If you stumble upon a buried treasure chest filled with $10,000 in Utah, consider yourself lucky. (And kick me $50 for putting it on your radar?)
John Maxim and David Cline buried the prize along with “some other cool stuff” in the Salt Lake City area this year for their second annual treasure hunt. After putting the treasure in the ground a few days back, the pair have already shared a cryptic poem to Instagram as their first clue, which they continue to do weekly until the prize is uncovered.
“We don’t want to make it as easy as last time because, again, we just underestimated the genius of people,” Cline told KSL News of last year’s $5,000 prize winner, who found the money after four days.
Now, people from across the country are joining in the hunt, with the pair saying they’ve got about 1,000 people taking part already.
“It gets pretty wild,” Cline told ABC 4. “And the thing is, everybody thinks by DMing me that I’m going to give them some special clue. We just kind of respond with ‘Nope. Wait for the weekly clues.’”
Cline, who said he doesn’t know if his wife will keep letting him bury money, wants to add an additional fundraising element to the hunt for future years.
Not everyone taking part in the hunt is going to have much luck. On Saturday, a 49-year-old man was near Ferguson Canyon looking for the money when a rock fell on his foot, according to KSTU. Five teams of people had to carry him out of the canyon and into a parking lot.
“Please make sure that you’re going into the mountains prepared with the 10 essentials at a minimum, don’t hike alone, and let family or friends know where you are and when to expect you back,” the search and rescue unit shared.
