Previously on "Blind Frog Ranch"...
There's a lot of things going on in this ranch that people
don't understand.
Charlie confronted the demons of a past dig site...
This place is cursed.
This is not where you want to mess around here.
In hopes of lifting a lingering curse.
A lot of your energy has been drained.
Meanwhile, the team zeroes in on their best lead yet to enter
- the Golden Staircase. - We got what we need.
We have indications of a void here and a void there.
But when Eric discovers volatile elements
in the earth...
If this is, in fact, a coal seam, we just have to
shut it down.
The entire operation is threatened.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Aw.
Legends of ancient treasures...
It could go thousands of years back.
And unexplained phenomena...
I'm not messing with that.
Meet at a 160-acre property in northeast Utah
known as Blind Frog Ranch.
For decades, teams have searched the land for
long lost Aztec gold.
But the closer they get...
Look at that. That's gold!
The harder the land fights back.
Whoa, the hell's going on?
- Now, a prolific miner... - We're standing on a pile of gold.
And a legendary treasure hunter...
There must be another tunnel entrance, something.
Armed with new evidence...
- Look at this. - The hell is this?
And a fabled artifact...
There's a date in it, 1912.
Will take on a 500-year-old curse...
Fire in the hole.
And a land littered with traps...
to find a three-billion-dollar treasure.
They won't stop until they uncovered the mystery of
what lurks below...
at Blind Frog Ranch.
- Get down there, Eric. - Yeah, we are.
- As long as it keeps going down. - -That's it.
One week ago, Ron deciphered
a passage in the Rhoades Journal
that he believes will lead to another chamber of Aztec gold
known as the Golden Staircase.
The Golden Staircase could be the big resting place.
Big, I would imagine, means important.
The map led the team to a mysterious stone doorway...
Doesn't that look weird to you?
But they were unable to remove or open the passage.
So the team utilized SAR technology...
Chili, that was beautiful. We got what we need.
Revealing two possible voids underground that could lead to
the Golden Staircase's underground caverns.
But due to torrential rainfall, the team was forced to dig on
- less stable ground. - There's one spot
that we can do it, which is right about here.
That area tends to be a little bit more volatile.
Eric estimates the cavern entrance lies roughly 65 feet
underground, and as they now pass 30 feet in depth,
they must monitor the dirt, hoping to avoid
hazardous minerals.
Let's get a sample.
I'll be taking samples, looking for things like
coal or petroleum, anything volatile.
If you did drill into that, it could be just like
a bomb, basically.
Whoa!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Stop!
You need to stop!
Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Hold it. Hold on.
I'm seeing this black, organic material.
It could be an indication of a coal bed,
which is the explosive material we were afraid of here.
Last year, the team encountered
an incredibly volatile coal seam while drilling.
- Hey, fire, fire, fire! - -You guys got a fire going.
Shut it down.
With further testing, Eric uncovered
flammable minerals around Blind Frog Ranch.
Whoa!
Now, after spotting a dark substance in his last sample,
Eric is concerned that further drilling
could set combustible elements ablaze
and prevent them from accessing the tunnel system.
Until I figure out what we're dealing with here, I'm gonna
have to shut everything down, and I'm gonna have to take
a closer look at this sample to see what it is.
There definitely appears to be some type of coal seam.
It's possible we're drilling into flammable minerals here.
With coal beds, you may have methane gas,
which are explosive.
It could also be an indication that there may be
hydrogen sulfide gas, which is highly poisonous.
But right now, I'm only seeing small seams of
this dark substance.
It's tough to tell if there's enough of it here to ignite.
I mean, it's a bit risky,
but I think we can continue going.
So we're going to have to take it really, really slow
from here on in.
Hey, Jared, we're starting to get in some
- different material. - All right.
So might want to go a little bit more easier.
- Copy that. - So then we need to be really watching the hole.
- Yeah. - And seeing what he's feeling in the rig.
Exactly, monitoring what's going on, basically.
And feeding me information as necessary.
- OK. - -And let's stay away from that hole.
That's the most dangerous part of it.
Anything ignites, you don't want to be anywhere
around there. So stand back from it.
Got you. All right.
