaring me right here." "Holy steinkie." "000 pounds." "I can't lift the whole thing." "I can only lift this end." "Hold on." "Todd brings in the front end loader to try and add lift power." "Hang on." "Hold up." "Hold up." "try to slide that semi up underneath that container." "we're gonna winch it up on there." "We don't know if it's gonna work." "while the lowboy's winch pulls it onto the deck." "and I don't want to tear up their deck." "so" "I try and stay clear." "Their families have come to see the final preparations." "You got some candy?" "Watch that." "Watch that cable." "disaster strikes." "twang) I could have killed somebody." "you shut up." "Don't talk like that." "go over there." "You don't talk like that." "The last thing the families need is a reminder of just how dangerous this mining expedition will be." "my worst fears." "Someone's gonna get their head blown off." "the crew still needs to work fast and hard to get the equipment loaded." "all of the Hoffman's precious mining gear is safely on the lowboys." "And ready to go to Alaska." "the hard way." "The Hoffman's crew runs out of road." "Back back back back." "Unhook it." "I will." "on the final leg to the claim." "now." "The day of departure dawns." "Todd Hoffman and his crew of wannabe miners are about to head off for Alaska." "ready to go." "There's still some last minute packing to be done." "Shawna." "and are Okay." "Hunter and Hudson." "seeing all 3 of them leave." "This will be the first time to be away from them that long." "Brandon." "and He's gonna grow up a lot this year." "But the other wives and families will stay behind." "What am I supposed to do?" "Stay here?" "I was really hoping to hear that you're okay with being here all summer." "Not really." "I don't like the long distance marriage thing." "and James Harness are going to pick up a couple of final essential items." "Spear guns." "the better." "In terms of bears." "Not having a gun is suicide up there." "This 44 Mag is made out of titanium." "for humans." "Harness settles on a 50 calibre hand cannon." "I gotta have this one." "Get that?" "Yup." "Good." "Come on back here and we'll do the paperwork." "the guys gather with family and friends for their last goodbyes." "for the good weather and we just thank you... comes to bless their journey." "But it looks like the Pastor's caught a bad dose of gold fever himself." "I think I'm going to Alaska." "It's really exciting that he's coming." "so.." "with guns and God on their side" "The town takes a moment to reflect on what lies ahead." "I love you." "You too." "Take care." "You be careful. okay." "You too." "The main anxiety that I have is for the families that are left here." "okay." "Everybody's going to have a real struggle." "He's buying a new truck?" "a long time." "I believe the people that step up to the plate like our people will be able to take care of ourselves and our families and our friends." "it's hard to leave." "Hard to leave my girls." "for all these people." "I want them to be happy." "you know." "Put it in their pocket." "that's what I want it for." "I'm ready to die for it." "the team is finally on the road." "Yessss..." "Wooohooo." "I've done a lot of crazy things in my day." "I've ever tried." "You have no idea how good this feels." "I've had my stuff packed for weeks." "I'm excited." "I'm apprehensive." "is not as simple as a Sunday cruise." "by 3 PM." "Then we got to drive 2000 miles up to Alaska." "I have no idea what's in store for us." "This is not gonna be easy." "This is gonna be tough. is by sea barge." "They sail once a week from Seattle." "it'll cost them one week's time." "And thousands of dollars in expenses." "We have to make it to the barge by 3pm." "We got 6 hours to go 200 miles." "anything can happen at any time. the team's campers and SUVs have ground to a halt." "and I could smell smoke." "losing a tire and then I saw smoke coming from Jack's chunks of tire is flying I saw." "Blown fuses and dead batteries bring the team to a standstill." "The convoy is now split in two." "But one team member is still making good time." "it's up to Dorsey to deliver the heavy gear to Seattle by 3 pm." "I gotta keep these big rigs moving." "today" "Another barge isn't going to be sailing for Alaska until next week." "This is gonna cost Jack and Todd thousands." "as long as Dorsey can