03x08 - Into the Cavern

[bunniefuu]

[narrator reading]

[man exclaims]

[narrator] After triggering
an underground flood

on their first attempt to
drill the energy zone...

Damn, that's a lot of water.

[narrator] ...the team was
forced to abandon the area

until the water
levels finally dropped.

[Chad] You can tell,
there's no water running.

[man] Completely dry.

[narrator] With the area dry,

the team could
finally return to drilling.

Everybody out of the way.
We got the drill coming in now.

[narrator] In an attempt to
reach the keyhole cavern

under the energy zone.

But after drilling for two days,

the drill struck an
impenetrable layer

120 feet below the surface.

The further we get down,
there's like black chunks in there

that are... that we
haven't seen before.

This is the... that we're
drilling through right now.

That's metal.

[narrator] Searching
for answers,

Duane consulted with
the Quantum team...

Good to see you again.

[narrator] ...who make
a startling discovery.

We found iridium.

Well, iridium means
off-Earth, right?

It's not natural to this planet.

But it all boiled back to

a meteorite impact.

Well, that explains
why it's so hard

If it was a meteor, there's
no way we can get through it.

There is something huge

going on on your property.

We have to find another way in.

[bleep] boys, that deal
was harder than diamonds.

Whatever is down there,
we're not gonna get through it.

[narrator] The meteorite
that the team hits

seems to be approximately

120 feet below the energy zone.

But it's unclear
how wide it might be.

If it's large, it may
cover the keyhole cavern,

much like a dome.

So I had my dad call in Eric.

I mean, Eric's off on
his own adventures,

but he's been here at the
range and helped us a lot.

I'm excited to hear what Eric
thinks about this meteorite.

Eric, how you doing, brother?

- How's it going, Eric?
- How you doing, man?

Hey, Charlie. Hey, James.

How's it going?

- Good, how you doing?
- Good, man, good.

[narrator] Geologist
Eric Drummond

spent two years with the team

studying the strange landscape

of Blind Frog Ranch.

[Eric] I think we
got a meteorite.

[narrator] During his
work, he also found

traces of the meteorite.

It's nice holding
something that...

- came from outer space.
- [man] Yeah.

[Eric] This could be
a major discovery.

I miss you guys
out there, I'll tell you.

Yeah, we miss you, too, brother.

How are you progressing
with your exploration?

Uh, we've been drilling a
hole over at the energy zone,

and we're hitting
some really hard stuff.

It's even melting the bits.

[Eric] How deep was it?

Maybe 120 feet.

[Chad] We brought
in Stephen Leeah.

And he's saying that it could be

a huge meteorite down there.

[Eric] Wow.

So if this actually
is a meteorite,

you think we could drill
through with the right rig?

I doubt it.

Normally, meteorites
are iron and nickel.

And so, they're dense.

But it's like,
really really hard,

but you may be able to

dig down around
the periphery of it.

For example, I
was just back in...

In Ohio,

and I was researching
this area called

the serpent mound disturbance.

And it happens to be
a meteor impact site.

[narrator] At the
serpent mound in Ohio,

native Americans built an
enormous snake-shaped structure

on the site of a huge
meteorite impact

that happened over


Sites of other meteorite impacts

have also been marked in
Central and South America

by the Aztecs and
other indigenous cultures

who believed that meteorites

were the arrows of the Gods.

More recently, a giant
meteorite was extracted

near an indigenous site in Peru.

Could the mysterious
keyhole cavern

be a native American structure

built to venerate the
meteorite structure

discovered by Stephen
Leeah and his team.

[Eric] The serpent
mound disturbance,

it's a three-mile
diameter impact site.

It hit the earth

and it just
fractured everything.

There things hit
earth with such force,

just like a b*mb,

a huge b*mb
going off, basically.

Not more than 60
miles from here,

is a meteor crater in Arizona.

And it's created fracturing

around this large impact crater.

I actually live
down in that area,

so I've been there many times,

and there's all these
caverns and fissures

that have been
created by that impact,

that the native
Americans have used for

thousands of years.

