All language subtitles for Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch - S04E05 - Sacrificial Altar WEBDL-1080p.mkv

[narrator] Previously on
Blind Frog Ranch...

In their quest
to find the Aztec gold,

the collapse
of the south cave...

-[Eric] Everyone get out?
-[Chad] Yeah.

[narrator] ...cut off Chad
and Eric's most promising lead

to the keyhole chamber.

[Chad] There's no way
we can go back in there.

No, we gotta find
another entrance, dude.

[narrator]
Forced to change strategies...

Using high-tech LiDAR...

[Duane] I'll be darned.

[narrator] ...to find
a possible mine tunnel...

-You see right here.
-Yeah.

It looks like
an open pit mine.

[narrator]
...deep in the mountains.

[Chad]
There it is. Right behind.

[Eric] Oh, my!

[narrator] It could lead
to the lost gold.

[Chad]
This is a treasure hunt.
We're looking for entrances.

We're looking for clues.

I mean, this could be
something big.

[narrator] But it also
put them in the path...

[Chad] Hey, look at this.

Watch out,
watch out, watch out.

[narrator]
...of an unknown predator.

[Eric] There's a lot of
predator prey going on here.

I just hope
we're not the prey.

[narrator] Meanwhile, Duane
was able to crack open

a hidden void
at the bead site.

-[Josh]
This keeps going, James.
-[Charlie] And that's

going down underneath it, too.

[narrator] It could lead
to the keyhole chamber

and the treasure.

[Josh] We're gonna hook up
this smoke machine,

take this hose,
and put it right in that hole.

[narrator] The smoke test
revealed multiple entrances

connecting to the void.

-[Josh] Look up! There!
-[James] Yup.

[Josh] That smoke is
pouring out of there.

[narrator]
And the team uncovered

what could be a sacred altar.

[James] I'm thinking
this is an altar piece.

I think there really is

something to these
smoke pipes.

[narrator]
But when they scouted one
with an endoscope...

What the [bleep] is that?

[narrator] ...the team made
an unsettling discovery.

It's a skull.

[narrator] Legends
of ancient treasures...

This has to be
hundreds of years back.

[narrator] ...and unexplained
phenomenon...

[James] What the hell is that?

[narrator]
...meet at a 160-acre property
in northeast Utah

known as Blind Frog Ranch.

There, Duane Olinger
and his team

are digging in search
of long-lost Aztec gold.

[Josh] Could the Aztecs
have discovered this?

[narrator]
But the closer they get...

Finally get to hold
[bleep] gold in my hand.

[narrator] ...the more
the land fights back.

-[Josh] Poison gas.
-[Chad] Let's go!
Let's [bleep] go!

[narrator]
Now, Duane will move heaven

-and Earth...
-[man] Fire in the hole.

[narrator] ...until he gets to
the bottom of the mystery...

[Duane]
We've started this whole deal,

and we're sure as hell
gonna finish it.

[narrator] ...and solves
what's lurking below...

[Eric] Holy [bleep]!
There's something in there.

[bleep] God!

[narrator]
...at Blind Frog Ranch.

I'll be spotting
from over here.

-Let's drill it.
-All right.

[narrator] At the bead site,

Duane is ready to cut into
the side of the rock wall

to access an opening
at the bottom of the vent

where they discovered
two burnt animal skulls.

[Josh]
How did it get in there?

We're not seeing
any other bones
around it or anything,

so I don't think
an animal drug it in there.

[Duane speaking]

Well, there has to be
a larger opening then,

somewhere.

[narrator]
Duane theorizes the skulls

must have been placed there

via another entrance
further underground,

perhaps one that eventually
reaches the keyhole chamber.

[Josh] There he goes.

While Duane is
excavating the soil away,

we're gonna be
looking for clues

to tell us where
there could be

an additional entrance
into the cave system.

You seeing anything, Charlie?

[Charlie] Nah, nothing yet.

[Charlie]
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up,

hold up! You're hitting
something hard up in there.

Josh, can you look at that
to see what it is?