keep them moving." "Dorsey." "Big time blowout here." "I'm gonna pull over right now." "How could we have a flat." "That's ridiculous." "Dammit." "then I saw all this air and whatever shoot out." "So." "We're kinda in a pickle here." "Todd's got the campers and SUVs back on the road." "It's less than 3 hours till the barge sails." "34)}(phone ringing)" "This isn't good." "It's Dorsey." "So." "We had a blowout on the dump truck." "right?" "No." "The rest of the convoy's waiting." "Get whatever we can get on that friggen barge." "want me to send everyone ahead?" "and get it up to the barge." "You are going to cost us Bigtime." "alright." "Alright." "I'll do it." "Todd wants you guys to just keep going." "Screw the convoy." "We want to get this stuff up to the barge." "So." "Go for it." "The lowboys are back on the road." "And they should make the barge." "The challenge now is to get the dump truck to the dock by 3." "Dorsey calls a repair service to get the tire replaced." "just calling about an ETA on a tire service repairman." "Thank you so much." "Alright." "it's gonna be an hour." "An hour to wait." "Every piece of equipment has to get on the barge." "Or they'll miss a week's mining." "It's all hanging on Dorsey fixing the blowout." "he just better not." "I don't know what we're gonna do." "Coming up." "Rushing death defying river." "Todd and the team brave freezing waters." "Man that's deep." "Go Go." "And risk it all on treacherous roads." "Oh." "Oh." "No." "trying to get to their claim." "boys." "We made it." "Yee Haw." "Woooo." "(Woof." "Woof.)" "This dump truck needs to be on a barge in just over an hour." "But it's got a blowout." "And Dorsey's waiting for the guy to come and fix it." "It's only been 41 minutes." "They said 20 minutes." "that's him right there." "Alright." "Things are suddenly looking up." "Gold price just went to $1237 an ounce." "in human history." "The dump truck is finally getting back on the road." "What's wrong?" "Heartache." "But there's less than an hour to get to the barge." "We're underway." "We're heading off to Seattle." "We're gonna try and meet up with the barge." "We gotta get to that barge." "We got 50 minutes to go 40 miles" "Time enough." "It's gonna be touch and go." "I'l tell you that." "At this point it nay be a lost cause." "It's all messed up." "The team hits the gas." "Desperately trying to get the last straggling vehicles to the port before time runs out." "the crew catches up to the convoy of lowboys outside the Seattle shipping terminal." "Get em unloaded." "It's exactly 2:58 We have 2 minutes to get on this barge." "you know." "closing the gates when we pulled in." "we made it by the skin of our teeth." "Yeah." "It was an amazing journey." "I didn't think we were actually gonna make it." "Yeah." "We made it." "and I feel like I already got my butt kicked." "carrying the weight of their hopes and dreams the team now has to race up north to meet it." "all goes well." "We got 2000 miles of road in front of us." "The Alcan Highway." "One of the worst stretches of highway in the whole United States." "and I'm gonna kick this thing right in the face." "We're gonna go get some friggen gold." "huh." "take a pee." "We're not stopping here." "You're gonna have to pee in a bottle." "be careful." "It's not funny." "Don't get it on the seat." "whaddaya do." "Got to pee in a bottle." "Supervisor Greg is pushing the team to put in the miles." "So they can meet the barge on time." "It's my job to keep this convoy moving." "Every day that we're not mining is costing us more money." "Got everybody in line?" "Todd." "this band of mining greenhorns covers the 2000 miles in just 4 days." "as they reach the Alaskan border." "wooohooo." "We're here." "That's right." "There's Mount Leland." "this is those trees right there." "That's Porcupine Mine." "There's the town of Porcupine right there." "Let's start digging." "Let's do it." "we made it." "Wooo." "Alaska." "This is where the barge carrying the team's heavy equipment will dock." "See ya." "Thanks for the call." "Bye." "Okay." "The barge just came in." "All our stuff's there." "Get started." "First thing I want to see show up is my gun." "Because I don't want to be a bear snack." "There's one cube case." "Looks like a guitar case." "Is it guitar or tol guns." "Guns." "Yeah." "We got guns." "We're gonna