Scouting New Mexico

Posted on October 15, 2015 by waterhigh

My first visit to New Mexico was brief, less than 24 hours. I came down from Colorado on the dark side of the mountains one night and was glad to arrive (safely) at the hotel in Santa Fe. Not until morning did I try to find Fenn’s place. I had the address. I had GPS. I had an invitation. But. The car was leading me out of town, back into the mountains. The streets were one way this way and that. And narrow. No view. Claustrophobic.

I’d allowed plenty of time but it was fading fast. Aha, I thought. I’ll go to the bookstore. They must know where Forrest lives. When I asked the nice guy behind the counter in Collected Works, he said, “Why don’t you just call him? He’s in the phonebook.” I said just point me in the right direction. I made it on time and there he was, just like he says in the book. to show you care.

Cactus

I had to head home then, and didn’t explore the mountains north of Santa Fe, or even Santa Fe, for that matter. And between you and me, I was relieved to be out in the open sky again. I’m not a desert person. I don’t get it. Give me green; changing seasons; trees.

Still, when the approval/opportunity came up to return for one of Forrest’s book signings, I jumped at it. Leaving in the midst of harvest? Well, I’d pay the piper later. Short notice, but what did I need to pack, really? Camera, phone, the book to be signed. Good to go.

About halfway to Santa Fe, the climate changes, the trees disappear, the dirt turns red. Very red, and it was flying where the farmers worked it. And of course, it was hot when I left and got hotter the further west I went.

First tourist stop? The Blue Hole I’d read about. It would make living in the desert bearable. Almost. If I scuba dived.

Cold Water in Blue Hole

Another thing that makes it bearable, is altitude. (It turns out my car’s GPS does have an altimeter, after all. Wish I’d noticed it on my last trip to the Rocky Mountains, where I was gauging altitude by how short of breath I was.) By the time I hit 6,000 feet above sea level, Santa Fe, in other words, it was a bit cooler and a lot livelier. So. I had two or three days, depending on an incomplete arrangement, to explore the land of enchantment.

First up, the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway loop around the mountains above Taos. It was by (fortunate) chance that I chose to drive the loop clockwise that Sunday, since there was some sort of mountain bike event and dozens of bikers were taking it counter-clockwise. Nine or ten thousand feet above sea level – I don’t know how they do it. (A couple of them looked like they were wondering if they could do it.) My car didn’t care for the altitude, either. The capless fuel flap didn’t want to give. Thank you, kind station attendant!

I knew I wanted to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire. (See this post.)

And this.

And then I thought I’d stop at the Rio Grande Visitor Center on my way back to Santa Fe, but I made a wrong turn and ended up here.

Facing this,

One lane bridge

and, nearby,

Seriously. Bears, again?

Actually, it wasn’t bears that scared me away.

New Mexico Museum of Art

I stuck to Santa Fe proper on Monday and saw the most amazing “painting” made of found things (think Forrest’s Holiday Ornament Contest) in the New Mexico Museum of Art. Pansy Stockton (1895 – 1972) used things like bark, moss, twigs, and so forth and created beautiful images that from a distance looked finely painted. The one on display was of a waterfall, and the milkweed silk gleamed perfectly as falling water.

Pirates – Captain Hawkes Sets Sail

As I played tourist, I scouted for parking for the evening event at La Fonda, remembering the difficulty I’d had on my first visit to Santa Fe.

Miracle Stairway

Monday evening was the book signing and the chance to meet some fellow treasure seekers, one of whom brought a box of fabulous French pastries to share!

La Fonda Blaze

Arrangements fell into place for Tuesday evening, so I had the day to explore more of the mountains north of Santa Fe.

66,000 Links North of Santa Fe

In particular, the Ski Basin and the Audubon park.

And then, when it was time to head home, I saw the blaze.

Morning Blaze Over Santa Fe

The Call of Distant Places – Book Launch for Forrest Fenn’s Latest

Posted on August 25, 2015 by waterhigh

(If I weren’t eighteen hours away . . . )

Charmay Allred invites you to an autograph party

Please join us and bring a friend

Leon Gaspard – The Call of Distant Places

A new book by Forrest Fenn and Carleen Milburn

Monday September 14, 2015

5-7 pm

La Fonda Hotel

Santa Fe Room

Light refreshments will be served

Please RSVP by Sept 10 to:leongaspardbook@gmail.com

Happy 85th Birthday, Forrest Fenn!

