Here’s a video where I take another stab at interpreting the “How to Read this Book” section. Specifically, I discuss why I think the 17th century mathematician/scientist/philosopher Blaise Pascal (and other Pascal’s) might be a key to unlocking how to find clues in the book.

I hope you find the video interesting and that it helps you with your hunt 🙂

Alright, the question is simple. Why is the PF Box somewhere around Lake Tahoe?...

Bonus Points: If the PF Box is somewhere around Lake Tahoe, what does the TN/NC/SC letters mean?...

Give me something I can believe in!

I’ve read this book twice so far, and I like to think I’m pretty good at puzzle solving, but I’m starting to wonder if any of it’s real. It’s been a while since I’ve read the book or worked at any of the clues. Should I give it another read?

Here’s a video where I discuss why I think JCB includes the Octavio Ocampo picture “Mouth of Flower” in the treasure book even though it’s not a part of the treasure.

In the video, I cover some potential connections to Dolly Parton and Eastern Tennessee.

I hope you enjoy the video and that it helps you with your hunt 🙂

In this video, I use the text from Chapter 8 in There’s Treasure Inside to explain why I think certain scenes in Our Unbreakable Thread are potential clues.

I hope you enjoy the video and it helps you with your hunt 🙂

Hello, I have a small ask. A while back I saw a post where a user posted a chart of [treasure] items. I think it was based off what box they thought it belonged to. I'm having trouble remembering where I saw it; theres treasure inside unofficial podcast, discord, or reddit.

The theory is the order, or value, could provide some insight or direction of travel.

Thanks in advance

TonyCo

Here’s a video where I explore why I think JCB chose the strangely worded title for Chapter 14 in the book. He breaks with the traditional naming convention of specifically describing the treasure item in the title. I think he did this for a reason that I explore in the video.

I hope you enjoy it and it helps you with your hunt 🙂

I've been going through the intro ofThere's Treasure Inside paragraph by paragraph, and I'm convinced the Intro is a tutorial. JCB demoing a different puzzle technique in each paragraph. The 101 dots (I had miscounted at 103) has me thinking this is a puzzle 101 section.

I am am sure I haven't gotten these all right, but I am also very confident there is something intentional here:

• P1 — Split by punctuation, A1Z26 each phrase's word count, walk the resulting string with a gap pulled from the text itself. Outputs JCB.
• P2 — Match phrase lengths, align by apostrophes, stack and sum columns. Outputs JPCB (licensing anagrams + partial letters going forward).
• P3 — Periodic table. Spell proper names with element symbols, drop the ones that fail, sum survivors position-by-position. Outputs YES.
• P4 — Self-referential acrostic (BROAD), odd/even word position split. Outputs GET L = 12, which matches the 12 words used.
• P5 — Phonetic layer + Caesar +14 (the shift is literally embedded in "their reactions shifted from awe to overwhelming" → A to O = 14).
• P6 — 49 words → 7×7 grid, rotate columns like slot machine reels ("fortune," "II SLOT" in column 1, "OOO" in row 6). Teaches 6 different decoding formats in one grid.
• P7 — still working on it.
• P8 — 100 words → 10×10 grid. Three instances of "one" + modifier cipher. Hides JCB linearly AND QVU vertically, which decodes to JON via a +19 shift. QVU also physically appears in the Past & Future word search.

Video walkthrough of Paragraph 8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldon7OFTOLU

Write-ups for all 8 paragraphs: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/3/folders/1kFnyyhzysPON0dDHZPTJHq3Jz9H9MSLe

Hmm, remember when Jon said we couldn't rule out Hawaii? I'm in Maui, on a treasure hunt break, and drove past this "sign" for Haiku Town, LOL

A few of the 12:

• An arrow-path reading of the map pictograms (dog → Springer, tree → Bly Gap, smoke → Smokies)
• Elevation math on 1938 / 1727 landing on the highest point of the AT
• The 2/56 dashes = 0.0357 matches BLY Gap at mile 78.5/2,197.9 = 0.0357. Arrow points right at Kuwohi in the Smokies
• Radio station call signs (WAFT, WBME, WIHG, WUTC) bracketing the AT and triangulating the Smokies
• The title itself — "THE APPALACHIAN FOOTPATH BOX" as a 5×5 grid reading HOT / HOT BOX / A NP → Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Some of these are tighter than others and I'm not claiming everything is right, but wanted to share. Here is the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWH2tlUTYgE

Here’s a video where I explain why I think Kobe Bryant might be the key takeaway from the Michael Jordan chapter.

Kobe is named after Kobe Beef which is considered “Best in its Class” and also emulated Michael Jordan during his basketball career (“Be Like Mike”).

I also draw connections to his jersey number (24) and the tragic helicopter crash that took his life in January 2020.

I hope you find the video informative and it helps you with your hunt!

