forrest fenn treasure hunt chestThis is the 29th in a series on Six Questions with Searchers of The Thrill of the Chase Treasure Hunt by Forrest Fenn. Questions are asked and then answered by those who are enjoying Forrest’s dare!  Thanks to all who are participating.  They truly are special!

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Six Questions with Brad:

1)When did you first hear and learn about the Treasure Hunt?

I first read about the Forrest THunt in December 2014 from an online story. I spent all of January and Half of February doing Double Deep Web Research, spending about 18 hours a day 7 days a week digging through websites and wayback machines and digital copies of old interviews and a half-a-dozen or so blogs – maybe more I lost count – going back to I think 2011 and taking notes ..

I prefer doing my research on physicaLLY written paper, it’s just easier on the eyes and I can relax into the couch with my feet on the armchair flipping back and forth between pages circling things of interest and dropping asterisks so they are easier to find .. it’s just a more creative atmosphere then staring at a burning comp screen for 16 hours without a break ..

About 4 and half weeks in I had three or four or five 8-1/2 x 11 legal tablets full on both sides and several dozen possibles. I spent the next week or 10 days whittling down and crossing out until I had the four best choices in each state – that left me sixteen – still too many If I was gonna have to drive all the way to North Montana and back in 9 days ..

I left FW on February 6th, 2015 and conducted my first search at 6 am the morning of Feb 7th .. I arrived right as the sun peaked over the horizon, it was 32 degrees F warming to about 38, with about 2.5 feet of snow .. there was zero snow the entire trip — right up until I got to within about 5 miles of where I wanted to search .. then Bam! –

First Choice = Bust > I’ll have to return in the Summer ..

Suffice it to say I only stayed about 2 hours, to get my bearings and do a little scouting as far as physically identifying what I wanted to see. Also the elevation was about 8000 feet higher than I was accustomed to – so ..

My second search was about 30 miles away, no snow and 50F .. I hiked for about 8 or 9 hours and got back to my car about 10 minutes before Sunset ..

From Fort Worth it takes 24 hours NON STOP driving to reach YNP and another 8 hours to reach Good Grief Montana .. It’s almost physically impossible to drive 24 hours non stop, and still be a capable driver, so I usually have to stop at 12 hours for a four hour rest] .. That means I have to schedule two days of driving, plus two more days of driving to get back to Texas ..

That only leaves 5 days of searching to cover sixteen locations – so I cut my list down to two in each state .. with some wriggle room for sleeping and eating .. then scheduled 6 hours for each search – 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon – and if I found something interesting, I would adjust my schedule ..

Obviously this required me to pick two really good search locations that were no more than about an hour apart and left me 8 to twelve hours to get to the next search state and hopefully 3 or 4 hours of sleep before the next sunrise and twelve more hours of hiking ..

I reached each of my search locations with in about ten minutes of sunrise, either just before or just as the sun was breaking, searched until about noon, hiked back to my car, ate / snacked while I was driving, repacked my backpack and searched the second location from 1 p until sunset .. then I would drive three or four hours, grab a quick catnap at a rest drop, drive the rest of the way to the next location, and if it was still dark would grab a 15 or 20 minute or longer if could cat nap before setting out as soon as it was bright enough to see the ground without a flashlight ..

I drove on the 8th and My second set of searches (I actually ended up searching 4 different locations all within about 60 miles of each other) was from sunrise the 9, 10, 11 and 12th to sunset ..

The snow was spotty but frozen in the morning – and the ground under my feet was slick muddy and wet by the time I was ready to slog back to my car in the afternoon. I knew it was gonna be a heck of steep hike back out so I usually started back around 3 pm in order to make the roughly two mile hike back to my car before the sunset … It wasn’t that difficult – save for the really muddy slick ground .. and every step slid me back about halfway way – so it was double the distance and four times the energy output to get out as it was to casually stroll in when the ground was frozen .. I also have excessive damage to my body from an archaic car wreck so I had to stop about every 25 feet and rest to reduce the pain and acclimate to the altitude that I was not used to, coming from FW where it’s only about 600 ft ASL ..

