Distance from car to spot

[Blazingwaddles]

It seems like a nice view would be important, but from what Jack has said it sounds like he was searching in a dense forest. Maybe there are places in the forest where there's a view.

There's a paint color called iron brown, but other than that I don't have any ideas.

If “There are many places in the Rocky Mountains where warm waters halt, and nearly all of them are north of Santa Fe.” means "There are many places in the Rocky mountains that people might consider to be WWWH, and nearly all of the Rocky Mountains are north of Santa Fe" then that tells us nothing. If I email Jack again I might ask him about this quote.

I didn't get the impression Jack was searching in a dense forest but rather a forest with a lot of possible hiding spots. A dense forest would be relatively easy to search as it contains mainly trees and almost zero undergrowth. A recovering forest containing mixed and old growth stands with a lot of deadfall (typical of lodgepole pines) would be a nightmare. Much of Yellowstone is like that, and some other locations in the Rockies.

Forrest is infamous for non-answer answers so we should always consider that a strong possibility.

[Blazingwaddles]

definition of few is 2 or more

FF said LESS than a few
so less than 2

Jack said ONLY a few
so 2

2 round trips = 2/4 = 0.5 miles from the car

FF was answering the one-way distance. So less than 2 miles one-way is a reasonable take. Jack was answering the total distance walked. "Only" a few wouldn't mean 2, it would mean "not many". So if for example the one-way distance was 1.5 miles, the total distance of 6 miles would be properly described as "only a few".

[Hear me all]

No, I don't see why. But thank you for the photos and information.

Old Pilot - In order to figure it out one did have to be able to see. That is why Forrest suggested Helen Keller team up with the little girl in India. The little girl from India, just like all searchers had the opportunity to be standing on the chest when at the first two clues. Couldn't get any closer. Forrest outfoxed searchers for many years, even those who are highly keen. Zapster chooses to believe that the chest was in a different spot because he reconciles the 200 U and 500 U comments differently. The number 200 is on the post and 413. It's been an interesting study to see how searchers will try to pin fencerider Fenn down by absolutely believing some of his statements as undisputable facts while allowing a fudge factor for others. The key was knowing when Forrest was telling the truth, just not All of the truth.

You stated you don't see. If you still have your TTOTC book look at IN LOVE WITH YELLOWSTONE. IN LOVE is not centered and was offset to showcase the LOO to help make the connection with the sign. Forrest did it again in OUAW slightly differently. In the front of the book, dancing Forrest on his books. Study the arrangement of the books from top to bottom moving slightly right just like the LOOK going down on the sign and it will stand out like a purple sore thumb. In Forrest's SB about Evetts Haley he changed looks to Looks as yet another hint.

Almost everything Forrest did was to assist searchers in finding his treasure. Take his painting for example of the flag. The red stripes are for thebred wood. The white stripes were for the white letters. The purple heart at the bottom of the vertical white stripe was for the U at the bottom of the post. Forrest said his heart was in Yellowstone and he told us over and over of his love for it. His 3 jars of cloves was another huge hint for his love of Yellowstone. Forrest's comment about two can keep a secret if one of them is dead was for the (2) and the U is a dead ringer in horseshoes. Forrest said he was a shoo in to win but I doubt anyone else ever caught that statement. Forrest had 109 rules. All you had to do was add the 67 on one side with the 42 on the other. Or add the 7+6=15 and you would know why non-fiction writers only have to be right 85 percent of the time. Forrest said he was going to fling himself and throw himself on top of the chest. Surely U have heard of the game called horseshoes. Missing shoes, a route that is shaped like a leg with a shoe, horseshoes, shoes in his closet, the (2) cuddles twins and hundreds of other hints for his grave. His grave is even marked with his FF. That's why he signed his name f, F, and used red wax seals with FF in TFTW.

There will always be some who wanted it to be hidden in places where their interpretations of the poem took them. Mark sent Forrest an email that said, "don't try to force the poem to fit your spot. At times Forrest used the word spot or latched onto it because he had hidden it at the post. Forrest's reply was "Thank you Mark" which was a hint for think U mark. Similar to Forrest's drawings of Elvis and his Blue suede shoes saying thank you, thank you. Maybe if Forrest included some postmarks or a benchmark map it would have been too easy to figure out.

If you recall Forrest said the secret was to think. Little Forrest was sitting on the dead guys grave marker thinking. Forrest also had his gut feeling that it would be found in 2018. It took guts for Forrest to go sit on a dead guy's grave marker. In the fall of 2017, I sent Forrest an e-mail and told him that in the spring I was heading to this parking lot and I was going to check each and every post going up the hill across the road. I failed to check the benchmark post because I was looking too far ahead and failed to notice what was right beside me lurking in the shadows of the sign.

