Congrats to Amy S. (and family) who successfully claimed Forrest Fenn Gold Medallion #10! It was found at the High Knob Overlook near World’s End State Park, PA.
While there is one more FFGM to claim (FFGM #9 (as of this writing)), all the Forrest Fenn Gold Medallion Treasure Hunts of the first series have been released. Since January 3, 2019, 2 hunts each month, for a total of 10, have been posted on either Dalneitzel.com or here on MW. Dal and I couldn’t be more pleased with how these hunts have been received and the Medallions awarded! It’s been so much fun!
Thank you to all who are participating and enjoying them as much as we are!
We’ll be announcing the next series of FFGM treasure hunts (and their details) in the coming weeks. They will be a bit different. But for now, let’s go over how FFGM #10 was found. It tied with FFGM #8 for the quickest time and was found very similarly! You just have to be in the ‘Search’ to discover!
The FFGM treasure hunt #10 was released late afternoon and by evening the hidden coded treasure stone was safely within the Winners’ hands. Congrats to the winners!
Here was the Clue Image and Video:
The coded treasure stone used to claim the FFGM was found near World’s End State Park, PA. It was at the High Knob Overlook of the Loyalsock State Forest.
As with many of the FFGM Treasure Hunts, there were different clues and methods provided to find a solution and determine the stone’s hiding spot. This one could be solved by deciphering codes or by cleverly piecing together other hints within the image, text, and video, and then searching out and confirming the location on maps or google.
The two 4×4 squares offered a main clue. In the top left, it is noticed the first square holds an anagram for FF Gold Medallion X. However, this square, and the anagram inside, is of a special kind. The ordering of the letters, 1-16, can form a magic square, where all columns and rows add up to the same amount. This method was used in my Armchair Treasure Hunts book with the coded words of Forrest Fenn found there. The square was numbered as shown:
The numbering of the square determines the ordering of the letters, and confirms the phrase FF GOLD MEDALLION X (and vice versa- the anagram confirms the magic square numbering).
YH is seen in the bottom right corner with a key. These letters are also in one of the squares in first and last position (16 and 1). But If you take the numbers of those letter positions to the alphabet, they are PA (and key).
With the state of PA known, State Parks and Overlooks could be easily researched.
And within the poem itself, the words, World’s End, are found (first and last lines (both 5th word)). World’s End was also hinted to by the ‘Star Frame’ in the video (world’s end -view).
Searching State Parks of PA, World’s End SP might also catch the eye because it was also the ‘last/end’ of the first series of FFGM hunts.
The High Knob Overlook is a main attraction for the park. Amy said she quickly recognized the Overlook with the fence from the video and that was all she needed. Living relatively close, she grabbed her family and went and got the stone!
Here is her story sent to me this morning:
Much like Hunt #8 I did not solve any ciphers to find the stone. I am a Forest Ranger in the Loyalsock State Forest and have been following the The Thrill of the Chase and the FFGM treasure hunt trying to solve one. Once home from work I was able to check for the new posting. Upon watching the video, I recognized High Knob Vista immediately. I couldn’t believe it at first. I must have watched it five times or more! I have been patrolling through that Vista for 16 years now. I even drove up and down the mountain that same day! Who knows how many times I have driven past it and never knew.
Of course, there was a slight chance it could be somewhere else, but I didn’t want to wait and find out. My husband said the heck with mowing the lawn and instead “Let’s go treasure hunting!!!”. So, we jumped in the car and drove straight there. Once at the Vista I checked the start of the guard rail where it meets the fence. I almost didn’t see it but then saw a little bit of white. I hesitated for fear of spiders but threw caution to the wind and pulled out the stone.
There was a lot of jumping and high fiving between the three of us. My son went running off with it like a mad man. To top off the night driving out from the vista I saw my first fawn of the season. It laid down right by the side of the road for us to see. It was a great night out to say the least! We want to thank Jenny, Dal and Forrest for giving us the opportunity to have an awesome family adventure. High Knob has always been a special place but now it’s even more special!
The image in the background of the clue has an arrow pointing to inside the end of the guard rail. It was found right where the clues led them! Way to go! We all couldn’t be more happy!
There are other clues within the image (just weren’t needed).
Bottom Left:
Ot rklz yojk magzj xgor decodes to ‘IN LEFT SIDE GUARD RAIL’ by using a shift of 6 of the alphabet.
Tefg gd sdlyaffsir decodes to ‘EAST OF HILLSGROVE’ (where World’s End SP and the overlook is). This was a vigenere cipher using the keyword Pennsylvania (hinted to by key with PA).
The letters in the second square were ordered like the first square to give: Hogto btgii exlas y. (again this method is similar to one used for the Coded Words of Forrest Fenn in my Armchair Treasure Hunts Book). This too is a vigenere cipher using the keyword ‘A Game of Fun’. In the poem it says, ‘the answer is found with ‘A GAME of Fun’. And it was.
HIGH KNOB OVERLOOK is decoded from that square and the exact place the stone was hidden in the left side of the guard rail.
As demonstrated, not all, if any of these decodes were needed.
So….. now back to FFGM #9! We need to get that one claimed and get ready for lots more fun!
Best of luck to all that you seek! And Always Treasure the Adventure!
.