Could that impact here
have created caverns as well?

[Eric] Yeah, absolutely.

Um, large cave
systems follow faults,

because there are
weak zones in the earth.

So, Eric, if we're dealing
with this big meteorite,

and we can't drill through it,

how else are we gonna
find another entrance

or a way in?

[Eric] I'm just thinking
out loud now, but...

I remember we
went into that mine,

and we saw significant
amounts of bat guano in there.

You remember that?

Yeah. That's right.

[narrator] Two years ago,

while searching for an opening

into the cavern system,

Eric discovered bat
guano inside a cave.

That looks to be, uh, feces
from bats or something.

[narrator] However, the cave
had high levels of radiation,

and was too
dangerous to explore.

And so bat guano, um...

Is known to be high in a
compound called nitrates.

These nitrates come up
through these fractures,

filtering up into the soil

and you'll find these nitrates

towards the surface.

If we can detect
nitrates in the soil,

around these fractured
zones or faulted zones,

that may

provide a clue to where

we could search
for natural openings.

We could essentially map

this void system by mapping

the bat guano, of high nitrates.

[narrator] If the
meteorite impact

created underground
fissures and caverns,

one way of detecting them

is by analyzing the soil above.

If high levels of nitrates
are found in the dirt,

this would mean that the
nitrates from bat guano

might be migrating up

through a fissure or cave.

I mean,

It may sound like kind of
a bat [bleep] crazy idea.

- [laughter]
- It might just work.

So what do you
need from us, Eric.

You can do this with
very basic equipment.

You'd wanna take about a...

one kilogram worth of sample.

So one kilogram is maybe two

pretty good handfuls of soil.

GPS in each and every location.

That way we can get back to
where these samples came from.

And you can put it in
like a ziploc freezer bag.

And send them out to
me. I'll give them to a lab.

If you see anything,

out of the ordinary, if
you see fractured rock,

or anything like
that at the surface,

make any notes
that you can on those,

and I'll get them to the lab
and take care of the rest.

Thank for helping us out,

I'm sorry I missed you in
Las Vegas, New Mexico,

when you came through but...

I hope to get out there again.

And wish you all the best.

Thank you, Eric. Appreciate it.

We got to get some
shovels and get going,

- huh, boys?
- Yeah.

- [Eric] So get those samples.
- All right.

- Let's go.
- All right.

[Chad] We get the location, GPS,

grab some bags,

and make sure it's sealed.

Then we're gonna head
out to the energy zone,

and kind of fan out.

I'll take the south side,

y'all take the other two.

- Okay.
- Then we'll...

- We'll get some samples.
- All right.

- Sound good?
- [all] Yep.

[narrator] The team plans to
collect samples from four areas

of the ranch
surrounding the meteorite.

Charlie, Duane and James

will cover the
north, east and west

while Chad will take
samples from the south.

[Duane] Are these mountains
getting bigger or am I getting older.

[all chuckle]

I'll go up here and
grab some samples.

[James] He said about
two good handfuls.

I'd hate to get stopped by the
police on the way out of here

carrying all these
bags like this.

They'd have a
field day over that.

[Chad] So where we're going now,

this is like exploring the
dark side of the moon.

So this is the south
side of the energy zone

mountain right here.

This whole area.

So what Eric was saying is,

the nitrates will
actually seep up

through the fissures

and come to the
surface of the soil

which could lead
to a cavern system.

All we need is a
crack or a fissure

somewhere to be able to enter.

It's just a matter of time

to be able to
find the right one.

[bleep] boy.

Don't make me go the south side,

way up there.

Should I get some samples?

Yeah. They're all marked,
everything graded, yep.

[narrator] The team collected
and marked 20 samples

from the area
surrounding the meteorite,

and will send them to
Eric Drummond's lab

for analysis.

- [Chad] We're set. Does that work?
- Let's do it. All right.

- [Chad] Hey.
- [Charlie] Wassup, man?

I got some big... news here.

Now we're talking.

So we just got the
soil samples back.