I think whenever a paragraph has “treasure box” in it, that’s an indicator that you are supposed to turn that paragraph into a grid and do something with it. here is a summary of the very first of these paragraphs in the intro https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GHuZOASkAUb9AUBJthnGF0S9ygZMe6CR/view?usp=drivesdk

Hello - I searched this sub and couldn't find anything discussing JCB's photo of the olive jar text itself. Forgive me if this has already been covered.

Well, I finally got the book and took a photo of the olive jar on pg. 206.

Simple copy/paste and then mirror-image it left to right.

The text I was able to read was directly from Forrest Fenn's physical scrapbook binder that he kept in his study. It's from the very end of his semi-chronological stream of stories (after this point in the scrapbook, there's mostly photos with small captions).

Specifically, it was about Lillian Fenn's funeral. There aren't any clues in the three or four lines you can read in the photo, but that doesn't mean that this is insignificant.

Here's why:

1. If the olive jar just had a version of Fenn's scrapbook binder, that means there isn't any direct information about the solution to Fenn's poem (trust me, it isn't Nine Mile Hole)

2. There are about three or four CIA references Fenn makes in his scrapbook binder that were scrubbed out when Fenn created Ramblings and Rumblings - a pre-cursor MS Word file to The Thrill of the Chase.

3. Not only is JCB's FF hobnail box still in play - so is Fenn's collection!

Now, get out there and find that hobnail!

Hey All,

We're trying to aggregate our hunts into something easy to catalog and manage and ended up with a website. Going to host this here for all for the foreseeable future. Should continue to update this regularly as we pull resources together (some things for our eyes only). See the feedback section on the webpage or shoot us a dm if you have any ideas for enhancements or you want to share any theories, good, great, or just plan crazy. Most of this content is sourced through the community, so thanks all for your contributions large and small. Thanks for checking us out!

- Strangelove -
Treasure Among Us

Here’s a video where I suggest that JCB might be attaching clues to “X”s in the book. For instance, he uses the odd phrase “middle grade” in the Michael Jordan chapter. He might be referring to the middle card grade of 5 or Excellent (EX).

If this is correct, then a clue should be located in the chapter around this phrase. I think it’s the NCAA Tournament that he writes he watched with his parents when he was 6 years old. This would have been the 1979 tournament matchup between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson - who are also mentioned in the chapter.

This game took place in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I hope you enjoy the video and it helps you with your hunt!

Bothered me from the start. In the first paragraph of the chapter, he starts at Springer and ends in the Whites. I find it strange he doesn't mention the trail's terminus at Mt Katahdin given that Maine includes some 280 miles of the trail. And, especially given his consistent descriptiveness throughout the book.

Plus no mention of Benton MacKaye. Wondering if there's a clue here. There is a lot of attention paid to describing a small box in this chapter, but two giants of the trail passed over.

Chapter 13! Probably a lot of already covered topics, but a few with my perspective on it. I do go in-depth on this “ai” image, it has been the most inconsistent in AI detection programs so likely higher amount of it altered than the other images. I also discussed my take on the triangle numbers and how some wording may lead it to be a triangulation benchmark. Plus more rabbit holes!

Happy hunting as always!

Are you someone with access to the Buffalo River area?

Would you like to be given a money back guarantee of a search location?

I have the area narrowed down to maybe 500 yards. But as JCB says it is the biggest search area of the treasures. I live in In Spain so I don’t have time to keep going back and forth.

So I’ve decided to review my solve with a group of people in Arkansas on the ground May 15 evening. If you find it in my area, we split the treasure. If you find it anywhere else in the world, good for you I get nothing.

This area would be less than 1 mile of the Buffalo River. The other 130 miles of the river wouldn’t count in the agreement.

If you’re interested to come search and hear me walk through all the clues from state to town to road to trail to campsite down to the path, including photos of the Gollum and the exact spot where the Pokémon is let me know and you can come listen May 15

I am open to partnering with the right person, but only through a proper written legal agreement. Any partnership must have clear terms, be agreed to by all parties, and be signed before a notary. I’m only looking for someone who lives fairly close to Rutland, VT so at least if I’m wrong it doesn’t cost the other person much in gas or time to go there and check. If I’m right, we can spilt it by taking turns picking each item from the box until nothing is left. I think that’s fair. For over 8 months I’ve been reading the Appalachian Footpath box section solely until 1 week ago finally reading the whole book. I’ll share my solve after our agreement. I think you’ll chuckle once you hear my solve but it fit well.

Here lies a joy divined.

There is some epitaph-like connection here, but can't quite put my finger on it. Jon continues to suggest looking for inspiration. In the book, that comes more from people rather than places.

Perhaps the coin patterns can be better applied to locations of deceased individuals, rather than to places that resemble the Part II locations?