Sick of work and paying bills? Want to abandon it all to adventure through Canada, then retire rich? So do we all. But for one of us this dream could be a reality. The Canadian newspaper, The Northern Miner, recently announced a treasure hunt whose prize, over a million dollars in gold, can be claimed through solving puzzles.
In classic treasure hunt fashion, the clues will be revealed in a series of poems. Like most treasure hunt poems, the composition is not winning any prizes on the basis of literary merit. Photo: The Northern Miner
A new kind of exploration
The treasure hunt is designed to honor Canada’s mining tradition. Unlike previous generations of gold rush hopefuls, however, the organizers request that you leave your pickaxe at home. You also won’t need ropes or any sort of climbing gear, swimming equipment, or an off-road vehicle.
The list of where the treasure isn’t is as much a clue as the poem is: It is not on private property, inside caves or, ironically, mines, underwater, near graveyards, near construction or hazardous waste sites, or anywhere else that is inaccessible or not safe to reach on foot.
People are already poring over the first poem, narrowing down the search range. References to birch trees, for instance, seem to rule out the Canadian Arctic — although birches grew there three million years ago — while allusions to “brine” and “salt air” suggest a coastal hiding place.
In their press release, Anthony Vaccaro, president of The Northern Miner Group, explained that their goal was “to inspire a new kind of exploration, grounded in curiosity, logic and appreciation for Canada’s rich natural history.”
Miners in the Yukon during the Klondike gold rush of the late 19th century. Photo: University of Washington Special Collections
What can you win?
In a very practical but also — to a romantic soul — a disappointing move, the gold is not physically in the chest. Instead, the chest (which is actually a waterproof case) contains a code that one can redeem for gold. The upside is, once you redeem that code for 217 one-ounce gold coins, currently valued at over $1 million, you will have enough money to buy your own properly piratical chest to store them in.
There are also twelve smaller prizes, for runners-up, if you will. Each one of these will get you a code to redeem for over $20,000 in six one-ounce gold coins.
This treasure hunt is one of several seeking to fill the gap left by Forrest Fenn’s famous hunt. He also hid clues inside poetry, and it took a decade before the chest was found. Unlike Fenn’s hunt, you have to be a Canadian resident to claim the treasure. Or find the treasure, get a Canadian friend to turn it in, and split the prize. Their rules don’t explicitly say you can’t do that.
If you like puzzles, or gold, or clicking links, you can try the first poem here.