After about 7 or 8 days on the road I decided that was enough. I had a long drive home, I’d gained enough information to keep me busy for a few weeks of researching, so I packed up and headed back to Fort Worth .. I had visited 6 of my 8 choices and I was too tired and worn out to make another hike ..

2)What inspired you to become involved and begin searching?

I’ve spent my entire life, since the age of eleven, hiking and exploring, looking for Rocks and Jewels and Old West Mining Towns and Native American Artifacts across Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California – it just was something different to do. A new puzzle to decipher. Got me away from the old cold cases that I’ve been searching for. I initially doubted Forrest – I’ve got 25 years of dealing first hand with Fighter Jocks and thought it was a bluster – then I read one of his stories about Vietnam and something in it read honest. There was a cold hard truth about it. Not the typical “I had this Bandit on my ass ” that you get from so many hot-headed stick-shakers. So I thought I’d give him a chance ..

3)What is your most favorite part about the Treasure Hunt so far?

Being alone with Nature, with no humans in sight and no street noise or big city lights to disturb the solitude and the quiet of the birds and the lizards and deer strolling unafraid within a few feet ..

4)What is your least favorite part about the Treasure Hunt so far?

The distance. The cost. It basically takes my entire monthly income of $400.00 VA Disability to make a single trip – so I’m limited to the number of times I can go to once a month and maybe six times a year if I’m lucky and I buy the cheapest food I can scrounge at the Local Grocery Story and hope my Old Jeep “Agonee” doesn’t need a shop visit too often ..

5)What is the best or most unique thing you found while searching for Forrest Fenn’s treasure chest?

Oh. I have found many unique things. Some of them I can’t mention because they would Identify one or two of my search areas to anyone who’s been there ..

Old Mines. Old Boats. A really interesting broken down Old House that’s crumbling back into brick-toned adobe dust. Old Cars. Really Old Cars. Car Parts. A Tire in the middle of nowhere a mile and half from the nearest road. A shoe that I stuck on a fence post (waiting for someone to find it and post a picture of it). An Old Car Engine from a 1950 Buick – the car I taught myself to drive in when I was 14 was a 1953 Buick. Hiking Ropes. An Old Sway Bridge across a Rapid River. A Dead Dog shot through the heart with a very large caliber weapon. A Sleeping Spring Baby Deer with no Mother in sight. An Ice Cold Water Hole about Ten Feet Deep. A Hiking Stick. A Half-Dozen Caves. My Fedora that I had to chase down a Raging River for about a half a mile. An old map stashed under a rock. An Old Out House. A Concrete Sailboat Boat under a tree. An Old Tractor. Three or four Old Farm Implements. An Old 1880s Wagon. A Large Black Cherokee Teardrop. Two Old Metal Bumpers. A Leather Harness. Some other interesting stones that I pocketed. Some cheap plastic jewels. A Gas Can. An Old Fire Pit. An Old Junk Yard. An old bus stop next to an old public telephone cabinet sitting out in the middle of the desert, but that’s North of Van Horn Texas so it probably shouldn’t count. A few things I stashed in out of the way caves and rock coves and under rocks with my name on them that should last about 90 years or less ..

If they don’t get found they will eventually melt back into Nature and I will probably likely be completely and utterly forgotten the day my music dies ..

6) What more would you like to say?

I’d like to tell you my “absolutely fascinating” Arthurian cum Macbethian life story, but I’m not the King Of Scotland, I’m not the Prince Of Wales, I don’t have my Lady M, I don’t have any witch-brewed children to take over my realm, and no one else wants to hear it but Merlin and Three Weird Witches ..

All My Best,

Brad

 

 

 

What a Six Questions!  Love the adventure and honesty in your answers, Brad.  Thanks for sharing.  Seems like you are enjoying the Chase, and will continue to do so.  And go ahead and write your memoir!  I’m sure it would be absolutely fascinating, and I would love to read it!

And I’m not sure about the title you gave me to use…. you don’t sound ‘broken’ at all….. just on a mission.

 

Best of luck with all that you seek! Always Treasure the Adventure!