[Josh] Duane, pull that back.

-[Charlie] We need
to get a closer look.
-[Josh] Yeah.

That sound was way different
than anything else.

[Josh] I think we're gonna
have to hand dig this.

[James] All right.
I'm gonna go grab some
shovels and trowels.

[Charlie] Yeah.

[Josh] Excavation is
a serious business.

You gotta know
what the hell you're doing.

You gotta put
everything in place
one inch at a time,

or somebody's
gonna get killed.

[narrator] The team starts
digging away the loose dirt
around the rock face.

He hit something hard,
didn't he, Charlie?

[Charlie] What is this?

[James] You got something?

[Josh] I just...

Boy, there it goes.

Look at that.

-Look at it.
-[James] Look right here.

-You got something there.
-[James] Yeah.

Look at that, Duane.
Another one.

Look at that.

-What do you got?
-Charcoal.

-[Josh] Really? Charcoal.
-[James] Look at that.

[Charlie] Well,
we saw the discoloration
on the endoscope,

so maybe it's the charcoal.

There's, like,
charred all around
the other edges, and then

there's this skull
right there.

[Josh] Whoa,
look at this, guys.
Look at this.

Look at this. This is going.

Oh, my God.
It's just falling away.

There's, like,
a solid rock face right here.

[James] Wow.
Now this is interesting.

[Josh] These are big,
flat sheets of sandstone,

but they're sitting like this.

This was put here.

-[Charlie] Yeah.
-For sure.

-This didn't
come in naturally.
-Yeah.

This sandstone would not
be sitting like this.
These flat sheets,

these are puzzled together.

Now you're talking.

[Charlie] This looks like
a structure or something.

Let me grab... Hold on here.

Look at this. Look at this.

[Charlie]
Put it in. Put it in.

[James]
Look at this. Look at this.

[Josh] Nice and easy.

I think it's a ceiling top,
so be careful.

We found
what appears to be the roof
of the sandstone slabs.

It's almost like
it's forming the roof

of a man-made dome structure.

So I'm really hoping that
we're closing in
on that chamber

that we found
with the endoscope.

Look, I'm starting to see
a recess. Look at this.

Oh. Oh, here we go.
It's giving way.

-[Josh] What do you got?
-[James] Look.

[Josh] Oh, my gosh. You're
getting your arm in there.

[James] Check this out.

You know, James, you're
sticking your arm in there.

That could be a snake pit too,
so be careful.

[Josh] Yeah. You should
take a look before you

-shove your
whole arm in there.
-[James laughs]

[James]
Oh, hold on here real quick.

There's just
a little bit more.

[James grunts]

Oh, wait a minute.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

[exhales] Oh, my God.

Duane.

The skulls are here.

[Duane] From the scope?

From the endoscope.

And the walls

are completely charred.

That'll make more sense about
some of this charcoal

-scattered all over here.
-[James] Yeah.

Wait a minute. Hold on.

Man, guys, you know what?

I don't think this is some
random rock chamber.

It looks like
some type of crematorium.

What?

-[Chad] What a spot, huh?
-[Eric] Yeah.

We got a good spot here, Chad.

[Chad] Oh, yeah.
Overlooking the mine.

[Eric] Good view of the mine.

[narrator]
After following the fault line

that leads north
from the south cave,

Chad and Eric have located
the abandoned pit mine

they first identified
on the LiDAR map.

With the south cave
now collapsed,

they hope this will lead

to a new way
into the keyhole chamber.

[Chad] How old
do you think this mine is?

[Eric] Um,

hard to say,
but from what I'm seeing,

probably...

Mormon era was maybe
the last to work it.

Just by the roughness
of the timbers.

So, I mean, we see nails
in some of it.

But others, it's just like
it was rough-hewn.

But it could have been worked,

-you know,
far earlier than that.
-Yeah.

There could have been
several different mining...

[Chad] Spaniards
or something like that.

Even going back
to the Spaniards. Yeah.

And this still seems like
a really rich dig site.

