Update on Nov. 2nd Forrest Fenn Book Signing

Posted on October 19, 2017 by waterhigh

Important read if you are planning a trip to Santa Fe for the Once Upon a While book release:

http://dalneitzel.com/2017/10/18/new-info-book-signing/#comments

Ticket from Collected Works Bookstore needed.

New Mexico Museum of Art

FROM DAL: Anyone wanting a seat at the event must send a request for ticket/s either by:

Email to CWBookEvents@gmail.com with your name and phone number, requests will be processed in the order received and confirmed by return telephone call.
Or you may call the store at (505) 988-4226 and talk to Dorothy or Darrell between 9am-5pm daily. If not available, they will return your call promptly.

I can’t make it to this one, but plan to order a book once the dust has settled.

Enjoy all!

No Fishing Allowed

Kids and Curiosity: A shared post about a 6-year old and her trove

Posted on October 7, 2017 by waterhigh

What begin as a sunny day on the lake with friends searching for a meteorite, quickly turned into a full on fossil frenzy for Jon Ganshorn and his six-year-old daughter Lily. Lily quickly lost interest in the meteorite hunt and decided her time was better spent getting her dad to break apart some of the […]

via Six-year-old Saskatoon girl uncovers trove of 75 million-year-old fossils — Saskatoon StarPhoenix

“Once Upon a While”

Posted on September 8, 2017 by waterhigh

Save the Date! Forrest’s new book, Once Upon a While, launches November 2nd.

Book Signing at La Fonda

Of note: Forrest intended to leave his car in the parking lot of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. P1080035

Read the enlightening forward by Douglas Preston by clicking the link above. He references Codex, the book he wrote based on his knowledge of Fenn and his plan for hiding the treasure chest.

Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Chest

I read that book early in my search (along with several other of Preston’s suspense/horror novels, and then I read his tale of his retracing of Coronado’s journey north from the border of Mexico.

(Re-)Inspired? Why not shoot for the moon?

Safety First… — Thrill Of The Chase

Posted on June 29, 2017 by waterhigh

From the man himself (via Dal’s site):

SUBMITTED JUNE, 2017 by Forrest When I said the treasure was not hidden in Utah or Idaho it has been my plan to not narrow the search area further. But in the light of a recent accident, and in the interest of safety, I feel it necessary to alter that plan. The treasure chest is…

via Safety First… — Thrill Of The Chase

Reblogged: Stop This Nonsense…… — Thrill Of The Chase

Posted on June 26, 2017 by waterhigh

Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Chest

A difference of opinions on the Chase. I’m with Forrest and Dal on this.

New Mexico State Patrol Chief, Pete Kassetas The New Mexico State Patrol Chief wants Forrest to stop the chase. He called it “nonsense” and suggested that Forrest should go get the chest “if it exists”. Pretty insulting, don’t you think? Pete Kassetas is the chief’s name and he seems to be pretty full of…

via Stop This Nonsense…… — Thrill Of The Chase

Of Fools and Gold

Posted on June 21, 2017 by waterhigh

Reblogged: Another occasional searcher story. “… star-filled night”, etc.

Lies Jack Kerouac told Me

coronado Image credit: abebooks.com

It all started with a book, Coronado’s Children, that recounted (alleged) tales of forgotten treasures in the wilds of west Texas. I first came across it at an early age – maybe eight or nine. And I was immediately hooked, poring over old road maps, drawing anally-precise little Xs on the most likely locations of the concealed bullion and mislaid bags of stolen bank loot. From the sound of it, these riches were stashed in every hollow tree stump and under every rock pile in the region. So I began to scrimp and save, buying a cheap metal detector a few years later. Mail order, no less. I may have wet myself when it finally arrived; bright red control box and coil, a pair of adjustable dials to fine-tune for precise depths and metals (coins, nuggets, ingots), the detection meter with its bouncing needle – it was…

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A Sight to See on my Next Trip to Colorado

Posted on April 19, 2017 by waterhigh

Sharing a link to this blog about a Russian artist who carves gemstones:

Following up on my last post regarding my at times overzealous interest in geology and pretty much all subfields therein, it’s only fitting to admit the #1 reason we decided to visit this particular museum over any others. We (and by that I mean ‘me’) had been undecided on which museums in Denver we were […]

via The Gem Carvings of Konovalenko- Denver, Colorado — Sleepy Coffee and Fables

Fennboree IV

Posted on March 21, 2017 by waterhigh

Travel plans for June 9th – 11th?

Here’s a link to the necessary information for the 4th annual Fennboree, for Fennatics and the curious. It always sounds like a good time, just a little far away for some of us.

Gorgeous area, though.

66,000 Links North of Santa Fe

The Junior Oxford Dictionary is Losing Touch with Nature

Posted on March 2, 2017 by waterhigh

Forrest Fenn wants to get kids off the couch and out of doors. What does this news say about our culture when “selfie stick” & “hashtag” replace words like “acorn” and “otter”? : (

Sharing this post from Lady Muir:

I was shocked to read the list of nature words removed from the Jr. Oxford Dictionary in the last decade. What follows are excerpts from an essay that explores the intersection between language and life.

via Let Nature Words Live — LadyMuir

Forrest Fenn on TV This Weekend

Posted on September 17, 2016 by waterhigh

Saturday morning tune in to NBC’s Weekend Today Show for the latest from Forrest Fenn, who hid a treasure chest somewhere in the mountains north of Santa Fe.

Here’s a link to the interview.

Here’s a link to the announcement on Dal’s site.

100 Years Ago

Posted on July 15, 2016 by waterhigh

On Summer Seas (1916)

The National Park Service was created one hundred years ago. Yellowstone preceded that, being designated in 1872. And once upon a time, I dreamed of being a forest ranger. My imagination had me up in a tower in a sea of green trees–a rather narrow view of the current job description.

Glacier National Park

One of the more unique rangers we’ve met was dressed to the hilt as a French voyageur and remained in character, impressing our youngest. I think there was even bread baking involved.

1868 Quetico Superior Route, Passing a Waterfall by Frances Anne Hopkins (Scene showing a large Hudson’s Bay Company freight canoe passing a waterfall, presumably on the French River. The passengers in the canoe may be the artist and her husband, Edward Hopkins, secretary to the Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company.) (public domain)

That national park was the site of the Rainy Lake gold rush in the mid-1890’s. Northern Minnesota is not the first place I’d think of when searching for gold. Better odds, maybe, of finding Forrest Fenn’s treasure chest.

Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Chest

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!