 

 

26 Comments

    1. Naa – he wants a good-lookin, pretty girl with long, flowing brunette locks or strawberry curls dancing down her soft, freckled shoulders and a set of long gorgeous legs a mile long with a 6-kid minimum production run and a smile to melt every lonely heart, not some grumpy old childless ogre halfway to his grave hiding under the Texas Canyon Bridge waiting to snatch her off and carry her lovingly across the sandstone threshold to his 55-acre hideout ranchette in the Catalinas and the nearest Las Vegas Wedding Chapel with the Reverend Presley presiding .. or something like that ..

      B ..

      Brad Hartliep

      1. Very odd, my solve has a giant witch with a wood as her Eye. My middle name is Arthur. I’m from Texas, my first trip was snow bound and within days of the date you listed. I have many times talked about the 16 hour days 7 days a week effort I put into this and you said Double DEEP research. Is this a joke at my expense, a coincidence or a prod to my butt to go get it. And yes I have numerous notebooks full of many solves. 81…

        Deeepthnkr

        1. No joke. Pure Coinkidink. Everything I said is my real, personal experience, abridged for condensity – otherwise you’d be here for a month reading about 20 thousand pages [that’s probably not accurate but you git my drift] .. I’ve put in the miles from Fort Worth to Good Grief and back again about 25 or thirty times at 3000 or 4000 a pop .. I’ve put in the hours in the dark web for days and weeks on end .. but most of my digs are self-deprecating .. I rarely dink anybody else unless they put a craw under my hat brim .. no one’s perfect .. me most of all ..

          If I was any dumber I’d be a one-legged Flamingo in somebody’s sandbox ..

          Brad

          Brad Hartliep

  8. Broken Brad Hartliep => broken heart???
    💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
    “There are hearts breaking wide open all over the world tonight”.
    💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
    “Why’s that?
    💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
    “Because unless you are a fool, this … treasure… is off the market. “
    😫😢😩😭☹️🙁😫😠😱😨😰😳😭😭
    Oh no! It’s … it’s … it’s over?????
    Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    LuckyGuy

    1. vielen dank, Stad .. the literal trans is more like Hard-Hearted or Harsh Lover or, if you put a little English on the side, Deer-Hearted. Believe it or not there is actually a town in England named Hartlip, one of my ancestors married into the Royal family I think in Victorian Time (very minor and I didn’t even get a pin), another was a Black Magic Doctor to a German Duke and another was a Scientist/Writer who ran an Invisible College ..

      Ehh ..

      B ..

      Brad Hartliep

  10. Long, Long Ago, In A Century Far, Far Away ..

    There lived a Man named Brad and his Dog Red Fox. There was no Master and there was no Rule, for they walked side by side, in Freedom and Harmony with the Great Outdoors and the abidings of Nature, as it was in the Past and will be in the Future, free of the false chains of Society ..

    They roamed the Great West, spreading their soft steps and gentle strides ‘cross the vastness of the Great Cactus Deserts once named, by some, Sonora and Chihuahua. Casually they strolled, side by side, Up Broad Flat Washes and Down Sharp Craggy Mountains, from the southern-most foothills of Arizona and New Mexico, over and through the plateaus and shelters of Colorado and Utah, to the Grand, Towering Peaks at the Mountainous Headwinds of Wyoming, slumbering under the untouched snow caps of our Great, Grand Watershed .. And the once-forgotten Visions, Long, Long Ago and Far, Far Away, Where, Once Upon A Time, in a Distant Future, Past ..

    Lived a Man Named Brad and His Dog Red Fox ..

    Brad Hartliep

  11. #DalNeitzel at #HOD #ThrillOftheChase & whoever’s pruning #HarrysChaseForumn and #THOR refuse to post my [extremely] valuable stories that I’ve been [slyly] passing along to the #Chasers –

    Because they know I ALWAYS tell the #Truth –

    But I’m not one of the “special people” with “special [mostly useless} knowledge” .. so they don’t like what I say —

    So I’ve decided to make my last post .. right here at my favorite — the dialogue here is .. soo much nicer .. and calmer .. and more logicl .. than the spinning out of control “experts” and “respectables” .. over at Dal’s .. and Harry’s .. [and Stephanie’s – though I haven’t been there in years — too bad .. Stephanie’s ‘Railroad Siding’ exploratory gave me my first ever clue, which I pursued on my first ever “guess” .. [If you haven’t noticed, I NEVER call them “solves” – because, frankly, no one [but me] has ever had a real “Solve” .. ] — and that’s how far off all of you are ..

