In September of 2015, Martin Smith published a treasure hunt book, called Seek and Ye Shall Find, with clues to a hidden cache. The treasure was valued over $1000 dollars and was secreted ‘somewhere in the Midwest’. The Read and Seek Adventures’ physical cache itself held a variety of items. Some of which were a Greek coin, Roman ring, Steel Pennies, and other unique jewelry pieces.
Recently, however, it was discovered the hidden cache was ‘missing’, with no one ever coming forward to claim the additional prizes in the timeframe allowed as outlined in the rules. It is suspected the cache was accidentally found by a person unaware of the full treasure hunt involved. I bet they enjoyed that geocache find!
Nonetheless, since most of the reward for finding the secreted treasure was in the form of ‘Gift Cards’ to be further claimed by the finder, and this part of the Treasure was not claimed, Martin has decided to continue the search for the treasure, but now as full Armchair Treasure Hunt! How exciting!
So…the Treasure Hunt is still on for the remaining prizes valuing $700 dollars in Gift Cards! But now with a new twist!
Originally, a person had to solve the puzzle, physically go find the hidden cache, and forward a claim for the bonus prize of Gift Cards.
Now all a person needs to do is solve the puzzle and send in a correct claim to receive the Treasure!
NO need to travel to claim the prize of the $700 dollars in gift cards!
The puzzle is in form of a book. Searchers can read the book and solve the clues to forward a correct solution.
The treasure hunt was inspired by The Thrill of the Chase treasure hunt by Forrest Fenn, and so there is a poem of similar nature involved in this ‘Seek and Ye Shall Find’ hunt. It seems the poem is in disarray though, and must be ‘fixed’. Which is UNLIKE Forrest’s poem. In that hunt we are told DON’T MESS WITH FORREST’S POEM!
I am assuming for Martin’s hunt, once the poem is correctly fixed, the location to the treasure can be discovered. Clues within the book are said to help out with the ‘fixing of the poem’.
Below are some helpful hints, and what a participant needs to do to forward a solution. These are also found on the Read and Seek Adventures website, so please see site for additional information.
To make a claim for the Read and Seek Adventures ARMCHAIR Treasure hunt:
*Send in an email to ReadandSeekAdventures (@gmail.com) with the Subject line of your email as: Hunt #1 Solution— the poem’s CORRECT solution with at least 20 clues deciphered correctly from the poem, and also Send GPS coordinates AND/OR send a screenshot of google maps with the location marked.
Please note: Martin counts a total of 28 clues in the poem and offers the following:
- Not every sentence contains a clue.
- Not every line contains a clue.
- Some lines contain more than one clue.
- Some sentences contain more than one clue.
- Identify the hidey spot to within 200 feet.
Thank you Jenny! One of the many things I’ve learned from this venture is that Forrest Fenn must have done meticulous planning and execution to hide his chest. It’s also given me more insight into the kinds of places where his chest might “not” be!
Also, on Friday I just launched what might be a quick hunt (also completely armchair). I call it a Google Maps Challenge. There’s no cost to participate. The prize is a $25 Amazon gift card. More details are on the site.