have weapons on us before a bear attacks." "Bring a handful when you come." "As well as 45 guns and 180 boxes of ammo 000 pounds of heavy machinery." "is the 400." "The 400 backhoe's our ace in the hole." "It can reach down 30 feet." "It can lift out boulders that are the size of a Volkswagon." "the 270 are no good at the dock." "They need to get them up to the claim." "There's just one little problem." "The Klehini River." "or the lowboy." "we lose the equipment" "We're up a creek." "Literally." "and our one concern right now is the weight." "and that's not including the tractor trailer." "what do you think?" "This is a state maintained bridge." "But obviously the state hasn't been here this year to maintain 'em." "Oh boy." "so is that cool?" "Right on." "Alright." "Okay." "Let's do this." "Let's go." "Okay." "We're going." "This is our biggest challenge to date." "We got a bridge that we don't know if it can handle the capacity." "It's this old steel trestle with wood decking that's half rotten." "Everything could go in the river." "So" "This is a big deal for us right now." "Keep everybody off that bridge 'cept for us." "Let's go." "(loud creaking noises)" "(cracking noises)" "Geez." "I'm hearing this sucker squeak." "(groaning noise from bridge)" "I'm hearing this thing rattle like moving" "Holy Fuck!" "That board" "Come on." "We're almost there." "We're almost there Donny." "snapping." "dude." "honk" "Yahoo." "Wooh wooh." "Cheering." "Man." "Hee Rah!" "Donny." "Leave it to Donny." "Man." "Donny." "You got balls" "Woo hoo." "Never done that before." "So." "Right on dude." "There was one spot where the tire slipped down about 8 inches." "(chatter) fast." "(Laughter) let's get back to work." "The relief is short lived." "The bridge was straining under the weight of the 270." "And now the 400 has arrived." "000 lbs. heavier." "Jack phones Alaska's Dept. of Transportation to see if the bridge will take it." "thanks a lot." "Yeah." "I don't know what we're gonna do now." "Now that could be just terrible." "the bridge has been damaged." "000 lb. excavator is way beyond what the Dept. of Transportation will allow." "Well." "He says that there's no friggen way we can go across that bridge." "or the pilings will give way." "and this stops us." "We're screwed." "Flat out" "Screwed." "I don't know what we're gonna do." "We need that excavator." "You know." "If we don't get that thing across give it up." "where all the gold nuggets settle." "Jack's prepared to risk everything to get the 400 across." "Even if that means driving it straight through the river." "I've crossed 'em." "But not quite this big." "And not quite this deep." "no big deal." "I just want to get it across." "The springtime temperature of the Klehini River is only 41 degrees." "The water's so cold." "This is glacier runoff." "This is glacier melt." "he could die." "Lookit dad." "Look how deep it is." "No no." "It's only six feet." "You don't see anybody crossing here." "lots of times." "Not now." "Not this time of year." "friggen river." "I know that." "You're gonna go through your death defying river thing." "that's it." "you're done." "we're done." "Our season's over." "I think we'll get out in that deep part there and our track will pop off or something and then that's it." "um" "There's their excavator." "That was their whole mining season." "where the river splits into 3 main channels." "is for me to do it." "I think I've found a better place to cross." "It's moving pretty quick." "And we gotta get rolling." "It's getting warm out." "So." "is just making this thing deep." "I keep getting a marker on these rocks and it's going up slowly." "Just like the tide coming in." "I'm worried about how fast this water is." "Watch for the sinkholes out there." "There it goes." "Here we go." "Here we go." "Here we go." "crap." "Keep going." "Keep going." "I'm going." "I'm going." "(chanting) Go!" "Go!" "so." "Each one goes a little deeper." "and watch the tracks." "I got Hallstead over here." "Scouting out in front of us." "Yeah." "He's just gonna find the shallowest spot that he can." "about foot of water and this thing might start floating." "What's he doing." "no no no no." "Heyy." "Nonononono." "You float Al." "Back it up." "Steerike." "I'm soaked." "Make sure I get through this." "Man." "That's deep." "Go." "Go." "That was awesome." "You