    & for those of you [still] paying attention:

    I know EXACTLY where #ForrestFenn Hid the #Treasure –

    [and Forrest knows I know Exactly where he hid .. MY #BronzeBeauty} ..

    He’s known it since EXACTLY 10 days after Randy disappeared [and don’t ask: because I will NEVER reveal what EXACTLY I knew, or what EXACTLY I had discovered, at any time before January 14, 16] –

    but he – Forrest – also knows I found the clue to ‘Put In Below The Home Of Brown’ in – wait fir it – February 09th, 2015 .. weather there was snow on the ground – or how DEEP – you’ll have to decipher .. what state I was in .. You’ll have to decipher .. Caution: if you plan on searching my Credit Card records – I thought of that – before I ever left my 4.5 acre property in Texas on my very first hunt .. and I intentionally visited at least TWO STATES on every single trip I took .. between .. wait for it .. February 06, 2015 and .. oh .. let’s just say .. December 06, 2018 .. 😉 ..

    NOW .. For those of you [still] falling behind – I’ve uploaded THREE MAPS .. onto Twitter [one of them on Facebook] .. I have about Ten or Twenty Maps I’ve drawn over the last 3 years on my computer .. trying to decide what I liked and didn’t like .. The goal is to someday post EIGHT of them total .. for a nice round ‘Broken Brad Hartliep ‘Pieces Of Eight’ Treasure Hunt’ .. anyone of the maps can be used to decipher the clues and find the treasure .. but each map will present the clues in .. slightly different fashion and mannerisms ..

    Now that we’re caught up:

    By October, 2015 – 4 and 5 days at a time .. 3000 miles at a time .. all the way through spring .. and all through summer .. and all the way to post snow fall [my last of 9 trips in 2015[almost 30,000 miles in 9 months] – ] – I had correctly deciphered HOB .. PIBTHOB .. Canyon Up .. WWH .. Canyon Down .. NFBTFTW .. PIBTHOB .. NPFTM .. TEIEDN .. and .. was much, much closer than 500 Feet .. and .. much, much closer than 200 Feet .. and .. much, much closer to 12 ..

    Whether I correctly and accurately deciphered the location of Bronze Beauty then .. or the following January .. or February [the trip I made exactly 10 days after Randy’s disappearance, after spending 3 days in Santa Fe trying to rent an Airplane for S&R] .. or March .. or April .. or .. or .. well ,, YOU ,, will have to decipher that ..

    Too bad none of you chose to pay any real attention to what I’ve been telling you ;D — Of course, my {intentional} modes of speech .. and my [intentional] Brash and .. shall we say .. “self-indulgent” attitudes .. and mockery .. I’m sure had something to do with it :0 ..

    You now have 3 years of my [intentional] jabbering to decipher .. and 3 of my maps .. if any of you want to pursue my fancy new Treasure Hunt .. of course, in order to do that, you’ll have to believe Forrest Fenn .. “may be hiding” some of the truth .. about what the Hunter knows .. about how close the Hunter has been .. he may refuse to admit what I know .. or rather, what the Hunter knows ,, he may honestly believe I haven’t found it — that’s for you to decipher .. but he knows I’ve been giving him the correct decipherings of the clues ,, since February of 2015 ,, and he knows that I’ve been HOT on the trail .. for 3 years and 8.5 Months [one month off for good behaviour] .. and he knows I’ve been very .. VERY .. close ..

    The Trick is .. Do You Believe Me? .. Or Do You Continue To Ignore Me? ..

    And Do You Keep On Truckin’ .. Down The Forrested Course .. For Another 8.25 years? ..

    #TheArtistFormerlyRevealedAs: #TheHunter ..

    Have fun trying to figure out my #CryptoCartography .. and my [Intentionally] #CodedSpeech ..

    Broken Brad,

    Pirate Of The West

    Los Treasure Of Que Brada Hartliep

    Brad Hartliep

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