The east and the west
soil samples were a bust.

But the sample I
got from the south

had elevated nitrate levels.

[narrator] The samples
that Chad collected

south of the meteorite,
and energy zone,

show unusally high
levels of nitrites,

which means there
may be fissures

just below the surface,

where bat guano
is migrating upward

from an underground
cavern system.

Tha shows that there's a cavern

of bat guano that goes in there.

And if there's bats down there,

there's bat guano
all through there,

that means there has to
be an opening at the surface.

I think that this is
like a back door.

We get in right
here, we can track

- all the way to here...
- Come up, right.

[Chad] ...and not
have to go through that

huge meteorite.

[James] The fissure opening
would be near the surface,

so we wouldn't have
to drill to reach it.

[Duane] [bleep]... man.

Let's just go get the excavator

and see if we can
find that opening.

Let's go to work.

- [James] Good deal.
- [Chad] Let's do it.

[narrator] In order to get
the 75,000 pound excavator

to the location of
the nitrate deposits,

Duane must first clear a path

through the creek
bed which appears dry,

now that the water
levels have subsided.

[Chad] We got the track-o,

my dad's gonna
make a little pathway

to get across the creek,

so we can get to our
spot, start digging.

[Duane] Charlie,
boy, do you copy?

We have some serious silt here,

I'm gonna have to
bring some dried...

[Duane] Hell of a mudhole.

I was on solid
ground the whole time.

And then I turned my
tracks and we fell through.

He's trying to build a road

so that we can
get right to the site

where we're gonna
start digging, but...

We might not get very far.

[Duane] Charlie, boy.

Little bit. How far
am I to dry ground?

[Ryan] I think the only digging

we're gonna do today
is digging you out.

- Well, we'll get across.
- This looks...

This looks really bad. You're
about two-three feet down.

[Duane] Yeah.

[Charlie] Over here.

[Duane] Where in
the hell is "here" at.

That's damn near
forever, Charlie boy.

We might have to abort
this one and go lower.

Look out, fellas.

Come on.

Come on... [bleep]

[bleep]

[bleep]

Oh... [bleep]

- [Duane] Charlie.
- [Charlie] Yeah.

[Duane] I can't dig
this hole... [bleep]

It's just bottomed out.

Yeah.

[Duane] I'm... I'm... [bleep]

- [Charlie] We're sinking, all right.
- [Duane] Yeah.

[Charlie] We're going
right Titanic on this [bleep]

[Chad] Holy [bleep], man.

God, almighty.

[bleep] ...stuck. Jesus.

What the... [bleep]

Oh!

[Duane] Yo.

[Chad] What the... [bleep]

- Your six foot in the ground right now.
- [Duane] Yeah.

I think I hit some quicksand.

[Chad] That's real bad.

I mean I just don't know if
a two truck will pull it out.

Can't even see your
tracks. Tracks are gone.

[narrator] Quicksand is formed
when water becomes trapped

under silt and cannot escape,

and the liquified soil
quickly loses it's ability

to support weight.

And the immense weight
of Duane's excavator

is causing it to sink rapidly.

See that?

[bleep] ...so he's
still sinking, though.

[Duane] We're getting
worse and worse.

I mean, we were solid.

And now, it's
just like, we're...

There's an undercurrent of muck.

Yeah. Probably got
about four hours left

and this summabitch
gonna be completely under.

- Thanks for being a cheerleader, Charlie.
- [Charlie] Yeah.

I'm trying to get a signal
to call the tow truck.

All right. Here. Here we go.

[Duane] I can sense some
mud coming in on my feet.

[Charlie] You know,
there's an old saying.

That the captain always
goes down with the ship.

- Yeah.
- [Charlie] And I'm damn glad

I'm just a first mate.

Yeah.

'Cause I always
wanted to bring you up.

- [chuckles]
- [Charlie] I...

I don't want a promotion.

[laughing]

All right, we need to get
a move on, we're sinking.

[trucker] All right. 10-4.

Hey, what's the, uh,
ETA on that truck?

