Two adventure-loving friends from Utah have donated $10,000 of their own money to create a treasure hunt to cheer people up after the pandemic.
John Maxim and David Cline launched their first treasure hunt last year, burying $5,000 in the mountains of their native Utah to uplift their community during a difficult year of COVID-19 and lockdowns.
The treasure hunt ended after the money and silver was found only four days later, Cline told Fox News.
Now, the pair have done it again as of last week, but this time burying $10,000.
‘We just kind of sensed that morale was down as a community, just because everyone had been locked in for everything for a long time,’ Cline told the news outlet. And so we were like, man, what would be a safe, fun way to get people outside? And we just kind of thought, what about a treasure hunt?’
‘We had no idea what kind of response we’d get,’ he revealed. ‘It’s just blowing up.’
David Cline said he ‘cooked this whole treasure hunt idea up while traveling through Vietnam’ while John Maxim is self-described as ‘an eccentric real estate flipper’
Pictured: an actual picture of the chest that has been buried somewhere in the Utah mountains by John Maxim and David Cline
One of the first clues for treasure seekers, revealed in poem form, telling hunters to ‘follow the river creek or spring’
Along with the self-funded $10,000 treasure will be a 10-ounce silver coin as well as ‘some fun stuff we threw in there,’ Cline added.
The two are using social media to provide clues to fortune-seekers every Friday, however they did note that those who take and share pictures of their treasure hunt will get clues a day beforehand on Thursday, Cline said.
Thus far, they’ve revealed that the treasure is in a cave, not hidden at a ski resort and isn’t buried too deep into the ground, while offering a map of the general area where it’s buried.
As far as Cline knows, there are already over 1,000 people participating in the treasure hunt with people coming from as far as Alaska and Hawaii, according to FOX News.
The map David Cline posted to social media showing the general area of where the treasure will be
Last year’s $5,000 fortune-finder was a family of three, who found the treasure chest just four days after the hunt began last summer
‘There’s a lot of people out there that just love a good treasure hunt,’ he said.
‘It’s kind of exciting that … it’s like one of the only things in all of our society that kind of transcends, you know, political lines and everything. Everyone loves a treasure hunt.’
While the two hope the hunt lasts long into the summer, they did tell their local ABC affiliate that the treasure is ‘as accessible as possible.’
‘I think that the response and just the genius of the community is way too powerful for that, so we’re hoping for at least like maybe a couple weeks,’ Cline said.
Last year’s chest, which was won by a mother, father and their young daughter, contained $5,000 as well as some silver coins and an antique pistol.
Pictured: last year’s chest that contained $5k as well as soem silver coins and an antique pistol was buried for a treasure hunt that drew far more attention than the pair anticipated
Pictured: the second of two clues the pair has provided thus far, telling treasure hunters that the chest is inside a cave
After a particularly difficult year of pandemic panic and lockdowns, the two say the hunt is less about the money, and more about getting people outside in nature again while providing them with an adventure to go on.
‘For us, the joy of it is just kind of watching families and friends and couples and everybody just get out into the mountains and discover new places and have a great time doing it,’ he added.
‘There is something fun about kind of sitting back and just seeing, you know, thousands of people try and solve your riddle as they wander the mountains.’
A similar treasure hunt happened after New Mexican art dealer and author Forrest Fenn buried a cache of gold and jewels around 2010 in the Rocky Mountains, which was found 10 years later in Wyoming by an anonymous treasure hunter later revealed to be former journalist and medical student Jack Stuef, the fortune finder revealed in a self-written Medium post.
For those interested in receiving weekly clues a day early, that is until the treasure chest is found, adventure-seekers can sign up on the Utah Treasure Hunt website.
David’s description notes that he ‘cooked this whole treasure hunt idea up while traveling through Vietnam on a mini retirement trip with his young family. He is an amateur musician, author and investor.’
Meanwhile, ‘John is an eccentric real estate flipper who hosts the infamous ‘Flipping Friday’ on his Instagram which has better content than any house flipping show you might be view on television.’
The pair did highlight that the treasure chest is not located on any private property, imploring fortune hunters to avoid trespassing.
source: dailymail.co.uk