Let's do it.
With Eric giving the go-ahead to continue drilling,
the team proceeds with extreme caution through
the volatile ground.
And with an estimated 30 to 40 feet remaining
before they reach the cavern, they reduce the drill's RPMs
and will closely monitor the drill hole
for any signs of fire.
Right now, we have to strike when the iron's hot.
This has been a very dry year up here, and if there's
any chance of there being no water in this
underground cave system, it's this year.
I mean, we're doing it, we're taking a risk
because of time.
I really think we have to be aggressive to get into
the Golden Staircase right now.
Sounds like it's in.
- It's really hard. - Yeah.
That's some hard, man.
I'm wondering if we're getting down on top of that limestone.
- Let's get a sample. - It's really hard.
When we finally got to this point, the drilling started to
get a lot harder, and so that means we're on top of
a new formation, and I believe it's the limestone.
Reaching the limestone means we've passed
the dangerous minerals and are no longer
at risk of explosion.
OK.
It also means that we're closing in on that entrance.
That's where we're going to find our cavern.
I think I'm seeing some good news.
I think I'm seeing some chunks of limestone in here.
Beautiful. That's what we want to see.
So let me test it here.
To check for limestone, Eric will add
diluted hydrochloric acid to the sample.
If it contains calcium carbonate, a compound found in
limestone, the sample will release carbon dioxide,
creating bubbles and an audible fizzing sound, confirming that
the team has reached the limestone layer just above
the caves below.
It's fizzing. Got limestone.
- Beautiful. - So we're in the right formation.
Now we just got to get into the cave.
With the team safely through the layer of volatile earth,
they can now pick up their drill speed.
All right, give me a second. I'll tell you where we're at.
52 and a half.
Copy that.
And with roughly 15 feet remaining before they reach
the top of the void, they should be able to
punch into the cavern system today.
Right now, I'm counting every minute.
The stormy season is here, and winter is right behind it.
So getting inside today would be huge.
This is our window to get into the underground.
Look at that.
That's harder than hell.
Drilling's always like this, I know it.
They ain't drilling, are they?
I hope not.
It's trying to chew through it.
It's taking more than what the torque of the drill can do.
We're probably going to mess up some teeth,
but we don't have the option.
Hey, Eric.
Look at that.
All that hard face is gone on those teeth.
It's not getting very deep at all right now.
So we're in this super dense, super hard formation.
It's highly cemented with a material that
prevents you from drilling through it quickly.
And it's just eating up the inserts on the bit.
I think we're close to this opening.
I mean, we're down about 60 or so feet.
But are we just spinning in place?
How much longer can we keep doing this?
We probably can't go anymore with those teeth,
how they look. They're all chipped off.
We have some missing.
We've probably got maybe 10 feet at the most to go.
But we're not making any headway.
We're just running on nubs.
That's all we're doing right now.
This is a problem.
So I was hoping we could push through this hard layer,
but we've hardly made any progress in about two hours.
We're just wearing out the pit.
We can't get that drill rig through that super dense,
super hard formation.
So we're going to have to call it.
Man.
What we do here?
What do you think?
I don't know.
They just blast it.
Blast it?
Give me my gear down here. I'll get down there.
I'll drill, put some caps on it, blast it.
You want to and drill it and blast it?
- Exactly. - It's not ideal, but it might be the only option.
We're not getting anywhere here.
- We went as far as we could. - -Yeah.
All right, Chili. That's what we'll do.
Make those charges pretty hot, too, if you would, Chili.
- I'll put some pepper on them. - Put some pepper on them.
Hell, yeah.
I always knew Chili was a wild man.
But this is another level. I know Chili.
He's a professional. He knows what he's doing.
But right now, the future of this project
rests on his shoulders. If he goes down there
and he sets those charges wrong,
if anything bad happens, we're done.
It's a big risk that we're taking.
But we're in a situation where we can't stop.
- Let's do it. - -Damn, you're always blowing up, Chili.
What else you brought me here for?
I mean, we're on our own trail right now.
I think we're on this thing.
After hitting a dense limestone layer in
the borehole, the team has decided to set charges below
and blast through the impenetrable stone.