He didn't know, but
he said he's coming.

The vibration of the engine

is causing it to sink

probably about an inch
or so every ten minutes.

If they're not here in the
next 30 minutes or so,

we're gonna be out about

- a half million dollars.
- Oh.

We gotta get my
dad out of there,

before the whole thing
sinks and he can't get out.

Hey, man.

I just got over here,
what's going on?

[Chad] [bleep]
Man, he obviously...

The main problem
is, this is quicksand.

And as the engine's running,
that vibration's just making it sink

every five minutes
it's another inch.

We're... We're screwed, man.

Why does he have to keep it on?

Because, well,
if he shuts it off,

all of a sudden, there's
flooding in the engine,

The air filter's [beep] wet.

- Yeah. And you won't be able to start it back up.
- You can't start it back up.

Then you have a


[line rings]

Hey, yeah, this
is Chad Ollinger.

We're waiting on the tow
truck down here at the ranch.

All right, uh...
Okay, thank you.

[bleep]

Forty-five min... I don't
know if we have 45 minutes.

[Duane] Look at
it wiggle, Charlie.

It's serious jiggling.

I mean, there's something
don't have a bottom to it.

[Chad] Hey! [bleep] huh?

This thing's getting
deeper, man.

Stop moving it around,
you're just making it sink faster.

- [bleep] in the cab?
- [Charlie] Yeah.

[Chad] Yeah, look at that. Look
how much she's already filling up.

[Charlie] Yep.

It's going down fast.

[Duane] If they don't
get here pretty quick,

we are [bleep].

There ain't no doubt about that.

They're still out 45 minutes.

[bleep]

I can't get the
[bleep] out of here...

[Chad] Oh, we got
a big boy, hell yeah.

Yep.

Yeah, that's a winch truck,
isn't a tow truck, it's good.

This thing's big.

Howdy, man.

Hey, my dad's stuck in the cab,

we gotta get this thing
out of here, ASAP.

[trucker] I can see that.

Right here is, uh,
where he went down.

[trucker] All right.

[Chad] He's uh, six foot
deep at the minimum.

Yeah.

That's big.

Thanks for coming out, brother.

Now I got a winch truck coming.

[Chad] He's gonna
slowly pull you.

Guys, we need to
watch out for this cable.

Thing snaps, we
got big problems.

[engine revving]

All right, here it goes.

There you go. Hell yeah.

We're moving. We're moving.

All right, it's sinking.

[inaudible] ...down,
going deeper.

[trucker] Hey, what?

What's happening is, his
nose is getting more buried.

So what do you think,
if he pushes down,

lifts his front end up,
and pull him like that.

Whenever you get pulled forward,

you're bearing your nose.

So if you can push down,

keep your tracks up.

If it doesn't emerge, we have to
break the glass and pull him out.

[narrator] While attempting to pull
the excavator out of the quicksand,

the backside has sunk deeper,

pushing water into the engine.

[Chad] Is there any
way you think we can...

If we can just scoop that up,

lay it right up there.

- [Duane] I can't stand.
- You have to.

- You scoop it... right there.
- All right, all right.

All right, I'll do it.

[narrator] Chad's plan is
to use the bucket to dig out

some of the quicksand
in front of the excavator,

creating a clear path
to winch it forward.

You're unhooked.

Now is, uh...

He's pushing all this mud up,

and that's just more
force and weight.

So he's digging
out in the front of it,

getting it out of the way and
building up a road in front of us.

So, uh, we'll have a better
chance to pull him out.

Just close to you.

Perfect. Yeah, exactly.

There you go, yeah, perfect.

Yes.

All right, everyone,
clear out, guys.

Here we go, boys.

Yeah, we're moving.

Yeah, here you go.

Yeah!

Yeah! here we go. Yeah,
let's move this... [bleep]

Hell, yeah.

[engine revving]

[bleep]

So the good news is, we
got it out of the main sinkhole,

the quicksand.

But the problem is, now,

is he's just pushing
a [bleep] of mud.

And he's having a hard
time keeping his nose up.

