The Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt seems to have taken most searchers to Phalen Park in the quest for the medallion. But if it's there, where — amid all that snow — is the prize?
Tuesday's Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt clue seems to have led most searchers to Phalen Park in St. Paul, but the earlier clues have split them into two opposite camps — one concentrating on the lake's south end and the other focusing on the north side.
Most of the treasure hunters believe it's near the lake, but that's where the agreement ends.
To some, last Wednesday's clue about a bouncing ball points to the tennis courts near the lake's south end. To others, it's a sure reference to a "ball" mural on a building near the lake's north end, said one hunter who declined to be identified because he said he had skipped work.
Despite temperatures hovering near zero Tuesday morning, several dozen bundled-up hunters were busy digging through the newly fallen snow and tromping the grounds of the nearly 500-acre park on the city's East Side.
As always, searchers' intensity levels — and theories about hidden meanings in the cryptic clues in the $10,000 Winter Carnival contest — are increasing as the 53rd annual hunt nears its conclusion. The 12th — and final — clue will appear in Thursday's Pioneer Press, unless the medallion is found today.
Annmarie Anderson of St. Paul, for example, is convinced that the word "blind" refers to Keller Lake — as in Helen Keller — and that the medallion is buried somewhere between Keller Lake and Lake Phalen.
Anderson dug optimistically through leaves and snow on the lake's north side but remained realistic.
"I'm a hunter," said Anderson, 34. "But I think I'm better at hunting deer."
On the lake's south end, Roxane Hawton scooped away snow and dead weeds with a large shovel. Hawton, of Robbinsdale, said she has had a gut feeling about this spot since driving by on Saturday.
She takes the clues fairly literally and is most interested in hints about not aiming low and plants not fit for weeding. She also thinks a reference to a green Emerald Isle means the medallion is packed inside an Irish Spring soap box and buried beneath the snow.
"When I throw a big (shovel load) I look to see if anything fell out," said Hawton, 33.
But Lisa Voigt wasn't too sure about Lake Phalen's swampy south end.
"I'm dubious about this spot because it's not high," said Voigt, 36, of St. Paul. She thinks the clue passage "don't aim low" means the medallion is up on a hill, not down in a bog.
Voigt had been hunting on and off for four days, usually with a group of about eight other hopefuls. She also has searched with a group of 50 to 100 people who met up to trade theories on a medallion hunt Internet message board.
Many searchers, including Terry Knapp of Roseville, said it's hard to stop thinking about the clues and potential hiding spots for the loot, leading to some sleepless nights. Knapp, 56, had been out looking until 1 a.m. Tuesday. He couldn't sleep when he returned home and resumed his search a few hours later at 6:30 a.m.
Knapp, who sifted through the snow with his friend Greg Smith of St. Paul, is part of an eight-person group nicknamed the Camo Crue because of the camouflage clothing they wear when searching for the medallion. The duo said references in clues to a bouncing ball, fish and unweedable plants indicate Lake Phalen's boggy south end. Then again, the clues kind of fit the landmarks on the lake's north end, too, said Smith.
Despite the inevitable uncertainty, Knapp and Smith searched using shovels and a garden hoe, moving away nearly a foot of new snow, then boring into an old crusty snow layer. Smith, who hasn't missed a hunt since 1978, focused on grounds surrounding nearby small landmarks, including a boulder, park sign and large oak tree but admitted there's no standard search method.
"Wherever you feel is good that day, and (then) move around," he said.
Copyright 2004 Pioneer Press.
