Dakota Fred Hurt, the star of the thrilling reality series “Gold Rush: White Water,” offers viewers a glimpse into the life of a gold miner braving the harsh Alaskan wilderness. If you haven’t seen the show yet, it’s definitely worth a watch. For those who are already fans of Dakota Fred, here are five fascinating facts you probably didn’t know about him.
“Gold Rush: White Water” is a world apart from “Gold Rush”
Dakota Fred is a purist when it comes to gold hunting. His show, “Gold Rush: White Water,” is vastly different from its parent series. While “Gold Rush” features industrialized operations with heavy machinery digging into the earth for gold, Dakota Fred takes a completely different approach. He and his son work together to reach the bottom of the river bed, crossing sheer canyons via zip lines to access creek beds that are unreachable by vehicle and, in some cases, even on foot. They dive into the raging waters of McKinley Creek, where they believe gold is hidden, and use a dredge to suck up materials for processing. This pure form of extreme gold hunting is a far cry from the methods used in “Gold Rush,” but the father-son duo is passionate about their unique approach.
Dakota Fred defies his age with impressive fitness
Many people may not realize that Dakota Fred is now in his seventies. However, his age doesn’t seem to slow him down at all. He is more physically fit than many men half his age and eagerly embraces the challenges of his chosen profession. The fact that his methods are so demanding only makes the experience more exciting and rewarding for him. He has been fortunate enough to find gold in most of the areas where he has set up operations. Being in such remote locations requires strength, endurance, and physical fitness, and Dakota Fred is a living testament to all three.
Gold prospecting wasn’t always his career
Fred Hurt is a man of many talents. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was a commercial diver, which explains why he’s so comfortable diving into Alaska’s turbulent creeks and rivers in search of gold. His training makes the endeavor less dangerous than if an average person were to attempt it. He doesn’t hesitate to dive right in, whereas less experienced prospectors without professional diving training might not be up to the task. Fred did a lot of diving in the Gulf of Mexico, working out of New Orleans and Corpus Christi as an oilfield diver. He was also a dock builder before becoming a gold prospector. His diverse background and professional experience have prepared him well for the work he and his son are doing now.
He may not be wealthy, but he’s happy and content
Hurt isn’t desperate for money, but he does have a passion for finding gold. The overhead expenses of prospecting in Alaska are quite high, so it costs a lot just to search for the precious metal. It’s hard work and dangerous, but Fred and his son Dustin have been fortunate enough to find enough gold to sustain their operation and keep them in business. He revealed that they extracted $750,000 worth of gold from one area alone. They haven’t struck it rich or discovered a mother lode, but they’re doing well financially and genuinely love what they’re doing.
Fred was in worse shape in his 60s than he is now
Dakota Fred admits that when he retired from his previous profession at age 60, he wasn’t as able to keep up with the younger crowd of gold miners. He wasn’t in terrible shape, but he wasn’t accustomed to rappelling down sheer cliffs or handling some of the other rigors of his new career. He was ten pounds overweight at the time, but in the fourteen years he’s been doing extreme gold prospecting, he shed the extra weight and buffed up. Now, he can navigate challenging terrain more easily than many men half his age.
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