Gold Rush - No Guts No Glory

Discovery's Gold Rush is in its third season and one of the often repeated lines, from a family patriarch of the show says "no guts no glory". Signifying the risk of seeking gold in Alaska, the statement suggests that if you aren't willing to take risk, you are not going to reap the rewards of gold mining.

Each season has followed the quest for gold of three groups. The primary group is ran by Todd Hoffman. In my humble opinion, a better stament would be "No brains... No gold." the Hoffman crew seems to make every mistake imaginable. These mistakes are obvious to viewers of the show. Even his crew seems to grow frustrated with Hoffman's intellectual short-comings. Some of the more obvious errors are moving thousands of tons of top soil with out any test bores to see if gold is even present. Another includes improperly setting up the sluice box (device that catches gold out of rushing water/soil) such that the gold runs right through it after huge effort to get it to the sluice box. This season, Todd mobilized his whole crew and equipment to Alaska without a working trammel and sluice box. The one they had was used the prior year, but Todd took it out and left them with no way to process the gold filled gravel. The expected new unit was no where near completion at the start of the gold season. 

Todd has two crews and he didn't consider how to pool their resources when the new equipment didn't arrive. No brains no gold. 

There a two other efforts showcased in the pursuit of gold. The young Parker Schnavel is very hard working, smart and determined. I think all viewers are rooting to him to strike it rich. Parker's 90 year old grandfather taught Parker most of what he knows and now Parker (barely 18) wants to redeem his grandfather's gold mine - appropriately named the Golden Nugget. In the show's second season Parker struggled to find any gold but came back in the third season more prepared, mature and determined. 

The third crew in the show are the Dakota Boys. If the Hoffman's are unlikable due to stupidity, the Dakota boys a just simply not likable. Primarily a father/son fight with each other and don't really care who they step over. So far they have not proven much more adept than the Hoffmans.

The show is on Friday night at 7:00 pm. It is a good watch as long as you can wade through the mistakes and lack of gold production. The show's promotion says someone will strike it rich this year. I am betting on Parker but that is truly a heart based hope for the outcome.