were deep man." "Man." "I'm just gonna drive up there." "I'm not gonna cross." "Too deep right here." "and it's too deep for me." "You gotta get over here." "He'll figure it out." "You're like a cat." "You always land on your feet." "that would be nice." "It's easy for you to say "get over here" cause you're 8 feet off the ground." "baby." "I'm getting wet." "Mike." "Get outta there." "You're gonna go down." "back." "Woo." "That was a lot deeper than I thought it was." "You coming or what?" "and get over here." "I can't." "I can't cross that." "just gonna leave me stranded out here." "Get back here and pick me up." "Todd." "Can you hear me?" "Yeah." "I got ya." "It's real important that you go back and get Mike." "he could just get swept away and just roll that Gator down so go get him." "I know." "Quit talking dad." "and ah" "Sometimes you get a little cavalier about it." "I'm going to come save you." "We'll see." "You want to lift it?" "Yeah." "Let's lift it." "You sure you want to ride it?" "I'll ride it." "Cuckoo." "It's strapped real good." "Hang on." "Todd." "What are you so scared of?" "over a rushing river." "Hey Todd." "You gotta be really careful about dropping guys in the water there." "(Todd laughs) turn you purple in a half a second." "Now we got water coming up." "It's not just a little bit." "It's a lot." "I hope they can get everybody back over here." "This is the final push coming up." "We got the deepest and fastest channel right ahead of us." "I'm good." "Here we go." "Five.." "You better get on here." "Hurry up!" "We've all worked so friggen hard for this man." "we're screwed." "How we looking?" "Gonna get deep here in a second." "Okay." "We're gonna go down." "Gonna come over your toes in a second." "Oh boy." "Here we go." "Here we go." "Whoa." "All together." "Hurry up." "Hurry up." "Unhook the Gator." "NOW!" "Hurry up." "Hurry up." "Unhook it." "I will." "as it tries to cross the rising Klihini River." "before they've even gotten to the claim." "Get the Gator out of there." "Hang on." "Keep going." "Keep going." "Is it rocking?" "Whoa." "Walk it up." "You got it." "(excited cheers)" "My butt got clenched." "about as close as you can get." "Todd and the team have made it over the river." "and onto dirt roads." "are the most dangerous yet. every time we turn around." "I'm just worried about the front 3 vehicles getting out of Jack's way." "The unloader's got the least amount of control." "he can hop right off the road." "My dad is just bouncing like crazy back there." "Think he's trying to go a little too quick." "Careful coming down this guys." "Copy that." "This is good." "We're getting there." "We're getting there." "and this is a hairpin corner." "lies an ice covered hair pin bend with a sheer drop 100 feet down to the river." "hug that hillside the best you can." "I'm getting out of the car." "Be careful right there." "What happened back there?" "I was sure that we were gonna lose a wheel off of that cliff there." "Report to me how Jack looks around that thing." "Jack's looking good." "Jack's always looking good." "Why is that?" "Not as bad as it could have been." "everybody." "We made it." "Yeeah." "it feels good." "Hey guys." "We're arriving at Porcupine." "This is our new home." "This is the bridge to Porcupine Creek." "Look at the creek guys." "It's flowing big right now." "Lot of snow melt." "This feels awesome." "It feels like I'm coming home." "Look at those mountains." "Oh Jeez." "This is amazing." "They put everything they have on the line." "and risked their livelihoods to be here." "This is where the gold is boys." "(laughing)" "Alright man." "Glad we made it." "Everything you see right here is ours." "All this down here is ours." "Up there is ours." "This is nuts." "never seen anything like this before." "isn't it?" "Who cares." "We did it." "We did it." "We did it." "We did it." "Celebrations." "We got plenty" "See how calm." "Good job." "Okay guys." "Hey." "This is the opportunity that we've all been talking about." "you're all millionaires." "you got to get it out of the ground." "That's the whole theme." "There isn't one man in America" "If he's got anything inside him wouldn't want to be here with us." "and" "We all knew it was a dream." "I definitely needed a dream." "Okay." "And" "Now I'm gonna start kicking some ass." "294)}Subs by JackT"