But first, they'll have to move their gear and drill rig
a safe distance away.
Even if Thomas Rhoades found this thing,
I mean, he wouldn't be able to do any of this.
How would he have got even in here?
Yeah, we got this big old rig to our advantage here.
I'm gonna get myself set up here.
Yeah.
Looks like the door is open on the rig.
I don't think that was left open.
Yeah, that was closed last night.
See anything?
Hey, somebody's tampered with this ignition.
It's wallowed out like they had a screwdriver or something
trying to get this thing started.
Somebody's been in here.
They got this engine compartment door open.
Any of those lines broken? Any visible leaks?
Doesn't look like it, but
you won't know until you try to get it started.
We're back at the drill site this morning, and we get to
the drill rig, though, and it's obvious it's been
tampered with.
They were screwing with the ignition, the levers were
all wonky, and so somebody's been there.
Not one of our team.
I got to think they were trying to start this
to maybe move that auger to see what we're onto there.
I think you're right.
They're watching us.
This is not the first time
this has happened out here on Blind Frog.
I mean, a lot of people know that we're out here
and that we're chasing treasure.
They want to know what we want to know and steal from us
as well.
And it's horse, but we've been
dealing with this kind of crap for years.
Like this pisses me off.
- Morning, guys. - Morning.
I got news for you.
Somebody was here last night,
and they tampered with the rig..
The ignition itself, I'm hoping that it'll freaking start.
OK, we'll check it over and see what we got.
You want to check the engine bay?
Right back here, this door was open.
Batteries are good.
Cables look good.
Let's try it.
Fingers crossed here.
I think he's going to start her up.
All right. We're cooking.
- We're cooking. - We're in business.
We'll catch them, they're gonna keep messing... nice.
Despite evidence of a possible sabotage attempt,
the team moves forward and can now clear the site and set
the charges below.
All right, buddy. Let's get down there.
You know how I like blowing things up.
I know.
With his expert knowledge in explosives, Chili will set
a controlled blast at the bottom of the hole to
break up the limestone layer that was damaging the drill.
If the blast effectively fractures the rock,
drilling can continue to the cavern entrance.
All right, we'll move the rig, put it right about here
so I can rope off of it and get down there.
All right.
The blast Chili is planning will take precise execution.
If it's too much, we risk causing a collapse,
but too little gets us nowhere.
We've got to keep things safe around here.
We can't get anybody hurt.
You know, it's dangerous.
You've got overhanging rocks here.
Just stay away from those side walls.
Try not to touch anything.
To set the charges, Chili will need to tie off to the rake
and rappel down the 60-foot hole.
Hey, can you hand me one of those rope covers right there?
Little, sharp edges on here.
Since the hole isn't cased, he must proceed with
extreme caution to avoid triggering a rock fall.
Line going down.
It's not my first option I would recommend.
Chili is putting himself at tremendous risk.
Got some loose stuff right here, bud, at the top.
But we got to get into this thing.
I want to get down into this chamber.
All right. See you, boys.
- OK. - All right. Be safe.
Chili, he does a lot of crazy stuff,
but he knows what he's doing.
He's a professional, and there's nobody better to go
down there and blast that rock out of our way.
I put my faith in him that he's going to get it done right
and that the blast is going to be perfect.
How are those side walls looking down there, Chili?
Chili?
Look at that.
Looking good.
All right, I'm at the bottom.
How's it look down there?
All limestone across there, Chili?
I think I found a good spot. I can put some holes in here.
All right.
In order to set the explosives, Chili is planting two charges
in separate holes.
The blast must be precise.
Too much explosive power,
and the cavern roof may collapse,
blocking their entrance to the Golden Staircase.
Moments away. Hold on.
All right, guys. Coming up.
Great, man. Come on up.
Get out of that hole, Chili.
- You're back, buddy. - All right.
It's kind of nice down there after a while.
- Yeah. - You got it, brother?
Yep.
All right.
Good to see you, man.
So those charges down there, they're packing
a little pepper.
We'll set them off. All goes good,
we're in the cavern today.
The team is ready to blast apart the limestone blocking
their way into the cavern system.
