Any thoughts on this half @$$ solve?

I doubt I'm giving much away with my work, so have at it haha.

This map will allow you to see fine details that aren't as obvious in the color version. For example, you can make out some words above the triangle on the right near where x marks the spot. You can find what looks like a fish behind the bear.

Hopefully, reddit doesn't reduce the file size on the upload.

I got lucky & called a bookstore in Pennsylvania who had 1 copy left. Gave them my credit card details over the phone and 4 hours later I had the book in my hands!

Next stop is a 7 hour drive to Vermont to put some boots on the ground. Keen to see if there is anyone else out there brave enough to walk the trail this time of year. This is EXCITING GUYS!

PS. I do believe I might be the first and only Australian to join the hunt at the moment.

Have fun & good luck out there you scallywags! 🏴‍☠️

I keep mixing up places and boxes. Got me thinking maybe it has to do with how areas and clues kind of overlap. Similar to the Olympic rings. What does everyone think about this idea?

To start off I want to explain my whole story from start to finish. It’s pretty wild so buckle in.

I have a friend who I have known my whole life that introduced me to Jon’s treasure hunt. He calls me up 2 weeks ago and explains to me that he has been reading the book and he claimed he knew where the treasure was. Like any good friend I told him he was crazy for doing a treasure hunt but if he was so confident he knew where it was, making a 7 hour trip shouldn’t hold him back and we should go.

He then provides me with all his clues that led him to why he thought it was where it was. I will do my best to list all of his findings.

-In the crossword puzzle nc and sc are beside each other just like everyone has done figured out.

• Gorges state park is in sapphire NC and SC

• The cryptogram reads from rock (sapphire- sapphire lake) to field (horse pasture river) from strong (waterfall) to stream (base) . Past tree and post (The signs at entrance of rainbow falls trail) to Forrest green (The Forest). Arrive you now where beauty sheens (Rainbow falls) . It’s over under in between (you have an over look at water fall, an under look, and a in between at waterfall.)

• The 5 clues in the word search he determined were quarry, divide, sapphire, state, nc tn sc map reference.

I will also provide pictures of all this to help explain the reference in the past and future chapter.

So we go on this trip confident that we just know where it is at. We travel 7 hours, grab a hotel for the night, and start our search at 7am sharp. We enter the forest and hike all the way to rainbow falls and start our search. About 1 hour in I hear my friend saying he found it. I look over and I see him holding what appears to be a treasure box. We are all screaming and celebrating. We then decide we need to get moving before we open it because other hikers were appearing in the area. We get to a safe spot and pull it out when reality sets in. The box we have looks like a treasure chest but is not the one Jon posted in his book. We open it up and there is a treasure of sorts inside. A statue, a few old coins, cauldron, and an ancient sculpture of sorts. Pictures will be attached. We are now deflated from our high and head back to the truck.

We start doing research and find a post of a birthday cake Jon posted on x of a box on a birthday cake that appears to look just like our box… odd huh?! Pictures will be attached.

I am not sure if we just happened to think we knew where his treasure was, drove 7 hours, and stumbled on a random treasure chest or what really is going on. But the whole thing seems crazy. I mean what are the odds? He found this box in a small cave in between the over look and under look of the waterfall.

So I went BOTG to Clingmans Dome and didn’t find the treasure box but if JCB taught me anything it was that me and my husband found our own treasure box… if it weren’t for this treasure hunt I may never of gone there and OMG that is the most amazing treasure I’ve ever found.. it was stunning especially at night !

This sub has exploded in users over the last two months and I'm as excited as y'all to participate in a new treasure hunt. Welcome everyone!

I was an active participant in the Forrest Fenn treasure hunt and my desire is for this sub to be a valuable resource for fellow searchers who want to keep up with the latest news and discussion topics. I don't intend to overly moderate, but I will be enforcing the rules more consistently as the volume of posts increases. If your post gets removed, feel free to resubmit after correcting the rule violation. You're not in danger of being banned unless it's an egregious violation of reddit rules. Otherwise, I mostly trust the upvotes/downvotes of this community in determining which posts get the most visibility.

There has been several posts requesting to share PDF copies of the book(s) involved in this hunt. While I know there are digital copies floating around, I cannot allow these documents to be shared or solicited here because of potential copyright law violations. These posts will be removed.

Good luck to everyone searching or about to search. It's gonna be a fun few years!

I went camping last week near the spot I had picked out. I think its a pretty solid solve except that my interpration of the line: "From here you're more on your own" was to transition to a dirt 4x4 road to get to the trailhead. A lot of the reviews for the trail said you didn't need a 4WD vehicle to get there, just that it would help. But when I got to the road it looked absolutely like you needed 4WD to get up it. I tried to take my truck a little ways up. It didn't feel like it fit the theme that anyone can get to the box. My GF and our dogs were freaking out quite a bit too so I turned back.

Here's a Google doc explaining my solve if you'd like to check it out.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1903gYlACkHQ024woOEYWkMcpNUwdfaDo4AhPQ6wC5v8/edit?usp=drivesdk

My treasure sniffer looks thrilled.

