When did Kayla Johanson leave Gold Rush: White Water? Details explored

Gold Rush: White Water, which debuted in 2018, documents the experiences of Dustin Hurt and his team of divers and miners as they explore the water rapids at McKinley Creek in Alaska. Among the crewmates was Kayla Johanson, a professional diver, who was part of Dustin's crew until she left on June 8, 2023.

The 2023 season of Gold Rush: White Water was the last time viewers saw Kayla on their screens. The diver broke the news of her departure through her Facebook page, in which she wrote:

"Working on the show was tying me down too much and taking too much away from my own personal mining goals and business goals. I can't keep following someone else around with way less than satisfactory results each year, while dealing with unnecessary amounts of drama."

The post hinted at interpersonal conflicts with her co-stars, implying that there was more that happened off-camera that she was not pleased with. Consequently, she chose to pursue her own career. Years after parting ways with the show, Kayla continues to use her experience as a diver to find minerals and gold nuggets in the Alaskan wilderness.

She runs her own Etsy shop where she sells handmade jewelry crafted with the minerals she finds from her dives.

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Kayla Johanson's run on Gold Rush: White Water, and more

When Kayla first joined Dustin's team, they were already facing multiple issues, including record-breaking levels of snowfall and Dustin's inability to manage the team in the absence of his father, Fred. Regardless, Kayla persevered and put her best foot forward to showcase her skills and earn her spot on the team.

There were many who doubted that Kayla would be able to deal with the harsh weather conditions. However, the Gold Rush: White Water alum proved her worth by zip-lining across the creek at House Rock to secure the last piece of the crew's skyline. Consequently, with time, she became an essential part of the team.

However, drama followed Kayla, as she often got into disagreements with their frontrunner, Dustin, over work plans and strategies. The pair had multiple miscommunications that impacted the team's morale and overall performance. In addition to her arguments with Dustin, there were behind-the-scenes conflicts, which Kayla has been open and direct about.

It was one of the reasons why she decided to quit Gold Rush: White Water. In a Facebook post shared on November 14, 2023, Kayla listed the misconceptions about her that the production led people to believe. In one of the points, she explained how the show minimized her work experience, saying:

"I had only worked in small streams... incorrect. I had already been working in fast current rivers before working on the show. Hence the reason my first dive on the show was so easy for me."

In another point, Kayla mentioned that she had experience working in groups, unlike what was shown in the show.

"I've never worked with others... yes, I was running a solo dredging operation before joining the show, but I have also worked with other people dredging and on other jobs. I have not only worked by myself my whole life," she wrote.

In the concluding lines of her post, Gold Rush: White Water fame urged viewers not to believe everything they saw on TV.

Years after parting ways with Dustin's crew, Kayla continues to put her dredge diving experience to good use, as she mines for various types of minerals and gold nuggets in the Alaskan wilderness. Fans of the Gold Rush: White Water alum can visit her Etsy shop, called The Peeking Doe, to shop her hand-crafted jewelry.

Kayla also documents her gold-mining adventures on her official YouTube channel. The latest video on her channel was posted on June 27, 2025, and titled Keene RC1 G Force Rock Crusher Equipment Test.

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Gold Rush: White Water episodes can be streamed on discovery+.