Got some good charges down there.
Going hot.
With the charges set, they are one press of a button
away from accessing the Golden Staircase.
All right, guys. Set.
- Ready? - Ready.
Fire in the hole.
Going hot.
- Boys, ready? - Ready.
Ready.
All right.
Fire in the hole.
- Whoa! - Here we go.
Let's go check out the damage.
That blew a lot of stuff out on that one.
- That was a good blast. - That was a good one.
- That should have broke a lot of crap up. - -Yeah.
That should fracture up that limestone.
We should be able to drill it.
We'll let this clear out a little bit.
All right, then we need to bring the drill in.
Let's have them clean this hole.
- Let's get on it. - Yeah.
Sounds good.
It seems like my legs are not tiring, like they have been.
After performing a cleansing ritual at the Bead Site
days earlier,
Charlie believes the curse affecting him and Duane has
finally been lifted.
But the ordeal has taken a heavy toll, prompting him to
step away from the ranch for a day to recover.
You know, the curse probably is some type of
protective curse that keeps the land sacred.
I think it's a warning shot across our bow, basically,
to let us know that
the land still controls everything
and that we are just here to do what we're supposed to do.
Father, I bring Charlie before you.
I ask that you put blessings upon him.
I definitely felt like the cleansing ritual worked.
It felt like the dark forces here lifted a bit.
- Are you doing OK, my friend? - -I'm pretty weak.
But I need to take a day just to recover.
Hopefully, I can continue to improve myself.
You know, we've got an ongoing project up here,
and we're going to start drilling again.
When the boys reach the Golden Staircase, I want
to be at full strength and be right there with them.
I've always prided myself in being out here.
There's purposes for me being here,
climbing the mountains and exploring and confronting
the trespassers.
Hey!
It's just something that
I've done a big portion of my life,
and I'll continue to do it until I can't do it.
I think the tent is solid.
Look, we think that we're close to the treasure.
And when that happens, you stay where you think
the treasure is.
And now, with someone trying to sabotage our rig...
Hey, somebody's tampered with
this ignition. It's wallowed out.
We decided it was best to keep watch for the night.
We walk out of here, and somebody gets in here
before us,
we run the possibility that they've taken everything away
from us. So we have to be super careful.
We know people are looking.
We know people are coming out here.
So we're up here on this hill. We've got a 360-degree view.
So anybody coming in, we're going to know,
and we're going to be able to head them off the pass.
They're giving off any heat?
- No. - No.
No.
Do you know what I'm thinking?
- We could find gold tomorrow. - -I hope so.
Are you guys worried it'll be empty again?
I don't think it's going to be empty
because the journal, it seems to
indicate there are other chambers and that those have
not been discovered.
Rhoades never got into any of the other chambers.
So, all we have to do is just keep on this trail and keep
hunting them because I believe that they're out there.
Josh, Josh, you seeing this?
That light?
Turn off your lights. There's a light up there.
See that?
They're coming for the rig.
They're making a beeline right towards the rig.
We got to get down there, man.
- All right. - -I'll get over there quick.
- You guys follow me down. - Careful, man.
You guys cover the rig. I can go run them off.
- Go get them, Chili. - You ready?
Yeah.
They're getting closer to the rig.
Eric, they could be armed.
Josh, you seeing this?
- There's a light out there. - -There's a light.
Turn off, turn off your lights.
There's a light up there. See that?
They're coming for the rig.
They're making a beeline right towards the rig.
- We got to get down there, man. - All right.
I'll get over there quick. You guys follow me down.
Careful, man. They could be armed.
You guys cover the rig. I can go run them off.
Go get them, Chili.
- You ready? - Yeah.
They got to see Chili coming now.
I know.
Eric, they could be armed.
Hey.
Better run off!
Look it, they're moving the other way, away from him.
They're getting closer to the rig.
They're getting closer. We've got to get to the rig.
They're still coming down, man.
They're still...
You OK, bud?
You better run!
I'm fine.
Let's go. We've got to get to that rig.
I don't see any of the lights now.
- Right there, right there. - -Right there.
- Right there. - Right there.
He's still coming this way.
That's the intruder. That's not Chili.
