For someone who can barely open his e-mails, starting a blog is a foolhardy task at best. Who knows if I will ever even find the thing again let alone change its design or add something new? But I have friends who are under 40 and conversant in all things virtual who can help at what they say, with a roll of eye and shake of head, will be “minimal cost.” I will do it without them.
The purpose for writing this blog is to tell you how my search for the world’s most awesome geocache is going and give useful clues along the way that may help you get off your duff and start looking for it as well. The cache is a treasure chest containing over $1,000,000 in gold and jewelry hidden by fellow Santa Fean, Forrest Fenn (http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2261145.shtm). I will explain more about that later.
Others are searching for the treasure as well and some of them also have blogs that tell about their failures to find the chest. But mostly their blogs are wonderful stories beautifully written about the discoveries they make while out looking for what they haven’t yet found (http://lummifilm.wordpress.com/).
Mine will be different. The way it is to work is that I will explain the clues Forrest Fenn has given us in his book, The Thrill of the Chase, as I understand them but with just enough of a time lag so that the final clue, the key, the closing argument will be known only to me until the treasure chest is safely locked away in my storage shed.
I will also be like Forrest Fenn and give just enough information to send you in the wrong direction even though the clue, if faithfully followed, will lead you in the right direction, down the correct valley, along a perfectly defined trail to the exact spot where Forrest Fenn could have carefully placed his treasure.
But you will have to do your part—especially if you want to get there before I do. First, to follow along or even jump ahead, you will need to buy the book The Thrill of the Chase, A Memoir by Forrest Fenn that is available only from the Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, New Mexico. http://www.collectedworksbookstore.com/. Profits from the sales go to help pay for the treatment of children with cancer; how many children will depend upon you.
Second, you will have to “forge ahead” no matter how boring the post. I will try to keep each one at 750-900 words so you won’t get dizzy. Come back often and there will be something new depending on the snow conditions at the Santa Fe Ski Basin; I have reached the age where skiing is a “freebie” so deadlines may not mean what they mean.
The book, The Thrill of the Chase itself, is “filled” with clues; probably more than Forrest Fenn intended and fewer than those I have ‘found.’ I have divided all these clues into three parts: 1) clues that will help us figure out just who Forrest Fenn is—a necessary task for a number of reasons. Of course, he will accuse us of making things up but pay no attention. He is much more open than he wants us to believe; 2) clues that will tell us whether or not it is true that he has hidden a fortune for anyone to find and possess—after the IRS has taken its share; and 3) clues that will lead us (me!) to the treasure. One of my favorite clues has already been repeated in this very post. See if you can find it. Of course you will also have to decipher it if you are to have any chance at all of finding the treasure. Don’t Google “thrill of the chase” though. I tried that and the first six results were porn sites; they definitely will not help you find Forrest Fenn’s cache.
The last thing you must do is to get in shape: learn where ‘North’ is, build up your legs and lungs and trim your toenails. We are about to follow Mr. Fenn on a fine, fine journey.
r/
I wonder how the IRS will determine the tax due? 33% of the weight value
times the current price of gold? What about the artifact value?
Maybe I just won’t tell them that I found it. Oh, I mean when I find it.
I need to go clear out a spot in my storage shed.
GB
If you find the treasure I’m pretty sure you could get around the IRS problem by giving it all back to Forrest Fenn with a note telling him to hide it again. /r
I would take one piece of gold (coin) as a trophy, add something of my own and Hide it again for someone else
That’s what I was thinking too, except the leaving a piece of your own. Nice.
I think it should stay where it is, if anyone these days can keep a secret. I think it could be the legacy of Forrest, witch isn’t the goal.