All right now, I'm...
Uncovering the tracks.

These guys want
to rig up a chain,

it goes on the
outside of the tracks.

So I got to unbury the track,

see how wide it is.

I don't know if I
can get to it, man.

It's so [bleep] under there.

Oh [bleep]

[exhales]

[bleep] tracks to that way.

Oh no.

[speaking indistinctly]

[narrator] With the tracks
in a perpendicular position,

the winch truck is pulling

75,000 pounds against the grain.

[Chad] Now we got to do
the same on the other side

[trucker] Oh yeah.

[bleep]

That was the process.

[narrator] The tow team will
need to latch on to the tracks,

to drag it out of the creek.

[Chad] I don't think
we'll find that one.

[trucker speaking indistinctly]

[horn beeps]

That'll do.

[bleep] you want me
to help you or not, bro.

[bleep]

All right, my man,
Wayne's got two winches.

Not one, but [bleep] two.

We got one hooked
up to the boom.

Tracko.

Trying to pull the tracks
tthrough the second winch.

The secone excavator track
was too deep under the mud,

so we can only
get one hook on it.

But hopefully, it will be
enough to pull him out of there.

Here we go, we got
hitched, boys, watch out.

h* h*!

Push down. He's
not pushing down.

Push down.

Down.

There! There! Hup! Hup! Hup! h*!

Whoa! Hold up,
you're pulling me over.

I think that's our only hope.

Let's...

Let's find the other track.

- [trucker] Yeah.
- We'll dig it up.

All right. Have him pull me.

[Chad] Y'all ready?
Here we go, boys.

[engine revving]

That thing's trashed.

You're gonna
have to take it apart

and clean the whole thing.

So the guys were able to get
the excavator out of the mud.

That's the good news.
But the bad news is,

the excavator's totally wrecked.

Here's the thing, we wanted to

get over there as
fast as possible.

'Cause we got a full
day of digging right there.

So we got major problems now.

Hey, has anyone
seen my dad today?

Do you hear that?

Duane! Nice work!

[Charlie] Back in business now.

That right there is
like Duane Ollinger,

'cause he will always
pull a rabbit out of his hat.

[narrator] Duane arrives
with a replacement excavator

and gets right to work.

That thing was
sinking like [bleep]

[narrator] To avoid
any further issues,

he takes it the long
way around the creek.

The plan is to excavate an area

of loose rock at
the foot of the ridge

where the highest levels
of nitrates were found.

Damn.

Stop. Let's start
digging over here.

[bleep]

Hey! Stop! Stop!
Stop! Hold on! Hold on!

Hey! Let's get it here.

[Chad] Look at this. There's
a cave, there's a opening.

[narrator] Excavating at the
site of high-nitrate concentrations,

Duan has punched
into some sort of cavity.

[yelling excitedly]

[Chad] Oh my God.

James, we got something!

Oh I feel that breeze
coming through.

- Really?
- [James] Yeah. It's cold.

[Charlie] Damn. I
can feel it up here.

Get it open.

[grunting]

[grunting]

[James] Be careful.

[Duane] Look at
that, Charlie boy.

[Charlie] [bleep] cold there.

[Chad] I told you guys,
there's something in here.

I think this is a tunnel.

[Chad] [bleep] Head
is in the cave right now.

[Charlie] That goes right
back in there, doesn't it?

Oh, yes.

That's a real
honeypot, right here.

But be careful, that whole
[bleep] could cave in on you.

[Chad] This is tight.

I got it. Here you go.

[panting]

[bleep] Goes way back here.

- Y'all feel the breeze?
- Yeah.

The breeze is getting
even stronger in here.

[narrator] The last time the team
felt such a strong flow of cool air,

was the collapsed mine
entrance out at crow creek.

Guys, you can feel cold air
coming out from down here.

Are you [bleep] me?

[Chad] Oh man!

This is wild, man.

[grunting]

This goes way down in here.

[Chad] No, it's crawl
space for a while,

but it looks like it's...

opens up 'cause
there's a huge echo.