[Tornado]

Old Pilot - In order to figure it out one did have to be able to see. That is why Forrest suggested Helen Keller team up with the little girl in India. The little girl from India, just like all searchers had the opportunity to be standing on the chest when at the first two clues. Couldn't get any closer. Forrest outfoxed searchers for many years, even those who are highly keen. Zapster chooses to believe that the chest was in a different spot because he reconciles the 200 U and 500 U comments differently. The number 200 is on the post and 413. It's been an interesting study to see how searchers will try to pin fencerider Fenn down by absolutely believing some of his statements as undisputable facts while allowing a fudge factor for others. The key was knowing when Forrest was telling the truth, just not All of the truth.

You stated you don't see. If you still have your TTOTC book look at IN LOVE WITH YELLOWSTONE. IN LOVE is not centered and was offset to showcase the LOO to help make the connection with the sign. Forrest did it again in OUAW slightly differently. In the front of the book, dancing Forrest on his books. Study the arrangement of the books from top to bottom moving slightly right just like the LOOK going down on the sign and it will stand out like a purple sore thumb. In Forrest's SB about Evetts Haley he changed looks to Looks as yet another hint.

Almost everything Forrest did was to assist searchers in finding his treasure. Take his painting for example of the flag. The red stripes are for thebred wood. The white stripes were for the white letters. The purple heart at the bottom of the vertical white stripe was for the U at the bottom of the post. Forrest said his heart was in Yellowstone and he told us over and over of his love for it. His 3 jars of cloves was another huge hint for his love of Yellowstone. Forrest's comment about two can keep a secret if one of them is dead was for the (2) and the U is a dead ringer in horseshoes. Forrest said he was a shoo in to win but I doubt anyone else ever caught that statement. Forrest had 109 rules. All you had to do was add the 67 on one side with the 42 on the other. Or add the 7+6=15 and you would know why non-fiction writers only have to be right 85 percent of the time. Forrest said he was going to fling himself and throw himself on top of the chest. Surely U have heard of the game called horseshoes. Missing shoes, a route that is shaped like a leg with a shoe, horseshoes, shoes in his closet, the (2) cuddles twins and hundreds of other hints for his grave. His grave is even marked with his FF. That's why he signed his name f, F, and used red wax seals with FF in TFTW.

There will always be some who wanted it to be hidden in places where their interpretations of the poem took them. Mark sent Forrest an email that said, "don't try to force the poem to fit your spot. At times Forrest used the word spot or latched onto it because he had hidden it at the post. Forrest's reply was "Thank you Mark" which was a hint for think U mark. Similar to Forrest's drawings of Elvis and his Blue suede shoes saying thank you, thank you. Maybe if Forrest included some postmarks or a benchmark map it would have been too easy to figure out.

If you recall Forrest said the secret was to think. Little Forrest was sitting on the dead guys grave marker thinking. Forrest also had his gut feeling that it would be found in 2018. It took guts for Forrest to go sit on a dead guy's grave marker. In the fall of 2017, I sent Forrest an e-mail and told him that in the spring I was heading to this parking lot and I was going to check each and every post going up the hill across the road. I failed to check the benchmark post because I was looking too far ahead and failed to notice what was right beside me lurking in the shadows of the sign.

The Little Girl had to Listen Good and learn to see with Marvel Gaze to get past the 2nd clue and realize that 77 is where the magic is.

[MZ007]

He would have carried the chest empty on the first trip and then the treasure on the second trip. Very likely both trips in a spacious backpack. It may have taken him all afternoon and he states that he was tired during the endeavor and weak afterwards. And he also says you will need to make some sort of effort and be brave. Sure doesn't sound like a casual walk of a few hundred yards.

Interesting take. Did he say he carried the chest empty the first time? I had not known that. I just thought that most of the 42 pounds or whatever was contents, and that to split the weight equally for the trips meant he'd carry the chest and some of the gold the first trip, and an equal weight of contents only the second trip. Plus, do we know if he carried the chest first, or are we supposing that?

[Zapster]

Interesting take. Did he say he carried the chest empty the first time? I had not known that. I just thought that most of the 42 pounds or whatever was contents, and that to split the weight equally for the trips meant he'd carry the chest and some of the gold the first trip, and an equal weight of contents only the second trip. Plus, do we know if he carried the chest first, or are we supposing that?

He carried the gold in first, not the chest. (This makes the most logical sense from a safety standpoint.)

Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast at the 23:40 mark: “Well, I’ve said many times that … don’t look for the treasure someplace where a 79- or 80-year-old man couldn’t go twice in one afternoon. I mean, I took … the gold in one time, and then I came back to my car, I got the treasure chest, and I took it in. I didn’t want to carry 42 pounds at one time, and the gold was about half the weight of the chest, so it worked out really good. And I went to where I hid that chest – I did it twice in one afternoon from my car.”

Link: https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/forrest-fenn-ep-24

[MZ007]

He carried the gold in first, not the chest. (This makes the most logical sense from a safety standpoint.)

Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast at the 23:40 mark: “Well, I’ve said many times that … don’t look for the treasure someplace where a 79- or 80-year-old man couldn’t go twice in one afternoon. I mean, I took … the gold in one time, and then I came back to my car, I got the treasure chest, and I took it in. I didn’t want to carry 42 pounds at one time, and the gold was about half the weight of the chest, so it worked out really good. And I went to where I hid that chest – I did it twice in one afternoon from my car.”

