What was the Blaze?

[Cary_Galloway]

Jack on FF's reaction to the damaged blaze:

He thought it was a possibility but was surprised it happened so early in the chase

Jack's Mysterious writings response:

"Helped by logic, my experience on the ground at the location, and a hint in the book, I figured out what the blaze was in late 2018.

As Forrest said, it’s not the kind of thing you can expect to find on spring break or an afternoon picnic. It took slow and methodical effort on the ground to find. A necessary defense of the blaze was to make it something that could be found, but not so readily obvious, so that in case a human being did happen to go there, they wouldn’t stumble on the treasure.

As I’ve said, I think the blaze is too damaged to be easily “read” as the blaze at this point in time without the treasure still sitting in the nook beneath it. But I don’t think many realize that was part of the design.

The blaze and the treasure were out in the elements, so he left it to fate and nature to decide how difficult the treasure hunt would be at any given point, and as he said, it would get more difficult over time.

Forrest said the things the clues referred to might exist in 100 years. Not may, might. There was doubt there. Fate would decide what happened to the blaze, and we were unlucky that it was damaged relatively early in the search by natural forces.

what caught me most about this was it seemed like the blaze was tiny. "It took slow and methodical effort on the ground to find."
and it also seemed like the blaze was an object: The blaze and the treasure were out in the elements
just the way that is worded makes it seem like an object instead of part of the environment. Part of the environment to me would be a mark on a rock, mark on a tree, etc.


Jack on fake blazes. This would be after he encountered the fake blaze:

/r/FindingFennsGold /u/thecondor2 10.1.2019
Beware of fake blazes. I think the "F" on the tree is the most common I've heard of. Probably because of that scrapbook.

I think it wasn't a mark on a tree.

Conclusion:
I think it was something like a fishing lure: "Helped by logic, my experience on the ground at the location, and a hint in the book"
it would be logical to use a fishing lure to as the blaze in this fishing area. A mark on a tree would be hard because of the lodge pole trees were very thin. Rocks would be to obvious. And a lure would be tiny which would take "It took slow and methodical effort on the ground to find."
It would also be very poetic and fitting for Forrest Fenn, a fisherman, to lure us with an actual fishing lure. How much did he talk about fishing in his books and interviews?

[AaBbCcDdEeFf]

Gack's blaze was Forrest's GPS data from 2009/10. It was incomplete or had a glitch in it. That's why it was 'damaged'.

[Cary_Galloway]

Gack's blaze was Forrest's GPS data from 2009/10. It was incomplete or had a glitch in it. That's why it was 'damaged'.

Hopefully Jack gets tired of teasing and ignoring the community.
A good movie about BOTG and treasure made in the USSR during the cold war: Stalker(1979).
I think Jack would like that movie.

[Macahol]

I don't believe the blaze could be damaged, but perhaps it could be obscured. In my solve, the blaze was gypsum: In Greek mythology, Paris's mother dreamed she was giving birth to a flaming torch. Plaster of Paris = gypsum. Ergo, gypsum is the blaze. Fenn makes references to the Troy Warriors and to to Greek mythology in his books.

[Old Pilot]

(I'm a bit tired of repeating myself, but here goes anyway . . . )
Thinking in terms of the blaze being damaged -- and therefore hard to recognize -- is nonsense. The blaze is still there, and isn't changing very quickly at all. It'll still be there, looking about the same, for thousands of years. It (loosely speaking) could be said to resemble the letter "W" -- like the "Big W" mentioned in the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" -- or (mirrored) "M". Ya know, the "end" of "my rainbow". See how those letters work that way? These are cute coincidences that Forrest probably was very proud of. The poem can lead someone to a pretty narrowly-defined small place from which the blaze can be seen during a sunny morning. (This is one reason that TIME plays a big role in solving the poem.) As always, all part of my opinion.

[RyJMom]

I've wondered if the blaze was one of his bells he hung in a tree with fishing line. Hear me all and listen good. Maybe it was damaged and no longer rang and that is why it took Jack so long to search the area.

[Cary_Galloway]

I've wondered if the blaze was one of his bells he hung in a tree with fishing line. Hear me all and listen good. Maybe it was damaged and no longer rang and that is why it took Jack so long to search the area.