[Chad] Yeah. Yeah, we're fine.

Whoever dug this...
It's a solid cave.

It sounds like it.

[Charlie] We need to get
some equipment up here.

[Duane] We damn sure do.

[narrator] The team
plans to explore the tunnel

to see if it might
be an entrance

to the keyhole cavern,

where they believe
a cache of Aztec gold

might be hidden.

We need to watch out for sure.

- Sounds good.
- All right.

[narrator] After getting
their gear and flashlights,

the team returns to the cave.

Nah...

[narrator] Veteran
cameran Joel Schwartzberg

will accompany the
team into the tunnel

to document what they find.

Okay, boys, here we go.

Let's do this.

[James] Is there
enough room in there?

Is it a lot?

[Ryan] Any standing water or...

[James] Joel's gonna
follow your [bleep] in there.

- [Chad] Oh, that's right.
- [Ryan] Same system.

I don't [bleep] know if
I'm gonna fit through that.

[Ryan] The water's
like ice back here.

I'm seeing frost.

[Chad] [bleep] yeah. It's icy.

[Joel] Hey, man. I
cannot turn around here.

Hold on.

- [Ryan] You gotta turn around.
- [Joel] Ah!

[Chad] Not a good time
to be claustrophobic.

- Hey, Skinner.
- [Ryan] What's up?

There'e no way I'm
gonna get in here

with the backpack and
the magnetometer in it.

It's super-tight back here, man.

Let me hand it to you.

- [Ryan] Can you hand it up, James?
- [James] Yeah.

[Joel] Oh... Seriously,
I can't even turn.

Oh my God.

[panting]

My God, this is tight.

It is.

[groaning]

Is it bigger in there?

'Cause it's pretty
[bleep] tight now.

Jesus, it is tight.

[Joel] I'm starting to
get claustrophobic.

[Ryan] Okay. Go...

[Joel] I gotta get out of here.

[Chad] We're together.
We'll die together, bro.

[Joel] Not good. It's not about
that, I gotta get out of here.

[narrator] Joel is having a
sudden attack of claustrophobia,

an intense feeling of panic

brought on by the
tightness of the cave.

[Joel] I really gotta
get out of here.

- [Joel] Yeah.
- [James] All right.

[Ryan] Go, let's go.

[grunting]

[Chad] James, come...
Come on up here.

- [Joel] James. I gotta get out of here.
- [Chad] Joel is gonna go up.

[Ryan] There's an opening.

[indistinct conversation]

[narrator] The team
tries to keep Joel calm.

[bleep] My ankle.

God, this is too [bleep]
small for four people.

[narrator] Finally,
James is past.

Joel can now crawl
toward the exit.

[Joel] Jesus.

[panting]

It's me.

[Joel] There you go.

[man] Got it.

[Joel] I gotta come out.

Jesus.

[exhales]

It's more tighter
than it looks, huh?

It's [bleep] tight.

[panting]

But it's really [bleep] tight.

[narrator] After spending a few
minutes in a wider section of the tunnel,

Joel has recovered
from the panic attack.

[panting]

[narrator] He is able to head
back into the narrow passage.

But this time,
crawling in backwards

to avoid having to turn
around in the tight space.

There's another chamber
coming off of here.

Oh yeah, it's another tunnel.

[Chad] Oh!

[narrator] The team has
belly-crawled 25 yards

into a cramped void

where the passageway
splits into two different tunnels.

But the second tunnel is
even tighter than the one

the team has just
squeezed through.

I saw a quartz vein
that you guys passed up.

[Chad] Really? So this could be

a vein or some
kind of, like, bank,

like a storage area
or more like a...

It had to have been mined and
it's got to me a depository too.

Remember, this goes for
hundred of miles everywhere.

Look at this [bleep]
It's everywhere.

[Chad] Yeah, we don't have
any idea how far this goes.

[Ryan] You can
hear it open up...

- Yeah.
- [Ryan] ...into something much larger.

[James] Could the Aztecs
have discovered this years ago

and used this to hide?

This is just one
entrance of many.

