INTERVIEW: ‘Dakota’ Fred Hurt still searching for big pay day on ‘Gold Rush: White Water’
Photo: “Dakota” Fred Hurt is the star of the new spinoff series Gold Rush: White Water. Photo courtesy of Discovery.
Gold Rush continues to be a top-rated reality series for Discovery, and its spinoff, Gold Rush: White Water, has broadened the brand and offered producers a chance to expand the franchise’s storytelling.
White Water follows the adventures of the Hurt family, including paterfamilias “Dakota” Fred Hurt. What makes their gold hunting so unique in the wilds of Alaska is that they have to brave ice-cold temperatures in rushing rapids. By Dakota’s side is his son, Dustin Hurt. Together they search for that next big pay day, which almost came in the show’s inaugural season, but a terrible landslide mucked up their enterprising efforts.
Their professional home is McKinley Creek — beautiful to the eyes, but dangerous to the touch. All of the elements that can disrupt a good gold rush are present and accounted for: cold water, falling boulders, bears in the woods, that unpredictable Alaskan weather.
It’s all in a day’s work for the Hurt family and their team of frontier adventurers. Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Dakota, and he offered a preview of the new season, which premieres Friday, Jan. 4 at 10 p.m. on Discovery. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
This past year, what were some of your most difficult challenges?
I think some of the most difficult challenges were all the personalities. I’m a little rough around the edges and maybe not the most sociable guy. I think that’s part of it, but it’s also when people don’t heed advice. I know from experience of working out there, and I’m giving advice to keep people safe or from making a big mistake. People just didn’t listen very much!
Are brown bears a big problem while mining? How often do you see them?
The brown bears aren’t there as often as the black bears. The black bears are everywhere — I saw them when I was going to work and walking to the job site. It’s a dangerous situation just walking through the woods. There are a lot of them. The problem is, especially early on, is that the bears can have cubs. If a bear even thinks that you’re a threat to their cubs, you’re in trouble.
We’ve luckily never had to harm a bear. We’ve yelled and waved, and that typically makes them go away. It’s more of the surprise — and walking on the same trail as theirs. You just hope you don’t encounter any with cubs.
The grizzlies are a different story — they’re a little obnoxious. But I didn’t have any encounters with them. They just eventually go away. They don’t want to be around us, and we have to remember we’re in their territory. I have a lot of respect for the bears — they’re the ones making the rules, not you.
What was going through your mind when last season a landslide disrupted your mining efforts?
We were getting some good gold, and it was just catastrophic. It was basically a tsunami that went through everything — and just completely filled up our site. I figured it would fill the area with fine silt, and in two to three days, we’d be right back. But we were wrong, wrong, wrong.
Did you always want your son to follow in your professional footsteps?
Years ago, I had Dustin working for me, and we were doing bulkhead work and specialty concrete work and columns. He did not want to do that work for the rest of his life, and he became a forest firefighter. That’s when I got him to come back and work for me. I wished he would have picked it up earlier, but I understand that he has his own choices, and is a nice, but strong-headed kid. When he makes a mistake, he will occasionally admit that I was right. We don’t always agree, but we do agree occasionally — but not often.
With so many obstacles, why is it still important to keep mining? Is the money the main draw?
Well, I’ve been mining since I was 60 years old. That was 15 years ago. I’ve made enough money every year to keep coming back. I was just fascinated by the scenery in Alaska. It’s just incredible. Every day you see something new, and you just realize the scenery is addictive — at least to me it is.
The adventure is what drew me. I’ve worked hard all my life — not taking many vacations, which I’ve come to regret — but that’s exactly what drew me, the adventure. I never really had gold fever, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a thrill when finding gold. The money was just enough to keep me coming back. I never had a lot of money, and I retired without a lot of it. But I’ve always just made enough.
What I hope most is that I can inspire other people — to get them out to do something. This show is going to be an inspiration to a lot of people. Moments will be cringeworthy, but other times you’ll laugh, smile and even shed a tear. It’s going to be one hell of season. And I hope others will see that, and it will carry over into their lives.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Gold Rush: White Water returns with new episodes Friday, Jan. 4 at 10 p.m. on Discovery. Click here for more information.