Link: https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/forrest-fenn-ep-24

Good point. Otherwise 21 pounds of gold and jewels would be sitting in a parked car on an isolated road in the wilderness as Forrest strolls into the woods with an empty chest.

[MZ007]

Great, I just thought of another reason why the hidden spot might be very far from the road. Note the log in Jacks's second find photo. There are two very similar shaped notches which are likely man made, and thus assuming Jack or Forrest did not make them, that implies prior human activity by someone else. But if the hiding spot is so deep in the wilderness, so pristine, etc, there should not be any evidence of man made markings. Thus the place is probably pretty close to a road frequented by people. Anybody have guesses why those notches exist?

[Blazingwaddles]

He carried the gold in first, not the chest. (This makes the most logical sense from a safety standpoint.)

Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast at the 23:40 mark: “Well, I’ve said many times that … don’t look for the treasure someplace where a 79- or 80-year-old man couldn’t go twice in one afternoon. I mean, I took … the gold in one time, and then I came back to my car, I got the treasure chest, and I took it in. I didn’t want to carry 42 pounds at one time, and the gold was about half the weight of the chest, so it worked out really good. And I went to where I hid that chest – I did it twice in one afternoon from my car.”

Link: https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/forrest-fenn-ep-24

That's a good catch, I didn't even think about the implication of leaving a bunch of gold and stuff in a car somewhere in the Rock Mountains while traipsing to some isolated spot. Here as elsewhere he emphasizes that he "took it in" (note the same usage in the poem) and dwells on the topic in a manner that suggests he is proud of the feat. That would suggest the distance or difficulty of the track from the car to the hiding spot might have been on the outer limits of what is possible for an 80 year old man.

[MZ007]

Perhaps a bit too cynical of a possibility here's how searchers may have come within 200 or 500 feet of the TC and not known it. That is, those folks were in Santa Fe, walking the streets, and that TC could have been locked up in a vault nearby in one of the buildings they passed by. Those searchers visiting Santa Fe talk to Forrest and mention where they searched in the wilds. Meanwhile Forrest is amused knowing those searchers really did get close to the TC that was in the SF vault. So he states later there were searchers that came very close, as he smiles to himself.

[Blazingwaddles]

Great, I just thought of another reason why the hidden spot might be very far from the road. Note the log in Jacks's second find photo. There are two very similar shaped notches which are likely man made, and thus assuming Jack or Forrest did not make them, that implies prior human activity by someone else. But if the hiding spot is so deep in the wilderness, so pristine, etc, there should not be any evidence of man made markings. Thus the place is probably pretty close to a road frequented by people. Anybody have guesses why those notches exist?

Look again. That is a piece of plastic that was wrapped around the chest. Those "notches" are indentations from the two protrusions along the back edge of the chest. Obviously this raises some questions of its own. Such as, did Julia Child find the chest first, and tried to marinate it?

[MZ007]

Look again. That is a piece of plastic that was wrapped around the chest. Those "notches" are indentations from the two protrusions along the back edge of the chest. Obviously this raises some questions of its own. Such as, did Julia Child find the chest first, and tried to marinate it?

Lol! And what about that little 'brassy' object on the ground in the first find photo upper right next to the chest, that's kind of circular and out of view? One of Child's cooking utensils? lol I think those notches might come from logging bands, thoughts?

And speaking of which, in the first find photo reflected in on the tip of the plastic coin case, there appears to be a reflection of another person there too because another person was obviously taking the picture. And it looks like the person is holding up some kind of radio or GPS device, that has a short antenna. Am I imagining this? I have not seen any mention of this yet.

[Walking Among Lions]

The distance from the car to the treasure chest was approximately 0.98 miles (one way). Four Trips from and back to the vehicle is 0.98 x 4 = 3.92 miles, which is technically less than a few miles.

[Old Pilot]

The distance from the car to the treasure chest was approximately 0.98 miles (one way). Four Trips from and back to the vehicle is 0.98 x 4 = 3.92 miles, which is technically less than a few miles.

If you don't think that 3 is a few, then how would you describe or estimate that quantity without specifying the number?
(Not that the word "few" is very important to solving the poem, compared to other key words in it)

[Redneck Girl]

I didn't get the impression Jack was searching in a dense forest but rather a forest with a lot of possible hiding spots. A dense forest would be relatively easy to search as it contains mainly trees and almost zero undergrowth. A recovering forest containing mixed and old growth stands with a lot of deadfall (typical of lodgepole pines) would be a nightmare. Much of Yellowstone is like that, and some other locations in the Rockies.

Forrest is infamous for non-answer answers so we should always consider that a strong possibility.

The reason I got the impression Jack was searching in a dense forest is because of what he said about pine tar. Every time I've come out of a forest smelling like pine tar it's because I was off trail in an area with a relatively dense tree cover. Maybe crawling over deadfall pine trees would account for the pine tar.