Posted on August 22, 2015 by waterhigh

The Fisherman

Another year has gone by with no one finding his hidden treasure, but there’s a great tribute to him over on Dal’s site.

Wishing him many, many more years of “not missing his turn.”

Birthday Cake Brownies

A Fresh Interview with Forrest Fenn

Posted on April 29, 2015 by waterhigh

Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Chest

Click on this link for a TV reporter’s interview with the man who hid the treasure.

Mr. Fenn signing my TTOTC.

Do, do, do, looking out my backdoor…. (CCR)

Posted on April 5, 2015 by waterhigh

Red moon

For a very cool montage of Forrest Fenn created by Iron Will, see this over on Dal’s blog— http://dalneitzel.com/2015/04/04/scrapbook-one-hundred-thirty-five/#comments

Another winter gone and I haven’t gotten any closer to the solve. Still pondering. . . .

From a former back door…

Maybe I need one of these tools:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Horus_Sundials_Portable_Horizontal_Sundial.jpg

New Clue??? Tune in This Afternoon! Forrest Speaks

Posted on February 4, 2015 by waterhigh

Dude!

New Clue???

February 4th, 2015

News from Dal’s blog. Forrest will be on Huffington Post LIVE via web-cam about 4:45 ET this afternoon. (That would be 3:45 CST; 2:45 pm Santa Fe time; and you west-coasters can figure it out yourselves.)

Here’s a link —

http://live.huffingtonpost.com/

UPDATE

A fun interview with 2 professional treasure hunters and a treasure hider — Forrest Fenn.

Watch it yourself here — Huffington Post LIVE interview

Forrest Fenn’s Holiday Ornament Contest

Posted on December 21, 2014 by waterhigh

So it’s December 20th and I still hadn’t submitted an entry to the contest over on Dal’s site. Better late than never, right? But before I headed out back, I checked the rules once more—hand made of found, natural items—and thereby saw the awesome competition. Fantastic ornaments.

{Results are in. Congrats to the talented winners!}

Okay, so clearly I’m not winning this thing but since Forrest is mailing every entrant a bona fide arrowhead from his collection, I’m not not entering. (BTW you still have time to enter, too.)

I planned on making bells somehow out of pine needles since I hadn’t come up with any other ideas. You know, Snoopy’s “Christmas bells, those Christmas bells, ringing through the land, Peace on earth and good will to man.”

I booted and bundled up. It wasn’t long before the hike took its own course. I got to a pond that was just icing over, bubbles trapped below the surface, took some photos, and proceeded along the frosty edges.

While I took more pictures, the outline beneath the surface finally registered. Yikes. An alligator snapping turtle? It was in shallow water. Is it hibernating? Is it even alive?

A little farther on, I found another one. It’s much bigger, older cousin maybe. I didn’t see them this summer, but often enough in summers past to paddle carefully and not tip over the canoe.

Add those beasts to my list of frightening things. (Spiders, snakes, prions, and, I forgot to mention, cougars. One’s been sighted again within twenty miles of here. Yes, really.)

Anyway, on my way to the white pines, I found some twiny, viny stuff for binding, red berries for color, wild grape vines for fun, and all manner of prairie grasses. A thought started to form in my mind. Hmm. One of Forrest’s treasured possessions is Sitting Bull’s Peace Pipe. Still running with the Peace theme, it began to take shape. But just in case, I continued to the pines and grabbed cones and needles—brown from the ground, green from the branches torn off by the White tail deer who just love destroying the young trees when their antlers itch.

So, here’s what I brought in the house.

Here’s what I came up with. (See the authenticated original here.)

“IMO” (very important words on Dal’s blog) this ornament is small enough and light enough to go on a Christmas tree. I could prove it, except our tree isn’t up yet.

In fact, it’s still alive and well in the back yard, a beautiful Frazier fir that we planted maybe 7 years ago. Maybe tomorrow Mr. W will saw it down and bring it in while I bake cookies. Company’s coming. I’m not usually this far behind, but it’s hard to say no sometimes.

Besides, I’m “having too much fun!”

