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Mountain Walk Versus Forrest Fenn was written to support a unique idea and to defend the legacy of a generous and noble friend. Forest Fenn devised a treasure hunt in which he hid a fortune in gold and jewelry in the Rocky Mountains. He peppered clues throughout his book, The Thrill of the Chase: A Memoir, as to its location and declared the finder could keep the treasure. The purpose was to get people outside, and to share the things and experiences that made his own life interesting and fulfilling.
The treasure was discovered in June 2020, shortly before Forest Fenn and his wife of sixty years passed. A decision by Fenn and the finder to not disclose the site left many of the thousands who searched for his treasure dissatisfied-some caustically so. For them, the game was a hoax, a scam, and unfair. Legal suits were brought against the Fenn estate, the finder, and other tangentially involved individuals. Books and articles were written with no purpose other than destroying Fenn's legacy.
"Mountain Walk," a blog to help interpret the clues and keep treasure hunters out of trouble argued the only way to stop the nonsense was to find the hiding site using nothing but the clues given in Fenn's memoir, The Thrill of the Chase. The author takes the reader through that mental exercise with the caveat that at this point, only the finder really knows the site's location.
About the author
Richard E. Saunier holds a PhD in Range Ecology and an MS in Watershed Management from the University of Arizona as well as a BS in Forestry from Colorado State University. He was Professor of Forest Ecology and Silviculture at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia, Chile; Deputy Director of the Peace Corps in Paraguay; and Regional Officer for Environmental Programs for the Peace Corps in Latin America and the Caribbean. After reaching the five year limit for employment as Peace Corps staff, he became the Senior Environmental Management Advisor at the Organization of American States. Now retired, he and his wife volunteer in the National Parks of the Southwestern United States.
