The hunt for $25k: Hikers struggle to decode a poem leading to treasure in Utah
Treasure seekers and hikers continue to search for a $25,000 prize in Salt Lake City, Utah awarded to those who crack the clues in an annual treasure hunt, KUTV has reported. This year's hunt, which kicked off on May 26, is the fourth edition of the event, organized by Salt Lake City natives John Maxim and David Cline.
Six weeks later, the poem is yet to be cracked, a sharp contrast to last year's edition in which the $20,000 cash prize was found at the popular Ben Lomond Trail in the northern portion of the Wasatch Mountains, just eight days after it began. Last year also marked the first time an all-female team won the hunt, according to the media outlet.
Thousands of people searching for the hidden chest are struggling to decode the poem that reads:
"Begin your search where time was transcendent
Crack open the books they’re interdependent
Lift up your eyes and look for the mark
Hike to the tree that stands without bark
Pass the grain tower that looks out to the west
Not more than an hour you’ll know by its crest
Look down at your map to not wander with thirst
Remember two less than on top of the first
You’ll know you’re close where it’s time to frown
What points towards heaven but is upside down?
Get off the road at the airplane without wings
Search from the shoulder and fortune it will bring"
Since the start of the hunt, several clues have been released on their website. The first hint was the map boundaries of where an actual chest containing $25,000 was hidden, while the rest answered frequently asked questions or addressed the lines of the poem. According to the hunt's official website, a new hint is emailed every Friday. The organizers also drop random hints on their respective Instagram handles.
Official rules of the hunt state that the chest will not be hidden on private property, at a ski resort, or in a state or national park. Participants are not required to purchase anything to solve the clues.
"The chest has been hidden for a while now so if you are at the right spot, one or two swipes of a hand to clear whatever could be on it should be all it takes to see it," reads the rules.
The hunt's organizers, in a note posted to their official website, said that Utah Treasure Hunts was conceptualized in 2020 when everyone was under lockdown due to COVID-19.
"We wanted to do something fun that would give everyone a safe way to get outside with family and friends," said the organizers. "Because of the amazing response of the community, it has evolved into something more."
"We’re not quite sure what that looks like because we’re just trying to keep up. If we could have it our way though, we would love to be the ambassadors of awesome. Organizing fun, family-friendly events that inspire the mind, invigorate the body and refresh the soul," the team added.