So why did they leave?

[exhales] That's
a very good question.

[narrator]
The Uinta Mountains of Utah

hold a long history
of hunting for gold.

In the mid-1500s,

the Spanish
dispatched search parties

to find Montezuma's
lost Aztec gold

that was rumored
to be hidden underground.

This led to large-scale
mining operations in the area.

And by the 1800s, the Mormons
were bringing in gold

from at least 40 gold mines
across the Uintas.

[Eric] This area has been
mined and explored

for hundreds of years,

regardless of
who mined it last, um...

But it'll be
really interesting to see
what we find tomorrow.

-How's it looking?
-[Eric] Ah,

it needs
a little while longer.

[branches snapping]

[branches snapping]

[branches snapping]

[Chad speaking]

[Eric speaking]

[Chad speaking]

[Chad speaking]

[Chad] [bleep]!

[Chad speaking]

[Eric speaking]

[cameraman speaking]

[narrator]
After being awakened
by a strange animal nearby,

Chad and Eric
rouse the camera crew.

[Chad speaking]

[narrator] But one of the crew
is missing.

[Chad speaking]

[Chad speaking]

Dude, where were you?

[Chad] Hey, hey, hey.

[narrator]
At the open pit mine camp,

one of the crew heard
the midnight intruder

and decided to investigate.

-[Chad] Joel,
show me where it's at.
-[Joel] This way. Over here.

-[Chad] Right.
-[Joel] This straight.

-Over here. Yeah.
-[Chad] Straight ahead?

-Camera set? Let's go.
-[Joel] Yeah.

[Eric] What is that smell?
It smells like

a dead animal or something.

I can still smell it.

[Eric] Hey, Chad.

You think we should
make ourselves known here?

-[Chad] Like a bear
or something?
-[Eric] Yeah.

Hey!

-[Chad] Down there.
Down there.
-[Eric] Look at that.

Look at that.
Right there. Hey!

Cameras. You see it?

Right there. There's something
down there. Lights.

Lights over there.

-Right there. Right there.
-[Eric] Yeah, there.
Right there.

-[Chad] What's that?
-[Eric] What is that?
What's that?

[Chad] Oh, my God.
It's huge. Whatever it is.

What is that?

[Eric] Whatever it is,
I want it to know
that we're here.

[Chad] Oh, he knows.

-[branches snapping]
-[Eric] Oh.

[Chad]
Right there. Right there.

-[rustling]
-It's running.

Where'd he go?

Lost it.

It's gone now.
I don't hear it anywhere.

Ah.

We're gonna take
sentry shifts.

I'll be first.
Y'all down with that?

-[Joel] Yeah.
-Yeah.

All right, we'll keep
the machete handy just in case
something else comes by.

Let's do it. [bleep]

[Chad] Get some sleep.
I'll stay up.

All we can do now,

you know, keep the fire going.

Last night,
we had a crazy night.

This morning
I checked the perimeter

to make sure
whatever it was is gone.

Hey, guys.

Whatever it was, it's gone.

I was looking for tracks,
but there's so many rocks

that I couldn't
actually track anything.

Yeah, it'd be hard to see.

[Chad] Yeah, so...

I think today
I want to look for

a cave entrance
that goes underground
all the way to Blind Frog.

I want to look for
more of that rich ore.

I mean, this is
significant enough

that it can lead us
to a tunnel system

that connects
to the south cave.

I mean, I don't think
it's a coincidence

that this mine right here

is right in line
with the fault
and right in line with

-the collapsed cave system.
-[Chad] Exactly.

The same fault zone,

I think likely
we could find something

-and follow it
all the way back.
-[Eric] That'd be awesome.

So, you'll take a cameraman,
I'll take one too.

-Sounds good.
-[Chad] We'll split up.

-[Eric] Yeah.
-[Chad] Be safe.

Ready?

[Eric] This morning
I'm focusing on

where that rich vein might be.

Mineralization,

meaning the accumulation
of gold,

happens along fault lines.

And that's also where
caves form.