It just seems like some kindof object FF brought to the spot with him the way Jack worded it "The blaze and the treasure were out in the elements".
I mean sure a carving on a tree would be out in the elements but if that was the case I don't think he would have grouped it with the treasure in that phrase. "the dog and cat were out in the elements" not "the dog and the mark on the tree were out in the elements". The way he worded it gave the blaze more of a object meaning and not something of nature that was altered like a scratch on a rock or a mark on a tree.

[Cary_Galloway]

Maybe the blaze was the ball of string? Anyone have a TTOTC book idea of what the blaze could be? My previous theory it was the horse Lightning. As in the mark on his forehead which looks like an arrow pointing down. Or maybe it was a lightning bolt. But if someone who wasn't even into the chase saw a lightning bolt mark or a arrow mark on a rock or tree, you would think they would investigate the area around it and find the chest which FF didn't want to happen that way. If it was like some odd fishing lure, given the spot is a famous fishing hole it wouldn't bring too much attention. I think that's where the "logic" came in to the equation: "Helped by logic, my experience on the ground at the location, and a hint in the book, I figured out what the blaze was in late 2018."
Also, the reason I don't think it was Lightning, is because FF even mentioned a mark on a horse's forehead when asked to define what a blaze was. I don't think he would be this obvious.

[Knowledge]

I would think that only a few know the answer to that question.

So maybe people should ask themselves a question.

What chapter in TTOTC did Forrest tell searchers to read, and made it available online for anyone who did not have the book ?

[Cary_Galloway]

Guys this isn't very hard. You don't have to ask rhetorical questions to try act smart or hide your non-answer in some nonsense.
Just name what you think the blaze was and why. I did. Not sure why you can't.

I think it was ____ because _____.

Example:
I think it was an F mark on a tree because of a scrapbook and marking trees fits the definition of a blaze.

[Knowledge]

Guys this isn't very hard. You don't have to ask rhetorical questions to try act smart or hide your non-answer in some nonsense.
Just name what you think the blaze was and why. I did. Not sure why you can't.

I think it was ____ because _____.

Example:
I think it was an F mark on a tree because of a scrapbook and marking trees fits the definition of a blaze.

Well let's use the KISS method then, the blaze was something you could only I.D. if you solved the poem and read MY war for me.

If you did not follow the poem, the blaze would blend in like a searcher on Thor with a correct solution.

By the way, thank you for saying we sound smart. I always feel like I am doing pretty good if I don't sound dumb, so I am doing well, or is it good.
That did not last long.

[wwwamericana]

is or was?

[Cary_Galloway]

I’d like to buy a vowel Alex. T?

It's more like this

[Sherif Billy]

(I'm a bit tired of repeating myself, but here goes anyway . . . )
Thinking in terms of the blaze being damaged -- and therefore hard to recognize -- is nonsense. The blaze is still there, and isn't changing very quickly at all. It'll still be there, looking about the same, for thousands of years. It (loosely speaking) could be said to resemble the letter "W" -- like the "Big W" mentioned in the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" -- or (mirrored) "M". Ya know, the "end" of "my rainbow". See how those letters work that way? These are cute coincidences that Forrest probably was very proud of. The poem can lead someone to a pretty narrowly-defined small place from which the blaze can be seen during a sunny morning. (This is one reason that TIME plays a big role in solving the poem.) As always, all part of my opinion.

I'm thinking you meant it can be seen only in the afternoon with the sun behind you, looking East.
1f Billy

[UNtitleD Brave]

@Cary......are you really serious, you now think the 'blaze' is a fishing lure ? For the love of G, how does this idea make ANY sense ?
Like OP, I'm really exasperated with attempting to guide you in the correct direction. In one final attempt, can I refer you back to
Fenn's quote concerning removal of the blaze, paraphrasing, he said, " the blaze could be removed, but it wouldn't be practical to do so"
I will confirm this WAS/IS part of Fenn's 85% of 'truths', so please take note; the blaze ISN'T a small, easily transportable item, PERIOD !

FISHING LURE = WRONG !!!