The hunt is heating up, and Mike Madland can feel it.
"Right about now, with the fifth or sixth clue, people are starting to narrow down the location," says Madland, who has been searching for the King Boreas medallion since 1980. He found it in 1988 at Tony Schmidt Park in Arden Hills.
"I haven't been out yet this year, but everybody on the Internet says it's in Mound Park. I don't like Mound, though. For all the clues they've given, it could be in my back yard. You know, 'There's some water here; there's high ground there.' "
This year, many hunters are implementing technology for their search. Several have been spotted with laptop computers in their cars, dialing up www.pioneerplanet.com at 11:30 p.m., when the next clue is first available. But Madland prefers getting the clues the old-fashioned way -- by lining up outside the Pioneer Press on Cedar Avenue before midnight, and storming the building with the rest of the diehards to get the first edition of the newspaper.
"The year I found it, it was 31 below," says Madland, co-owner of South City Motors in South St. Paul. "I found it on the last clue. It was covered in white almond bark candy. I've still got the candy.
"Starting Sunday, I'll get way into it. It's been 10 years since I found that thing, so I'm about due, aren't I? It was real exciting for me and my son, Donny, who was eight years old at the time. He thinks it's his turn now."
Copyright 1998 Pioneer Press.