The Christmas Truce

The Sonnets

Posted on October 26, 2014 by waterhigh

Forrest Fenn is writing poetry again. I’d love to watch over his shoulder and see him at work. Is it a messy process with lots of words crossed out? Or does he compose it in his head and only write what works? Does he adhere to form or formula? Or is he a free spirit, free verse wordsmith?

English: Title page of Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Photo credit Wikipedia

Apparently William Shakespeare worried about leaving a legacy. At least the young man narrating the Bard’s first dozen or three sonnets did. He stood gazing marvelously in the mirror, pondering, and concluded that he’d just have to get married and have a son. {Okay. That’s more abbreviated than even a Cliff’s Notes version.} But, it made me think of the last chapter in Forrest Fenn’s Too Far To Walk where he gazes with marvel(?) in his mirror in a closing poem.

Legacy~~~

“Oh very young. What will you leave us this time?” Cat Stevens

Where the Wild Thyme Blows

Posted on September 7, 2014 by waterhigh

Thyme

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows….

Wm. Shakespeare

No wild times in Santa Fe next month. The Fenn gathering at the Loretto Inn and Spa has been canceled.

I’d like to have attended, and not just to meet the competition, though that in itself might prove fascinating.

And not that it would have been really wild, but you never know.

English: Wild thyme in the flower bed of a “garden à la française” in the park of the castle of Champs-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne), France. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Favorite Fennisms

Posted on August 16, 2014 by waterhigh

A year ago, I set off on my first hunt for the Fenn treasure. I’d hoped to wait until I had a complete solve, but I knew that the snows come early on the northern Rockies. I was confident that the chest was hidden somewhere north and west of Yellowstone, but couldn’t rule out the rest of Wyoming, so off I wandered, with Mr. Waterhigh’s blessing (and/or his desire that I find the gold.)

I emailed Forrest from West Yellowstone and entertained him with my story of not having the right shoes at the waters at the Continental Divide in YNP.

Forrest’s response—

“You’re having too much fun.”

I next emailed him from the Gallatin Valley to wish him a Happy Birthday, and he invited me to Santa Fe for a cup of coffee.

Decision—

Hmmm?

a.) Should I stay on course and hike to a ‘water high’ with just the grizzlies for company, or

b.) should I skip my night at the hot springs, which I really wanted to visit, and set my GPS for Santa Fe?

Forrest said,

“Life’s short and getting shorter.”

Really. It was an easy choice.

Besides, I can always go back to Montana with Mr. Waterhigh.

(We spent our 24th or 25th or 26th anniversary there. Next month is our 35th, but he’s tied up this year….)

I was somewhere in Colorado before I got ahold of Mr. W to tell him of my change of plans. He suggested I pull the old Colombo thing as I was leaving. You know, pop back in the door, “Oh. Just one more question, Mr. Fenn….” and hope to catch him off guard with the perfect question.

I didn’t, of course. I was pretty much speechless….

So, I did find treasure south of the mountains when I got to meet the remarkable Forrest Fenn. All in all, it was a fantastic trip/chase.

Possibly my favorite Fennism is found in the Epilogue of his book, The Thrill of the Chase—

“And what I’ve learned that’s most important is that both countries and people should know enough to just leave other folks alone and do a better job of protecting our planet.”

— By the way, his 84th birthday is next Friday, so why not surprise him with a “Happy Birthday” wish from all 304 of you blog followers.

(He’s in the phone book, otherwise I wouldn’t post his address–

1021 Old Santa Fe Trail in Santa Fe, New Mexico)

DON’T just show up in his driveway! I’m thinking cards, flowers, chocolates, …. No wait. That’s me.

82-Year-Old Man Buries Treasure Worth $2 Million With Poem As Clue

Where Do I Begin…

Posted on August 7, 2014 by waterhigh

Clues, bei Syke (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Where to begin?

Where did Forrest begin when he wrote the poem? With the first clue, or the ninth?

“I knew all along where I wanted to hide the treasure so I didn’t need a map or any information to write the poem. Everything was in my head. It took me a while to get the wording exactly how I wanted it. Counting the clues and hiding the chest came later. It is not likely that anyone will find it without following the clues, at least in their mind.” Forrest Fenn

{So, in my mind, it sounds like it’s possible to solve this treasure hunt from a distance, which is good news for people in the Midwest, or Europe, or any other of the xxx countries you visitors are from.)

Also, maybe the number of clues isn’t so important?? I don’t know.}