So anytime we see
traces of gold,

that could lead us to
the underground cavern system.

And Chad, he's looking
for cave openings.

So we're diversifying
our exploration a little bit.

Oh, this is a good spot.

Let me take a look at this
in more detail here.

First thing
I'm looking at is...

You'll see some...

There we go. Look at that.

We're seeing
some malachite here.

That's one of
the indicating minerals

that could show you where to

look for the gold, basically.

The other good thing I see
is in the wall here,

you see they have this
reddish-brown material.

And this is hematite, another
gold-indicating mineral.

I'm not gonna
take a sample here

because the walls here
look very unstable.

This has definitely been
worked significantly by others

before us.

This debris pile here

came from there.

And so if you were
to be standing there

when that debris came down,
you'd be buried.

This mining business
can be kind of dangerous.

Uh, we don't know when
that mine was last mined,

but it was
a pretty long time ago.

We've already experienced
a couple of cave-ins,

so we've got
to be really careful
around this old mine.

[Chad] Big cave right here.

[narrator]
Chad has identified a cave

on the hillside
near the open pit mine.

[Chad] I got a camera.

[narrator] He's hoping
there are other tunnels inside

that could lead back
to the collapsed south cave.

[Chad]
Let's see where it'll go.

Yeah, there's four
different directions
they went.

They went that way.

I guess they didn't
find anything. Went that way.

That way. And then
back that way.

There's five. Then down here.

These caves these guys
are digging are so tight.

Like, this one,
you can barely fit through.

So these guys would prospect.

If they weren't
finding anything
in a certain direction,

they would stop
and go a different direction.

There's so many tunnels here.

One of them could lead back

to the keyhole chamber
through the fault line.

I mean, they're obviously
digging here for a reason.

There's a whole lot
of that green rock

down at the bottom.

Oh, yeah, right here too.

You got that green rock
all over the place here.

Yeah, that's definitely
what they were tracking.

One over here.

This one stops.

So you can see,

this definitely won't get us
back to the cave system
in our ranch.

It goes back,
I don't know, 20 foot?

Keep looking.

[Eric] Yeah.

So I'm liking what I see here.

Um, I see both

the hematite and the malachite
right here.

This looks good enough
for me to, uh,

to grab a sample of it
and bring it back.

There we go.

So we have a nice piece.
We've got, um,

the indicator minerals,
um, in here.

The headwalls
are looking pretty good.

We're seeing
the greens and the reds.

And so

it makes sense geologically.

We follow the fault.

We follow
the indicating minerals.

We look for the cave.

So we'll bring this back
and look at it.

All right.

[Chad]
Got another cave right here.

Yeah, they were serious about
whatever they were doing.

You see that shoring.

And they're following
this hematite the whole way.

Usually where these
entrances are,

there's hematite
all around it.

And shoring.

Metal all around.

Old stuff.

Stuff like this is proof of
the teams that were here.

I mean,
they weren't just mining

and shoring and everything.
They were living up here.

There are those
same logs again.

And they look like the ones
at the south cave.

All these cave entrances
have hematite

all over it.

That's not our way in.

There's another cave
right here.

Doesn't look like
it goes very far, though.

[soft rumbling]

[Chad] Hey, Eric?

Eric!

Eric!

[Eric] Yeah?

-[Chad] Did you hear that?
-[Eric] No.

There's [bleep]
moving up here, man.

-[Eric] Something's going on.
-[Chad] Let's go.

[bleep] was that?

[Chad] There's [bleep]
moving up here, man.

Let's move,
but we gotta be careful.

[narrator]
At the open pit mine,

Chad and Eric
are caught off guard

by something lurking
in their camp.

[branches snapping]

Joel, come on.

[bleep] was that?

Hold on.

So whatever this thing is,
it's like it's stalking us.

I mean, same smell,
same sounds

and all this [bleep].

-[Eric] Chad!
-Hey.

Hold on.

Hold on. Hold on.

[bleep]!

It's gone.
Whatever it is, it's gone.