And you gotta think about,

if they've been looking for
this for hundreds of years,

it's not easy to find.

We're gonna have
to go through this.

[Chad] [bleep] ...still going.

Can we fit?

[Chad] It opened up back here.

I see a huge
[bleep] cavern here.

- Holy [bleep]
- You see?

It's opened up
like... and drops off.

[bleep]

[groaning]

[laughing]

Holy [bleep]

[James] Look at
the mineralization.

Look at the water ponds
that are carving through.

It's creating that
carbonic acid.

It's eating the
cave. It's a live cave.

[narrator] Carbonic
acid forms from rainwater

and carbon dioxide in the air.

A relatively weak acid.

It dissolves softer
rocks like limestone,

carving out caves
and cavern systems

wherever the two
compounds come into contact.

[James] Hello.

[laughing]

Get in here.

Holy [bleep]

It's frikkin' massive.

We are the first
people to see this,

possibly in hundreds
of years if not thousands.

[narrator] After squeezing
through 50 yards

of pitch black
subterranean tunnels

beneath Blind Frog Ranch,

Chad and the team

have emerged into
a massive cavern.

[James] This is huge.

Oh my God, look at this.

This is exactly what
we're looking for.

[Chad] These are giant logs.

[James] Why are
there logs down here?

[Chad] Oh my God!
Look it! Look at it. Look it.

This is actually huge.

This is... This is...
Somebody made this.

- Is that man-made?
- It's man-made.

[Chad] You're kidding.

- [Ryan] It's cut out...
- [Chad] On my God, it is. It's cut out.

[Ryan] Why is it down here?

[Chad] Damn,
wonder how far it goes.

Look at that.

- This means somebody was in here.
- [Chad] Yeah.

This is exactly what
we're looking for.

- [Ryan] How old is it?
- It's weak

Feel that... The wood gives.

[narrator] The hewn
logs are evidence

that ancient people have
utilized these caves before.

But they are far too large

to come through the narrow
tunnel the team entered through,

suggesting there
might be a larger tunnel

hidden somewhere in the cavern.

[Ryan] Do you guys
see any openings?

[James] I don't see
any way out of here.

Yeah, dead end right here.

But how the [bleep] did
this wood get here though?

This looks like it's
the end right here.

[Rayn] It's gotta
keep going down.

[Chad] Gotta make sure.

This is the end of
the tunnel right here.

It's just, uh, all jammed up
with mud and rocks, and...

Check to see if there's a
vertical shaft somewhere.

[Ryan] The fact that we're in
a chamber this big right now,

that water had to go somewhere.

It's not just gonna stop here.

It's gonna keep
drilling it's way down.

[James] It's like a... a drain.

It's topped up right here.

[bleep]

It sounds hollow.
Did you hear that?

- [James] You can.
- [Chad] You can feel it.

[James] You can feel this
whole ground up here, moving.

Do you think maybe
it was covered up?

[Chad] Like a false bottom.

[Ryan] You hear that [bleep]

- You can feel it. You can...
- [Chad] Yeah, you can feel it here.

There's something...
There's something along here.

- [James] Yeah.
- Hundred percent.

[James] Look at this. I mean
all the [bleep] built up here.

There's got to
be a continuation.

You know there could
have been passageways

taht were just sealed up,

because of all
the runoff this year.

[Chad] We just don't know how
far these rocks go down... you know.

'Cause this could be a whole
another entrance right here.

I think you're [bleep] right.

I think that's the
next spot to go.

This just might go into
another whole cavern.

We need to regroup with your dad

and then figure out some
technology to get down here

and maybe break...

- Break down into.
- [Chad] Yeah. That's probably a good idea.

This is what we've
been looking for, finally.

We've hit so many dead
ends and wrong turns,

but also so many clues.

It's taken us years...

It's getting stuck.

And so much hard work.

It's a marker.

But we finally found an
entrance to the cavern systme.

That gold is down here.

And we're gonna find it.

This is amazing.

This is the closest
we've ever been.

[groaning]

[bleep]