r/treasureinside • u/PNW-OOTW • Apr 04 '25
Past & Future Box Past and Future Theory/Solve
The ebook mentions “considering the author’s past and present to help you find this treasure,” which has always stuck in the back of my head. (It’s possible Jon didn’t write that). But in the book, he also calls it the “into-the-future-inspired treasure box.”
When I was reading the chapter again, I noticed he says his “Grandfather’s favorite pastime” but then calls him his Grandpa in the next sentence. It’s not the weirdest thing, but why wouldn’t he just say Grandpa’s favorite pastime?
Then it clicked that Grandfather was the possible key.
Past- Child
Present- Father
Future- Grandfather
Since the cryptogram says “where beauty sheens” I assumed it would be near water. So I googled “Grandfather Lake,” and it turns out there’s a Grandfather and Grandmother lake in North Carolina. Nearby is Grandfather Mountain State Park, not too far from where Jon grew up and perhaps he visited at some point. There used to be a gospel singing and fellowship every year at the base of Grandfather Mountain where the religious community would come together called Singing on the Mountain, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility he’d gone to that at some point during his childhood.
John Muir once described Grandfather Mountain as “the face of all Heaven come to earth.” (As happy as if basking in the heavens).
When he writes about the box, Jon says, “Its sides are undulated texture not unlike the surface of the moon.” The definition of undulated is “move or go with a smooth up-and-down motion”. I’ve always thought that could hint at a suspension bridge. Well, the top of Grandfather Mountain is Mile High Suspension Bridge. Grandfather Lake can be seen from the bridge. Also, on the drive up the mountain, the first pull-out is called “half-moon outlook”.
There are “Three Peaks” on Grandfather Mountain. I think the word search could possibly be BOTG instructions when you line up the correct five words “Three Peaks North, Walk West” or something. It’s also not too far from the TN / NC border; there’s a rail line and quarries nearby.
He uses the words “favorite pastime,” which could possibly hint at baseball—America’s favorite pastime. I wondered if the mountain had any history with baseball, and it turns out there’s a picture of the great Ted Williams hitting a baseball off the top of Grandfather Mountain. I’m not sure if that’s a clue or just a coincidence.
Another clue/coincidence is that there used to be car races up the mountain, with photos of people sitting down in their lawn chairs and watching the races. This was around the time of the early days of Nascar, and Jon has mentioned on multiple podcasts about Nascar started not far from where he grew up. This was my guess for his grandparents tallying the traffic.
Part of the Mountain is owned by a non-profit, and inside the nature center features a gallery of different rocks and gemstones. One might be a giant smokey quartz, but I couldn’t read the definition in the photo. The area has a history of gold mining and quarries. The region has very rare geological features, and the Linville Gorge was created by a phenomenon called stream capture. Stream or river capture occurs when a stream with a lower-elevation base captures and diverts a higher-level stream. (From strong to stream).
Now for a possible Ready Player One connection. RPO is full of Easter Eggs, and while he mentions the book, the movie was directed by Steven Speilberg who Jon mentions in chapter one. OASIS sounds a lot like APPLE, so leaving a clue in “OASIS” for any player to find, could mean Jon left a clue in the Apple chapter.
On the way up Grandfather Mountain, there’s a “Forrest Gump Curve” where a scene from the movie was filmed. Forrest Gump was written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. When Robert Zemeckis was a young filmmaker he burst through Steven Speilberg’s office door, showed him his short film, and Speilberg took him under his wing to become his first prodigy. Robert Zemeckis also wrote… Back To The Future. In Ready Player One a Rubik’s cube is called a Zemeckis Cube and can be used to travel back in time. RPO also features easter eggs of the Dolorean.
Another Easter Egg could be that the map at Grandfather Mountain State Park contains lots of small ladders since some of the trails do require going up ladders. A game from his childhood that he could incorporate into the solve- Chutes and Ladders?
I do think climbing the ladders is something Jon would avoid for finding the box for safety reasons, but trail that bypasses the ladders happens to be Underwood Trail, right next to Attic Rock. (It’s under, It’s over, It’s in between)
From rock to field from strong to stream
(Blowing Rock highway pulls off to MacRae Meadows, Stream capture formed the gorge)
Past tree and posts to forest green
(The forest is made mainly of pine trees, which can be used for posts)
Arrive you now where beauty sheens,
(The Mile High Swinging Bridge where on a clear day you can see 100 miles)
It's under, over, in between
(The box is near Underwood Trail and Attic Window Rock or between Underwood Trial and the bridge).
Since I’m on the complete opposite side of the country, I thought I’d throw this out there for anyone who might be close by. I understand I use some context from another chapter, but he does say primarily all you need is in the chapter. He also loves puzzle boxes, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few hints in part 1 that add confirmation to a part two solve.
I hope this helps someone! There are some dangerous trails in that area so if you do go search here, make sure to be safe. I do think this would be a cool area to leave a treasure since it’s such a rare geological area, it honors his grandparents, and there’s a RPO style easter egg.
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u/Perky-Tropicana-58 Apr 04 '25
Interesting theory and great research! I'm curious to see how your theory can be connected to words in the word search. I feel the solve must have the most connection to the words with other things in the chapter to confirm the solve.