It's... It's that
same [bleep] thing.

Big movements,
branches snapping.

Right over there.

[Eric] I don't know, Chad.

[Chad] All right.
All right, [bleep] it.

Let's pack our [bleep] up
and go. Come on.

I checked out
the biggest tunnels,

and I feel like
there's much more
to explore at this site.

But right now,
we're like sitting ducks here.

I mean, we can
always come back,

but more prepared next time.

We're definitely gonna need
some kind of protection,
like bear spray or something.

Let's go, guys.

I mean, we've got enough
to worry about without
something stalking us.

And so, uh,

I don't want to come back here
unless I have, like,

more people

and probably
some weapons, too.

[James] Wait a minute.

It looks like
some type of crematorium.

[Charlie] What?

[narrator]
Yesterday at the bead site,
the team discovered an opening

at the base
of the chimney vent

covered by slabs of sandstone.

When they opened it up,

they discovered
burnt animal skulls

that looked as if
they had been placed there.

If you pull this one,
I'll be able to put

a camera down through
the crevice right here.

[narrator]
To document their findings,

they must carefully remove

the larger slabs of sandstone
to make way for the camera.

-Yeah.
-[Josh] I see
the void now, James.

Let me get
the camera going here.

[Josh] Okay.

You don't hear
any rattlesnakes, do you?

[chuckles] It's too late now.

I can see the larger skull is

-right around where you're at.
-Over here?

Right there, yeah.

[Charlie] Okay.

[James] That's as far as I can
go in with the camera,

but you know what?

-[Josh] Okay.
-[James] I think
we can start removing

these front stones right here.

-So then we found
the chamber. This is...
-[James] This is it.

[Josh] This crematorium

holds a lot of answers

to the questions
that Duane has

about this property.

-Easy, easy, easy.
-[James] Yeah.

-Slowly.
-[James] Yeah. There you go.

There you go. There you go.

Wait, wait, wait.

Look, look, look, look.
Right here.

[Josh] Is that more bone?

[James] Yeah.
I think so. Hold on.

[James exclaims]

-There's an eye socket
right there.
-[James] Yeah.

-[Charlie] Yeah. That's
the top of the skull.
-[James] Look at this.

You know that
the Native Americans locally
didn't do this,

but the Aztec, the Mexica did.

[Duane]
What do you think it is, guys?

You think it's
some kind of an oven?

You know, Duane,
this was not an oven.

But that vent
that connected into

this chamber
was used for fire.

Duane, this is some type
of sacrificial altar.

The Mexica, the Aztec
that were in Mesoamerica...

This was common.

[Josh] You're talking
about animal sacrifice?

[James]
Not just any animal sacrifice.

This animal,

it looks like
a fox or a coyote,

could very well have been

sacrificed for their war god,

Huitzilopochtli.

And if this dealt
with the war god,

this was protecting something.

The only thing
I can't tell from it,

is it the area
that's important,

or are they asking to
protect something with it?

[narrator] According to
the historical records,

the ancient Aztecs
made monthly sacrifices

of both humans and animals

to their gods
throughout the year.

Over 400 different animals
were sacrificed

in the Aztec
capital city, Tenochtitlan,

including pumas, jaguars,

wolves, crocodiles,
and snakes.

These animal sacrifices
were often made

to win the favor of the gods

or gain their protection.

But one god received
a special offering.

To appease
the warrior sun god,

Huitzilopochtli,

the Aztecs reportedly

would make a human sacrifice
every 52 years,

or else the universe
would come to an end.

They would then burn the body
and use their rekindled flame

to light new fires
throughout the empire.

Come on, James,
what are they protecting?

If they were doing this
to protect something,

then maybe the cavern
is behind this

and they were
protecting their treasure.

[James] Look where it's at.

I mean, we're talking
about underground,

something in front of it.

It's got to be the treasure.

So what are you thinking?

There's a cavern
behind it, below it?

There may very well be
something underneath it.

No, I don't know if we want to
drill through that thing.

