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Note to rescue crews: Just when you thought you were safe from treasure hunters, it turns out you weren’t.
Two new hunts have been announced, one in the Sierra Nevadas and one, well, somewhere in the American West.
Hunt founders say they are hoping to recapture the excitement surrounding the explorations launched in order to find the treasure chest, stashed in the American Rockies in 2010 by wealthy (and eccentric) art collector Forrest Fenn (who left a poem with maddeningly cryptic clues as to its location).
Fenn’s treasure was finally found in Wyoming in 2020 – although avid treasure hunters, who had invested years of hunting and untold amounts of their life savings into their own hunt and who didn’t want to be deprived of their chance, began claiming the find was a hoax. One or two went so far as to press lawsuits.
By the way, the exact location of the chest was never released; however, some believe the evidence points to a single location: Nine Mile Hole, a quiet stretch of river in Yellowstone National Park, and one of Fenn’s favorite fishing spots.
Those who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) give up the chase are in luck. Or maybe they’re not, if they’re not well-versed in backcountry exploration and survival techniques.
Explorers Web states that “the Fenn treasure hunt drew global media attention during its peak, and the story has found new life with the release of the Netflix docuseries Gold & Greed: The Hunt for Fenn’s Treasure.”
One central figure in the story is software engineer Justin Posey, who decided to launch a new treasure hunt to help searchers keep the momentum. His treasure chest includes gold, precious gems, rare coins and “a bitcoin wallet that’s increasing with value every month.”
It’s hidden somewhere in the American West (here’s the map, for what it’s worth) and like Fenn’s treasure, includes a rhyming series of clues.
Posey has noted the treasure is on public lands and he warns, “safety must always be your top priority. Weather conditions, extreme temperatures, snow coverage or other environmental factors may make certain approaches temporarily unsafe or inadvisable.”
The American West, after all, has any number of risks, including rockslides, snowstorms, rivers that swell when it rains and, of course, wildlife like bear, moose, rattlesnakes and mountain lions.
In August, Posey’s website was updated with the information that several searchers had solved at least the first two clues of the poem, and that some people had been within 200 feet of the checkpoint.
But while that treasure remains unfound, another hunt sprung up as well. KETL Mtn. Apparel, makers of outdoor travel apparel, kicked off the third edition of its wildly popular treasure hunts, this time in Colorado with an uncommon progressive prize format. On Saturday, October 18, the coordinates to the first 10 treasure jars loaded with cash and KETL gift cards hidden along the front range of the Rocky Mountains were announced.
Inside each jar, along with the cash and gift cards, were more coordinates leading farther westward into the mountains to more treasure jars in an elimination format where 10 jars lead to 5, then to 3, then to 1 final jar. The cash and gift card amounts increased the deeper into the mountains treasure seekers went, with the winner taking home well over $1,000 in cash and KETL gift cards.
“The main idea with these treasure hunts is to reward the spontaneous and adventurous among us, and really just because it’s fun and that alone is reason enough,” said Jeff Cayley, Founder and CEO of KETL Mtn. Apparel. “This will be a great one to see unfold, and it’ll be a damn fun time for those brave enough to pursue it. Navigating to these treasure jars will require you to run, ride, hike, climb and drive all over the Rocky Mountains in spots nobody ever goes.”
Cayley buried each treasure jar himself miles from any trailhead and released a YouTube video with the visual clues needed to uncover each jar along with the coordinates. Previous editions have taken place across the U.S. and as far as Australia and New Zealand, with all but one jar found. The only remaining unclaimed jar from past hunts lies deep in a remote coastal inlet in Papua New Guinea, in what Cayley calls an “Indiana Jones-level adventure” that may never be recovered.
But the jars buried in the Rockies proved to be a testament to the allure of treasure hunting; every single one of them was found within seven hours.
Caley’s website adds that the quest was all in fun: “It’s one hell of a way to spend your weekend.”
But those aren’t the only treasure hunts that captivate people. This article lists plenty of them – most right here in the USA and some even in urban areas.
Urban areas, people. Where there are no bears.
In fact, Virginia has quite the reputation among treasure hunters. A dozen treasures are said to be located there; the link above provides this information but the loot up for grabs includes pirate treasure, riches buried during the Civil and Revolutionary Wars – even the tomb of a man buried with his fortune in silver and gold. Apparently, since the grave has a high-tech security system to protect him and his goods, he has managed to prove that you can, after all, take it with you.
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