That would be getting out in nature, noticing what is around you and realizing, you are a part of it all, no matter how miniscule you are. If you haven’t been under the stars on a moonless night, away from city lights, you need to find out what that is.
i live on the NC coast where the
warm waters halt. its the gulf stream its called the
NORTH WALL .now check out these.
the new mint NM quater ,the old north wall ‘Frijoles Canyon post card
and yellowstone, just for a few . you owe me a gold coin
after three years of searching for his trove and reading, rereading, and resideing the poem why have’nt you goin and retrievdedit. I’ve read your nots (after notingly sifering the poem alone bymeself in a manner of three weeks of headbanging and and braking brightly lit lightbulds op againsted my head)(oh and dodent fearget the hairpooling) and you ar dead on BTW.~that meaning very close- what are you missing that you have’nt put it in order yet. thanks a bunch for ALL the info. Ha.. I just wanted to be a code talker like you and your bud. I almost hate to go and get it WITHOUT giving you a headstart. . You HAVE done your homework i only wish i had visited your site first. it would have saved me at least A good forty-!@) hours of sleep and eyestrain. if you want the fame of the find cause i SURELY don’t. email me and we shall go and geddit soon. i’ve already said to much here. Couple of questions in case you dont reply. what are the taxes and what permits do we (I) need If any and where does one obtain 1 IF NEEDED. DONT TRY SO HARD. Simplify your nots. lol. The man is amusingly clever. And KNOWS his trade. My cold; and nots back for the nots.
TYFATI- !%) bonded
I KNOW
Hi Sancho,
You may be the only one who has read this post. Thanks. As you have discovered, he is clever, there will be taxes, permission and/or permits are generally required. Loss of forty hours of sleep won’t even get you started. BUT,if you have it pegged go geddit. I am sure there are others who read this blog who would be more than happy to go with you. Take your spouse if you have one, take your kids if you have them. Have a blast. And good luck, r/
Hi,
I have a pretty good idea where he might have hidden the treasure.. But living in Sweden I have no chance of looking for it myself. But I am sooo curious! If you are intrested in how I think in the matter, please email me 🙂
what is your email
First, I want to thank you for the good read. Your blog has been the most interesting and insightful that I have found! I agree with your way of thinking in this little hunt for hidden treasures and have spent hours reading and reading again anything I can find on understanding who Forrest Fenn is. For me, the WWWH is not just the literal interpretation, but also the fact that MY ” begin” is with researching everything I can!
That being said, I truly stepped out of the box and BEGIN with “www.”. Translation for where warm waters halt has two distinct meanings for me and I can’t help but think that Mr. Fenn may have had the same idea in mind choosing the words www and the punctuation of a period at the end by using the word ” halt”. He knew we would ALL begin our searches with www. Online and researching at home, work, etc.
And that IS exactly what we all have done!
I haven’t read this thought anywhere online, but it shouldn’t take long for it to dawn on others if they learn this “double speak” that Mr. Fenn uses.
And, it is double speak in his first clue as it is in all the rest.
I want to be careful what I post from this point, but I did want to share with you and others that I believe this entire adventure will have two meanings from start to finish. Just like the two omegas at the end of his book, the fact that we all need two tools from him, the book and the poem.
The poem is a puzzle more than a poem. But it is both, at the same time. The clues are clues to the treasure location, but they are also clues to something
else that you must find before you can wander about in the woods searching. Again, two things in one.
I have some great ideas about this second/dual meaning and I am hoping it will be this single idea that will help guide me to the end.
Just wanted to share my thoughts and encourage others to continue to think beyond the literal words Mr. Fenn has given us.
Remember, he wanted us to have two things from this should we choose to pursue it…the thrill of the chase and and with that the chance to perhaps visit and see just some of the beautiful places he has loved and enjoyed his entire life…..a win, win deal if you ask me.
Lisa and Jake from Texas
Hi Lisa and Jack-
FYI regarding the www. idea which I like too, Dal’s blog had these comments. I believe it, but you can decide for yourself. Good luck!
caddisfliesandshinsplints: has anyone ever thought of-Where Warm Waters halt….. www.
Doc: LOL see my post directly below this one. I was writing it as you posted this.
Doc: Here are Forrest’s own words on that, in reply to the question from me: “…sometimes you can overcook a solution by thinking too much. I am a simple man and www never entered my mind.”
I’d say that’s pretty straightforward. I was hooked on that angle for a while, but I hope that by posting it here, he’ll get less email about it. Lord knows the man gets enough email…
So funny you should find that as my husband, Jake has pointed out from the start that he believes Forrest is ” a simple man”, too. But, I still think the dual meaning is there…no matter how we get to it. It is amazing to me how many things can be made to ” fit” the clues. Surely this was no accident, and I truly like the challenge:).