I think there's

things there that
we don't want to disturb.

We want to leave
where we found

that little altar piece alone,

but we still have
to get inside there,

so what we'll do is

we'll just move over
quite a bit

and see if we can't
grind in there

and see what we can find

as far as a void or a cavity.

You know, I think we need
to grind right beside it,

see if we can find
more of an opening.

Uh, that's my vote.

Yeah, I think
we're gonna have to.

[James] I second your vote.

[narrator] To avoid
disrupting the altar area,

Duane will angle the drill
to dig around it,

and search for
another entrance

that opens up
to the keyhole chamber.

[wind blowing]

[Charlie] What the hell?
Where's that wind coming from?

[Josh] It feels
like a storm's coming.

It seems God
don't want us in there.

-[Chad] What you got, Eric?
-[Eric] Hey, Chad.

[narrator] After trekking
along a fault line

out to an open pit mine...

These caves these guys
are digging are so tight.

Like, this one,
you can barely fit through.

So these guys would prospect.

If they weren't
finding anything
in a certain direction,

they would stop
and go a different direction.

[narrator] ...and fending off
a nocturnal stalker...

[Eric] Whatever it is,
I want it to know
that we're here.

[Chad] Oh, he knows.

-[Eric] Oh.
-[Chad] Right there,
right there.

[Eric] Yeah, there.
Right there.

[narrator] ...Eric and Chad
have regrouped to process

the ore samples
that Eric collected.

-[Eric] Shall we go
to work here? Let's do it.
-[Chad] Let's crush it, baby.

[Eric] We're gonna do
some crushing,

then sieving, then panning,

and we'll see what's in it.

[narrator]
By crushing the rock to reveal

the makeup of his samples,

they hope to find signs of
gold and other rich minerals

that might indicate
a tunnel system

that could lead back
to the collapsed south cave.

[Chad] Well, hopefully
we found something,

'cause that was a hell
of a trek up there, man.

[Eric] You bet it was, man.
If you want

to man the crusher here,
this is

like a mortar and pestle
on steroids.

-[Chad] Okay.
-[Eric] So let's break it up.

We're following these
highly mineralized zones

that were deposited by water.

That same water
could have carved out
a huge cave system.

[Chad] Whoo!

-You don't need to go
to the gym today, huh?
-Feel the burn.

The gold and precious minerals
will often occur

within the limestone.

To liberate that,
you need to crush it,

bust up this rock,

and sift the pieces
to see what's inside it.

[narrator]
A fault line is a break
in the Earth's surface.

Over thousands of years,

water leaks through fissures
in the rock walls

and into the larger caves,

carrying mineral traces
with it.

These traces form deposits
in the surrounding rock,

acting as a mineral-rich

breadcrumb trail
through the caverns.

If Eric is correct,

the presence of gold
in his ore sample

could indicate
a vast cave system

and a way back
to the south cave

and keyhole chamber.

If not, it means
another dead end.

-[Eric] Put it right in here.
-[Chad] All right.

-[Eric] Here we go.
-[Chad] Ready?

I always like
to save the oversize
'cause you never know.

Save that.

-So that's what
we're gonna pan.
-Okay.

[Eric] It's just a matter
of washing it.

-[Chad] And the heavies
of the gold stay down?
-[Eric] Yeah.

I mean, we can
take our time with it.

This is
the moment of truth here.

So I don't see anything there.

-[Chad] Damn it.
-[Eric] I know.

-It's a lot of work
for nothing.
-Yeah.

So we'll just dump this out.

And we'll try again.

Miners have been
doing this, you know,
for hundreds of years.

It's a very basic process.

And it ends with just
panning it out

to hopefully find gold

or silver or copper

or something of value.

I kind of like
the looks of this one.

Uh, it was from
a more mineralized zone.

[Chad] Yeah.

If we find gold
in this sample,

it could be
a good indication that

there's an extensive tunnel
going back to the south cave.

But if not, we've risked
our lives for nothing

and right back
where we started.

-Let's do it.
-[Eric] Go for it.