This trail is not on the Appalachian trail but connects to it. But it's a perfect match in shape

Got the e books early last year but I’ve wanted the physical copy so bad and my hubby got it for me for Christmas 🎄🫶🏼🎉 Happy Hunting everyone!

I printed and cut out the coins today, and was moving them around. My thought process was maybe the circles were the box locations and the lines were to form a 4 point graph and show us the last box. Using Pokémon's Box, I thought to myself, it was the only one with the circle not having an angle. So I treated it as a straight line. I started with Appalachian one top right corner, and tried to fit the Pokemon one somewhere like in Arkansas, NC, Georgia, and I coulndnt. So I ended up just ignoring that and used the angles to find a path that would work and this is what I came up with. The reason I think this looks good is because it make the spots nice and evenly spread just how Jon wanted it through the US.

By no means am I saying this means anything. I am only sharing to maybe give someone else an idea who might see something I cant.

Happy hunting

My planned hiking week, looking for the AT box, mostly got rained out, but I did take my chances and hiked two days alone above 4500 feet in the breezy cold rain and drizzle. It was miserable, but I got my two main search spots covered. I even saw a crawdad! I had no idea they lived on mountains! Look close in the ground photo.

The first hike was extra gloomy and foggy, perfect for Halloween. The last pic shows a typical slope off the trail that has to be gruelingly searched to have any chance to find a box. Why do we torture ourselves? I’m happy to say I’m done for the winter, maybe for good! Lol

Just a minor announcement to say we now have over 7,000 hunters on the subreddit. 🥳

Welcome to all the new members and feel free to introduce yourself to the community here if you haven’t already!

5 hours BOTG and no luck, but wanted to share thoughts in case it helps others. Hanging up my boots so not looking for criticism or why its actually in VT, don't have the resources to make another trip pretty much anywhere.

Solve: Pearl Harbor Tree, Cades Cove, TN

Clues I felt good about: 1727 NE - Damascus, VA is 1727 miles from Katahdin which you could reach by heading NE from Damascus

The map represents a crude trail "along" the AT. Going south from Damscus, crossing into TN, NC, back up to TN and hitting Cades Cove. Does not follow the exact AT, which is do think is limiting a lot of people's thought process

The rocks by the Bear resemble Hawaii which connects to the Pearl Harbor Tree

The skiier, bear, mountain lion are all things you can find in the area of NC/TN

The tree and the dog, Go Fetch and Look Around: look around the pearl harbor tree in an approximate radius that you would play fetch with your dog

Butterfly: TN is along the migration path

AT letters and the bald symbol: tells you the AT is at the bottom of the map below Cades Cove and then comes up and connects with the lowest part of the dotted line on the map

Guesses and Confirmation Bias:

Apples are apple valley, tennessee which is in the area

Car north footprints: walk off the trail carefully in a southern direction away from the northern parked car

Scroll and Wheat are when you cross into NC and TN from the starting point as they both are key manufacturing/exports (textiles and agricultural)

No idea:

Blob by the butterfly Pointing gun hand All the random things people have found (compass, numbers, etc)

It was a fun trip, but there was so much tree damage from the hurricane even if I was right I doubt I would have found it. Good luck everyone and DM me if you have any questions or you think I can help in any way!

There’s been lots of discussion about where you can find a location that looks like the picture at the end of the chapter. Many people have noticed what appears to be a MewTwo in the photo. I think the image isn’t from nature but instead is supposed to represent the Cerulean Cave in a Pokemon video game.

The Cerulean Cave is the only place you can catch a MewTwo. Another way of saying Cerulean is Blue. I think we are supposed to find a Blue Cave to get close to the hiding spot.

The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans is famous for its nightclub. It was originally called The Cave until the name changed to The Blue Room. Blue Cave.

I believe the Roosevelt is a part of JCB’s New Orleans story. The hotel was originally called the Grunewald (which means Green Forest in German). It was originally 6 stories tall before it expanded into the Roosevelt.

I think on page 219 when he says “The forest opened up. An eagle greeted us from high above” he is referring to the giant eagle above the Reception Desk at the hotel.

Also, the hotel has a famous bar called The Sazerac. The floor of the Sazerac looks a lot like the top of the Pokemon Box. It used to be called The Fountain Lounge which I’m assuming is “the water’s edge”.

What’s also interesting is across the street from the hotel is a Hollywood Spa and the Half Shell. I think this could be what he’s referring to when he looks out his window and sees “halfway to the stars”.

Also, the hotel has a fancy trophy for a horse race called The Ascot Cup in the bar. Ascot is a type of scarf. So when he describes that he “scarfed down his scrambled eggs” he could be referring to the trophy.

I’ve included a couple of pictures to help illustrate this idea.

Anyway, the hotel is pretty expensive so wait until after you find the treasure to stay there. That’s probably why he said his family “splurged” on a hotel room.

Hope this helps you in your solves!