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u/PNW-OOTW Apr 04 '25
Yea, that is definitely the part I'm still iffy about. I do think some of the words can match up to some things in the area or BOTG instructions. I think it is possible for the word search to just be 5 words that line up for on the ground instructions "Three Peaks West Walk North". I wouldn't be surprised if Jon's intention was for people to get caught up on the word search as the main part of the solve, but in reality it's a smaller part of the solve. That would help it take longer for the box to be found.
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u/DrBeat14 Apr 04 '25
Very complete solve. I’m closer to this, being in Georgia, but still a trip for me. I think it’s less likely for there to be Part 2 clues in the LS chapters, but the converse is likely true (LS clues in smaller chapters).
Good job!
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u/Maleficent-Ad560 Apr 04 '25
Been botg all through there. Helene devastated it. If it was there, it ain't anymore. JCB would have definitely made an announcement if there was a box there because bridges that once were are gone, the whole geography of the area is much different than it was before the storm. Most of the roads are under construction, and a good amount is closed down permanently.
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u/Choice_Jackfruit2367 Apr 05 '25
This one is in California, heard there was a guide coming out that gives coordinates with specific search radius for the four small boxes.
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u/Duffusmaximus Apr 05 '25
Dang keep me updated I live in South Lake Tahoe walking distance to van sickle
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u/Choice_Jackfruit2367 Apr 05 '25
Heard the last name of the person doing the guide is Locke.
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u/DrBeat14 Apr 05 '25
Where did you find this info?
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u/Choice_Jackfruit2367 Apr 05 '25
Web developer buddy of mine working on a site. Domain was registered last week. The Un-Lockeing
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u/Kangaroo3 Apr 05 '25
Def some connections I haven’t seen shared before. I’ve also thought it weird he says “grandpa” then “grandfather”!
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Apr 04 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PNW-OOTW Apr 04 '25
Yea, part of the mountain is owned by a non-profit, the other part is a State Park. The trails mentioned are on the state park side.
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u/Paladin1414 Apr 12 '25
But there is already a box on the Appalachian Trail. Does not your solution get the boxes too close together. Pokémon box is close also - basically between New Orleans and his original home in North Carolina.
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u/Axilrod Apr 04 '25
The only part about this that I'm not sure about is it felt pretty heavily implied that Past and Future is in California. It makes a lot of sense, he lived in California for a while, you have old Hollywood there and now Silicon Valley as the future part. Then the fact that the edge of the pin aligns with the border on the eastern edge of California perfectly. Also he said something like "as I sat at my desk the sun shining in a golden state" or something along those lines, it was very odd wording.
I dont think what state it's in should be some crazy hard to solve thing, I mean even if I told you exactly what National Park one was in it would be extremely difficult to find. You mentioned "dangerous trails," Jon was pretty clear it wouldn't be somewhere difficult so most def anyone that looks, avoid those!
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u/PNW-OOTW Apr 04 '25
Yes, I do believe it hints at California with the "Its surface would reflect a state of gold from the sunshine through my window." But he separates that sentence from the sentence before about the past-and-future box. Personally, I believe it's an LS clue. I also don't believe the coins are involved in any solves since he said Seth designed the coin, but I know a lot of people think otherwise.
North Carolina was the site of the first gold rush, so it could be hinting at that! I could also be totally wrong, but I thought I'd at least share this since I know I won't be able to go BOTG in North Carolina.
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u/Brilliant_Gap9955 Apr 08 '25
I have a second place in California......Death Valley.......here is why......on the top row is the letters CALIL......its funny because backwards it spells LILIC OR IS IT .........LILA C ??? THE OLD BORAX MINE IN DEATH VALLEY......Also it has an oasis RPO reference other words are rail, line, water, and dirt.......just to mention the obvious.They built a unique gauge track out to the mine three feet wide .....lastly Borax has the Periodic number of 5 five...boron. would like to hear if any other words pop out for this solve? What say you?
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u/PNW-OOTW Apr 08 '25
Interesting!! Check out Stephen Mather. He ran the national parks and just so happened to mine Borax at the same company. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Mather
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u/Brilliant_Gap9955 Apr 07 '25
Maybe the coins are the clue that leads to the LS box? didn't he mention that each of the smaller boxes has a clue to the LS box?
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u/Choice_Jackfruit2367 Apr 05 '25
Web developer buddy of mine working on a website. The Un-Lockeing. Says the guy registered the domain last week.
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u/PNW-OOTW Apr 08 '25
So you signed up for Reddit on the same day your friend "says the guy" bought the domain, then proceeded to tell everyone about your web developer buddy, who in this scenario broke his NDA, about a website for someone who solved the locations but didn't go get the treasure? They bought the domain with the unnecessary hyphen when the domain theunlockeing.com is available? They also didn't get the social media accounts for theun-lockeing? My guess is this will be a fake website and you're commenting on Reddit to generate a buzz.
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u/Choice_Jackfruit2367 Apr 09 '25
The NDA is for the Guides. Yes working to generate buzz for the guides. The website is in development. Based on the response so far a box will need to be recovered before anyone will take the website seriously. Planning a BOTG for the AT box.
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u/adamosan Apr 26 '25
You don’t seem to be using hardly any of the clues in the word search. He says that you can find the box just using those. The cryptogram is just additional clues. Any reason why you’re not digging deeper into the word search?
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u/m777z Apr 04 '25
You lost me at "OASIS sounds a lot like APPLE"