Almost there, brother.

That looks pretty good, Chad.

-[Chad] You like it?
-Yeah.

-Let's see what we got.
-[Chad] Hell yeah.

[Eric] All right, here we go.

I'm starting to see
a little more black sand
in this.

Black sands are
a good sign because they're
the heavy minerals

that gold is
often associated with.

There's a potential for

-bigger pieces in it.
-[Chad] Nice.

Come on.

Come on, man.

[bleep] come on.

-[Chad] Huh.
-[Eric] [bleep]! [bleep]!

You thought that
that one had something in it?

[Eric] I did. I thought
this was our best chance, man.

[bleep]!

[Eric exhales]

[Chad] Well, [bleep].

Um...

[bleep]!

Uh, this looks
like a good sample.

When I see areas of rich ore,

it means to me that there's
highly concentrated minerals

that could have carved
the cave system.

Let me just run
the detector over that

and see what we got,
if anything.

So what I'm
doing here is just...

-[device beeps]
-[Eric] Oh.

[Chad] Something in there?
[bleep] yeah.

[Eric] There's something
in here. There's something
right in my hand.

-[Chad] [bleep] yes.
-[device beeping]

Let's see it.

-Is it still on?
-Yeah.

-This one.
-[Eric] Here.

Whatever it was,
it's still here.

What's that?
What's that? What's that?

That's it.
Look at that. Yellow.

[laughs]

-That's it. That's what
we're looking for, brother.
-[Chad] [bleep]!

-Whoo!
-Yeah!

[Chad laughs] Yeah.

[Eric]
When you're looking for gold
or gems or what have you,

you put a lot of work
into it, man.

And, you know,
it doesn't always pan out.

You don't always find it.

But when you do,
it's just amazing.

-Hell yeah. Nice job, man.
-[Eric laughs] Yeah.

This rich ore
is significant enough

that it can lead us to this

tunnel system that connects
to the south cave.

-We got gold, boys!
-[Eric] Yeah!

[Chad] This is significant,
not just because there may be

gold veins
under Blind Frog Ranch,

but because we may have
found a tunnel that can

ultimately lead us back
to the keyhole chamber.

-[Eric] We got
to go back up there, man.
-Yeah.

I mean,
every little clue we find

can lead us possibly
into another entrance

to this underground
cavern system we have.

I'm super stoked about this

'cause that means we could
find some cool [bleep].

It could lead
to a huge find, basically.

And it's on the same fault

-that we're looking
for everything else.
-It is. It is.

It just means we got
more work to do.

Let's go, boys.

Whoo!

[James] You know,
you see all this rock
back here that's charred?

It was all brought here
to create this.

Look at this. I mean,
we're looking at an altar.

[narrator] Everyday altars
adored Aztec houses
and walkways

and held incense
and clay figures

used for ritual prayer,
such as honoring family.

But for the most
culturally significant moments

such as coronations
and sacrifices,

lavish altars sat atop temples

in the highest places
of worship.

In 2021,

researchers in Mexico City

unearthed a secret altar

dating back to 1521,

containing a jar
of human ashes.

Experts believe it was hidden
from the advancing Spanish

by an Aztec family

and contained
the ashes of an ancestor.

As they mourned, the sun
setting on their civilization,

it marked the location
of a final desperate prayer

for survival.

[Josh] So you want us
just spotting you,

making sure you're
not getting into anything
of interest?

[Duane] It's gonna
eat up anything we get into,

so just keep an eye out

so we don't hit
another one of those altars.

[narrator]
The team's excavation
at the bead site...

Easy, easy, easy.

[narrator] ...revealed
an ancient stone altar.

This is some type
of sacrificial altar.

[narrator]
Proof of human habitation.

-[Josh] Is that more bone?
-[James] I think so.

[narrator] And the smoke test

showed a couple
of chimney structures
clustered around the area.

-Oh, right there.
-Yep.

[Josh]
That is a beautiful sight.