You think they just went dark?
I think they went dark, and they see him coming.
Hey!
They're going to come right at us.
Right there. Right there.
- The light's heading this way. - -They're out of here.
You know what? I think they dropped into the creek.
- Yep. - -And then that was their escape route out of here.
Yep. There comes Chili.
At least he ran them off.
Chili.
Well, I found the.
They booked down the back of that ridge.
How many? How many of them?
It was too dark.
As soon as you saw them get up on the edge of that ridge,
and they just booked it to the back side of it.
At least one, at least one more kept coming down
the ridge, dropped into Crow
- and took off that way down Crow Creek, yeah. - -Really?
Yeah, went into Crow Creek and just disappeared that way
- down south. - I mean, they got a good scare.
I was trying to run them over, but.
Good. Good.
All right, guys.
- Let's get back to camp. - Yeah.
Yeah, we'll just keep an eye out.
I can't believe that.
- Thieves. - Thieves.
Exactly.
Let's get those drillers in.
After detonating charges at the bottom of the borehole...
Yes!
The team resumes drilling, hoping that the blast has
broken up the final layer of rock and has brought them
one step closer to accessing the void below.
It's great. Yeah, it's looking good.
Seems like it's drilling easier already, doesn't it?
100%... you can just hear those rocks moving around.
Yeah, it's smooth.
Want to grab a sample of that, Josh?
- Yeah, he's coming up. - -Give me one of those chunks.
Look at all that.
We got limestone. Yep, all through there.
That's how we do it.
I'm seeing smaller fragments coming up, so it looks
like it's working. It broke up this rock.
The drill rig is going down.
I think we're maybe within 10 feet of entering that cavern.
So, I mean, I think we're close.
I mean, our tip, we're getting down there, Eric.
That's where you estimated that void's at.
Yep.
What was that?
- Is that what I thought it was? - I think so.
- That just dropped? - Jared.
Did that just drop?
I think the frickin' bit just dropped.
Jared!
Is that what I think it was?
My line's slacked up, so that means my Kelly bar and my auger
just dropped through freely.
I just felt it break through. I think that's it.
- I think that's it. - -Does that mean we're through?
- Nice. - Yeah.
Eric, did it drop? Did it drop?
- We're in the void, it dropped. - We're in the void.
Yes!
He's going to come out.
See if it's wet on the end of that bit.
Yeah.
If the bit is dry, it means the flash storm they had
earlier in the week wasn't strong enough to flood
the cavern system below, and the team can safely enter
through the borehole.
Go for it.
Boy.
- And she's dry. - Dry!
- Nice! - We got a dry void.
We got it. Yes.
- That's what we was looking for. - Yes, yes!
We just entered this cavern.
We dealt with all this stuff, and we persevered,
and we made it work.
We have an open hole right now into that cavern system.
We're in the void. We're in the void, brother.
We're in that passageway that the SAR scan showed us,
but I am so excited to find out what's down there.
Everything is falling into place.
We're really close to Aztec treasure right now.
We're gonna go down there and we're gonna explore
this entire cave system.
We're getting in that cavern now.
We're in the cavern.
- Yes! - -We're in the void, brother!
After three days of drilling, the team has finally broken
into a tunnel system they believe could be part of
the Golden Staircase,
where a chamber of Aztec treasure
is rumored to be hidden.
With intruders spotted the night before...
They're coming for the rig. We gotta get down there, man.
Charlie returns to help secure the perimeter.
Get a camera set up here.
This is just a motion sensor.
Just, it alerts me 24-7 to let me know
who's passing by here
when there's nobody supposed to be here.
Being gone most of the year, I've got to reset a lot
of these.
You know, we're constantly dealing with intruders,
you know, treasure hunters that want to come out here, try to
get here when we're not here.
So I always have to have cameras around,
try to catch them if I can.
What the hell is it called? Come on.
It's, is it with a W?
I thought it was with a P.
Might be with a P. I don't know.
- What the hell is it? - It's so ridiculous.
I know it, like, it's... it's gonna
- drive me nuts. - Just stop thinking about it.
- I can't. - It'll come to you.