I asked myself where I would hide a grand treasure and the simple answer was the same as Forrest has given …..a place that means something…some place special or dear. My entire family when prompted to guess where I might hide it knew exactly where it would be….at least within about a 1/2 mile radius. They know this because they know me:) So, I am attempting to know Forrest….at least what he wants me to know. I remember his no. 1 rule on his list…” it doesn’t matter who you are, only who people think you are”:)))
As for our search, we plan on three spots so far….and probably the same three others are considering. I am thrilled to visit each location since two of the three spots are in areas I have wanted to visit for many years.
Again, a win win for me….vacation time in beautiful places and a little treasure hunt to boot!
Lisa
You got it Lisa. Good luck and enjoy. r/
how are sir?…wondering if you think the poem needs to be “decoded’…meaning moving letters or substituting letters ,etc …..I noticed your interaction with Sancho…I felt a step behind,lol……I hear people talking about codes and such and ofcourse I have noticed missing letters and “w”s….so should I switch my attention to this type of effort or what everyone else is doing,lol….I get the “deadline” concept..i think…multiple meanings and such….but is a hybrid substitution cipher in play…in your opinion?sancho seemed to have the location narrowed down…or is this just nonsense?thank you in advance…Ed
Hi Sousa,
Yes Sancho does seem to have the site pegged as far as believes. I am waiting for the announcement that he has the treasure in hand and is negotiating with the IRS over its share–but I have heard nothing. My best advice is to try anything you like; and then try something else because it is going to take a lot of tries from everybody. Best wishes, r/
lol Im close. Ive gone in there twice. First time I went in there Half calked. Just to check it out. I grew up in the area and boy did i forget how quick the weather can turn on you. So I had to turn around and run half a mile up hill. And believe me its a steep hill. Second time I took the Family with me. It was awesome… The Flies wear hatching and the fish were biting. We fished up stream till we met up with warm waters..We had Such a good time theat we forgot all about the box..We did however find the Blaze on the way out..We also found yhe fenn rainbow and A brave in the wood. Ill see if i can figure out how to post some pics. Im going out early in the morning tomorrow.If i dont find it tomorrow im going to post all my references just to see how many people show up there. My wife and I just figured I was about 40 feet away. if im wrong im out of ideas. Being that your site was the most helpfull im giveing you a bombshell of a pic.
couldnt figure out how to do the pic thing so if you want to see them i need an enail adress and a clue on how to spell i sent a few to Dal and he didnt want to post them without a blog, Good luck on your chase and remember the weathe changes quick out there so be safe
Yes, the weather can get rough. My tack is to be prepared and say “its all good” and then I am never disappointed. my enail address is rsaunier36@gmail.com. Look forward to the pic.
Mr Fenn was suppose to post this. He didn’t I put it on my face book hope it shows in here.
Am I missing something here?
My votes: Nos. 2,3,6,8,9,12,14,15,16,18 Damn you!
Larry Hamilton
Now you have a reason to come out. Better hurry though–we are getting old.
Sorry no hidden lakes by the box. Maybe an old watering hole(‘s). LOL
It has been a year since postings on this part of the site. What am I missing, has the treasure already been uncovered, is my trip to the mountains to be of waste? I do want to try my hand at deciphering such a mystery, and I have all the time in the year to do this :).
Hi. I just came across some information on Fenns treasure. I havent don any researching yet. I just ordered the books. But I am positive I know where its at. And am excited to start looking.
if you would like to go pick up mr fenbs treasure i read his poem once and have a pretty dam good insite to exactly where its at i know you may take this as one of a million jokes but its up to you i dont really have the money rite now but i do have the time the god gives me im just an old coonass from louisiana but i read his peom and told my rock my wife i know exactly where it is everyones over shooting it if your are not interested thanks for reading and ill go in peace when i do have the money to go puck it up and clean it off thanks shane
ms kristi dawn could you please email me im just finding out about mr fenns treasure but i have a hole different outlook on where it is thanks shanecomeaux94@yahoo.com
I know where it is! Who wants to buy me an airline ticket to go get it?
Hi Mr. Saunier,
I’m a decade late to the party, but I think your hidden clue is “down the correct valley”
I’m diving into your blog now.