[narrator]
So Duane and the team are

preparing to dig
around the altar

in hopes of
uncovering an entrance

to the keyhole cavern
beneath the ranch.

-[Duane] Let's get it started.
-[Josh] All right. Will do.

[Charlie]
We followed a chimney vent
down to the altar,

but it seems to be
a dead end there.

We don't want
to damage the altar,

so we're gonna
drill into the rock wall
on the left side.

Hopefully, we can intercept
another chimney vent

that will lead us down
into the keyhole chamber.

I'll be overseeing
what's going on,

be looking for anything
that's out of the ordinary

while he's drilling,

because whatever
that rock drill gets into,

it's gonna destroy.

So I've got to be pretty close
to the drill itself.

[Charlie over radio]
All right, Duane.

Give me a chance to kind of
look through this right quick,

make sure we're not
hitting into anything.

[Josh]
You seeing something, Charlie?

[Charlie]
The whole composition
of this soil changed

as soon as he got to
that point right there.

It's kind of weird
for all that soft dirt
to be in this deep.

[narrator] The sudden
accumulation of soft dirt

within the hard sandstone

could indicate an opening
in the rock face.

Look at that. That's a...

I mean, you're just in there
with your hand just pulling
that out like it's beach sand.

[Charlie] Yeah, that just
goes way back in there.

[Josh] This must be
part of the chimney system
that's in this rock.

[Charlie] Well, if it's part
of the chimney system,

it's got to be going
into the cavern then.

[Josh] Oh, yeah.

-Yeah, he's got to
dig this down further, so...
-[Josh] It's still going

-this direction.
-[Charlie] Yeah.

[Josh] Let's have him
drop the rock wheel down
a couple feet,

and if that's
just all soft dirt
coming out of there,

-that could be an entrance in.
-[Charlie] Yeah.

We've got a void here,

and it just keeps going, uh,

deeper and deeper
inside the cliff face here,

and so we want
to chase that down

and just see
how that opens up,

'cause this very well could be
what we're looking for.

[over radio] Duane,
looks like we've got
an opening over here.

Copy that.
That's what we're looking for.

[Charlie] Yeah,
if we can get this down
a little bit more,

let's see what it opens up as.

Copy that. Coming at you.

[Josh] Here he goes.

[narrator]
Charlie has found an opening
in the rock formation.

However, the team
must dig down

to see if it continues deeper.

If it does,

it could be
the secret entrance
Duane has been looking for.

There he goes. There he goes.

Let's open this baby up.

We're into somethin'.

[Josh] Here we go.
Let the dust clear.

Yeah, perfect.

What do you think, Charlie?

What do you got?

[Charlie] Yeah, let's see.

Charlie saw that there
was a void there

right in the hard rock,
that doesn't make
a lot of sense.

God only knows
what it could be.

I mean, that could be
the key that gets us in.

[Charlie] Hey, Josh.
Come over here
and look at this.

This could be
a game changer, Charlie boy.

[Josh] Hyah, hyah.

[narrator] Next time on
Blind Frog Ranch...

[Josh] There should be
a way across right over here.

[narrator]
Chad and Josh trek deep
into the wilderness...

-[Chad] Finally here, brother.
-[Josh] What is going on
with this place?

[narrator] ...to follow a lead
that may finally get them
to the keyhole chamber...

-[device beeping]
-[Chad] Holy [bleep].

[narrator] ...and discover
a strange anomaly
along the way.

[Chad] There has to be
an entrance somewhere.

[narrator] Meanwhile,
thousands of miles away,

Eric uncovers
eerie similarities
to Blind Frog Ranch.

[Eric] We're seeing
the same type of phenomena

out at the ranch.

[narrator] And Duane embarks

on his most
ambitious excavation yet...

[Josh] Hey, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Stop him, stop him, Charlie.

[narrator] ...as he tries
to crack open the top
of the bead site.

-Is that the machine
doing that?
-No, that's not the machine!

[narrator] But something else
stands in the way.

The hell is that?

Shut it down!

Careful! Watch out! Watch out!

[bleep]!