So, Ron, you've been involved in quite a few treasure hunts.
What do you think about where
we're at at this point in our search?
Well, from what I've seen so far, I like what I've seen.
I think we're making a lot of good progress.
You know, treasure hunting, it could go sideways
- any time now, right? - Sure, yeah.
I've done a lot of this treasure hunting, and no one
knows better than I do that you're just on the edge of
finding it, but you're not there.
It's over the next hill, and then it's over
the next hill.
So consequently, we really don't know where
we are, but the main thing is,
is the history right? And is the geology right?
I wonder about who really wrote that journal.
I mean, there's no proof exactly who wrote it.
You know, there's always doubt, but you've got to follow
the doubt until you either prove or disprove who wrote it
or, you know, to an extent, who else could have
wrote it but Rhoades?
Or people that knew Rhoades, or the family of Rhoades,
- or whatever. We just don't know. - Yeah.
I mean, that's following history.
You've got to tear it apart
and see what's good and what's bad.
It is what it is. It's the best thing we have right now.
- Right. - You know, what else are we going to do about it?
Where are we going to go?
Yeah, you know, for a bunch of years, I mean, we kind of were
drilling where we thought we should be
or looking where we thought.
And then now with the journal, to have some of
this information, from a historical standpoint
and an anthropologist, once you see something
like that, how could you ever stop?
We know that the Mormons
overnight became extremely wealthy
in order to bring hundreds of thousands of people to Utah.
And, I mean, they were dirt poor when they got here.
And then suddenly they're Uber loaded, all these capabilities.
So that tells us that they had a sudden influx of wealth in
a region with plenty of places to hide it.
Now the journal seems to confirm certain parts of that.
It goes along with the geology.
Yeah, I mean, the geology,
initially, it's pretty complex out there.
You have sandstone at the surface.
And it was kind of hiding the limestone underneath.
It's what's called an unconformity.
And so the geology supports what you're seeing,
the legends and so forth, because we do have these
large cavern systems below that sandstone.
This whole thing is not mineralization,
and the guy's working a gold vein.
- Right, exactly. - We're after Aztec treasure.
Exactly, yeah.
And this Aztec treasure is hidden somewhere,
probably in a cavern.
And what we're seeing here is that treasure doesn't
hide itself. It's hidden by people.
And that is how you find it.
You follow the people that were actually involved with it,
what their motives were, why they did it, who they were,
what was going on at the time.
And if we can figure that out, we can actually figure out
where they were and maybe where this treasure is.
Legends are great, but they're not going to
lead you to treasure.
But there is a force that we're dealing with that
we do not understand.
And I think the only way we're gonna find any
treasure out here is if the mountain lets us.
And maybe we get lucky
and walk into a chamber full of gold.
Amen to that.
When we opened up the ranch this season, none of us knew
what to expect.
We didn't know what we were gonna find.
We didn't really know where we were gonna go.
But this year was our most adventurous yet.
From discovering a collapsed mine...
Get in there, let's check it out.
To finding the Keyhole Chamber.
It's gotta be 60 feet.
This is definitely the Keyhole Chamber.
To finding gold that could have originated from the Aztec.
- This is plain as day. - Ha-ha, ha-ha.
We've been making discovery after discovery and doing
whatever it takes to keep pushing through.
Chili, that was beautiful.
Tomorrow, we'll be rappelling 100 feet down into what
we believe is the Golden Staircase.
We're in the void, brother!
We could be on the brink of one of the greatest
discoveries ever.
On the season finale of "Blind Frog Ranch"...
See you down at the bottom. Yee haw!
The team ventures deep into a labyrinth of caverns.
- God, yeah. - , man.
We've got one, two, three.
There's a freaking lot of passageways here.
And with the Golden Staircase within reach...
What's that look like to you?
They're not golden, but they're damn sure steps.
They'll stop at nothing to unearth the lost Aztec gold.
Is that water up there, Eric?
Golden staircase brought us here.
We need to know what's underneath this freaking water.
But the deeper they push...
He's kicking up a lot of sediment.
The more the winding tunnels push back.
When you're underwater and you start taking your tanks off,
that's extremely dangerous.
Get him out of there.