My first Forrest Fenn treasure hunt adventure.

I travel across the country at least twice every year from my home in Florida to property I own in Arizona. I drive so I can take lots of tools, equipment and toys with me on the trips. Each year for about the last 20 years I have taken a different rout out and back to see as much of the country as I can along the way.

I first heard about Forrest's treasure last spring about two months before I was scheduled to drive to Arizona in mid May. Working only from the poem at this point, I did a lot of online research and hit on a spot I was pretty sure must be where the treasure was hidden. It had warm water halting. It had a geological feature with Brown in its name, just down valley (but too far to walk). It was also a popular brown trout fishing area. Using Google Earth I spotted a rocky area below (down stream) of the Brown feature that looked really promising for hiding a treasure chest. I was certain I had it all figured out. Best of all, it was in an area North of Santa Fe, but not an area I had seen mentioned as a place people were searching for the treasure. So I wasn't too worried that it had been searched before or that someone might find it before I could get there.

I made plans to go through Santa Fe on my next trip out west and pick up a copy of The Thrill of the Chase at Collected Works, then head out to my spot and pick up the treasure. I couldn't wait. I was so sure I had it all figured out.

In a moment of lucidity a few weeks before my trip, I decided that I should keep researching other areas and not get totally fixated on just one spot. So on the off chance the treasure wasn't where I thought it was, I'd have at least one secondary search area to look at while I was out west.

So back on Google Earth I found another spot that looked fairly promising. There was warm water, and a vague reference to Brown, and some interesting features in a clearing in the thick woods that could only be seen from above. Forrest was a pilot. I figured he might have seen these features from his plane and come back later on foot for a closer look and decided it was a good hiding place. This would be my secondary search site.

Then I found another spot that looked kind of so-so promising There was warm water halting and plenty of places to hide things (at least it looked that way on Google Earth), and something that could be interpreted as "water high." There was nothing related to Brown that I could see, but maybe actually being on the ground there would turn up something. So I decided to make this my third search area.

Finally it was time to hit the road. I got to Santa Fe and got my copy of TTOTC. I read through it in record time. Everything I read just further convinced me that I had guessed correctly about the location of the treasure and my primary target was indeed the right spot. I was thrilled at how subtle clues in the text all seemed to point to my primary spot.

So I was off to find my spot and pick up the treasure. It is a fair drive from Santa Fe. I got there late in the day with fading light, but began my search anyway. I was surprised by what I found. The area was apparently very popular with fishermen. There were fresh footprints almost everywhere I went. It began to look like there was no way Forrest could have "gone alone in there." Still, there was nobody around at the same moment I was there, so maybe it was possible. I made my way down to the rocky area where I thought the treasure must be hidden. My second surprise was how rugged the terrain was there. It was much steeper, rockier, and more difficult going than it had looked on Google Earth. This was certainly "no place for the meek" as the climb down to the rocky area was difficult and treacherous with steep drop-offs and much boulder scrambling required. I decided to wait until the next day to search this rough area since the light was fading fast.

After a night in a nearby motel, and a hearty breakfast, I got back to the search. There were many nooks, crannies and alcoves in the rocks where a treasure chest or even bigger things could be hidden. It certainly looked like I was in the right spot. I searched all up and down the rocky area. It was very tough going. I nearly fell several times, and did actually fall once, but fortunately landed on soft sand rather than rocks, or I might have broken a hip, as it was I sported a big, painful bruise for a week after. Unfortunately, I never found the blaze or the treasure. I gradually came to the conclusion that in spite of my spot meeting all the criteria of the poem and the hints in the book, there was just no way an 80 year old man carrying a 40 pound chest could get to it. I'm on the low side of 50, and wasn't carrying a heavy chest (just a spare tire), but the climbing was nearly killing me. So I gave up on this spot, at least for the time-being. I'm not going to disclose just where it is, because I am not 100% sure I didn't miss something. All the pieces of the puzzle just fit so nicely and point perfectly to this spot (at least in my mind). Maybe there is an easier path down, or a nook or alcove that I missed. I may return on a future trip and have another look around.

So I got back on the road and headed to my next spot. It was actually easier to go to my third spot next, since it would be on my way to the second spot. The third spot was a complete bust. On the ground it looked totally hopeless. It was much more built up and populated than I expected. It would be hard to hide anything there without it being immediately found by somebody. I also saw no sign of anything Brown-related. I actually felt a little silly for thinking this spot could even be a possibility. So I didn't waste much time there and moved on to my secondary spot.

The secondary spot tuned out to be a full of surprises too. I got as close as I could by road to the features I had spotted in Google Earth, then struck out on foot in the woods with GPS to guide me. The spot was not too far off the road, but tall fences (I believe erected to protect fish habitat) blocked a direct rout. So I had to hike the long way around through the woods. I found that navigating through the woods with GPS is more difficult than I expected. It is nearly impossible to follow a straight course to your goal. Trees, bushes, ravines and impenetrable thickets block your way and must be navigated around. It wasn't far as the crow files, but it took me a lot longer than I expected to get there. I began the search with the feeling that this spot was not as good a fit with the clues as my primary spot. But after actually being on the ground and looking around a while though, it seemed to fit much better. The clincher was finding an ancient rusty old car, stuck in a ravine, just like the one Skippy owned that was wrecked by the bull buffalo. It looked so similar to the illustration in the book that I thought this had to be a clue that I was on the right path.

Finally I reached the clearing and found the two features I had seen on Google Earth. They were definitely man-made. I am not yet ready to say exactly what they are, but they may be the answer to the riddle of the double omega at the end of the book. I looked around and found something that could possibly be the blaze. With only a little imagination I could see a couple of Fs in it. I was getting really excited, but what I saw next damped down the excitement. Nearby was a hole someone had dug in the fairly recent past. Obviously I wasn't the first to find this spot. I am not a big believer that the chest is necessarily buried. So the hole didn't worry me too much, but the thought that other people had already searched the area did worry me. The area had the general look of having been metal detected. Looking down from the "blaze" leads me back to the old car. So I thoroughly searched in and around the car. This area had also been recently searched too as I found freshly used toilet paper behind some nearby trees. I didn't notice it earlier when I passed by the car. Eventually I ran out of time and ideas and had to hike back to where I parked my truck. I didn't find the treasure. I left concluding that one of the following was true:

A. This was the wrong spot.
B. This was the right spot, but someone found the treasure before me.
C. This was the right spot but I (and the others) had missed finding the treasure.

I am not going to disclose where this spot is just yet either, because I want to have another look at it on my next trip out west. Just in case option C. is the correct answer.

I can't wait until my next trip out west. I have a new area in mind to search, and I want to revisit my secondary site from my last trip. I am thoroughly enjoying the thrill of the chase.

If I ever meet Mr. Fen, I will shake his hand and thank him for giving me such a fun new hobby. I won't even ask him for any new clues. That would be like cheating.