We need to stop bitching, or it's gonna suck like this every year.
I disagree. I think if we don't bitch, then they have zero reason to do anything differently. If they're doing something that makes it so that the hunt isn't fun anymore, then I think we should let them know. How else are they going to fix anything if they don't get feedback?
Millett, himself, told me he did Chair-O-Key. I asked him at the book signing. Remember how fun and GOOD Chair-O-Key was? That damn double division and to'ing and fro'ing?
And all the stuff to line up????
If Allison doesn't get the job, I think they should bring back Millett.
Millett did fun hunts! I *think* he did Conway, too, but I'm just thinking. I don't know for a fact.
Mr. Clue Writer, would you please talk to Larry Millett? We'd like LONG hunts, but ones that we can actually noodle in on things - use our brains - to find The Med.
No more 12th Clue Death Trap, Free-For-All, just damn lucky if you find it clues, please!
Here's my take on all this. Sorry if it gets a bit long.
Though conspiracy theories can be fun in a way to think about, there is NO WAY that the clue writers/hiders would wait to drop the medallion on clue #12. Seems from what reports I was hearing that everyone ended up in the pit. How sure are most of you that 50 paces from the path to the pit was accurate. Got the sign with the 'right' table lined up? Or was it a few that counted it out and everyone followed.
I recall hearing something about 30 paces not 50 being more like it. If that's true, then what happened that night was a mob following a few because that was the largest area of downed trees. There were other areas that had some downed branches, logs, etc.
I was out there on Sunday and did some digging. It was snowing like crazy. Later the area I had been digging looked untouched.
Everyone assumed they were looking for something green - probably green plastic in a donut shape. Being it turned out to have been hidden in unwrapped food made that assumption incorrect.
After thousands of shovels, hoes, rakes and feet were in that area on the night of the 12th clue and the medallion was still not found made it seem impossible that the medallion was where it had been likely dropped prior to the hunt. It was obviously moved.
Raccoons? People? Feet? Digging tools? Probably all responsible for the move. And remember, everyone was looking for something green and the size of a donut.
The next morning not long after sunrise, someone comes along and spots something just a tad bit different in color than the surrounding snow. There it was - the prized medallion. Not a surpise if you think about that medallion being the color of snow in the dark or in shadows.
Would this hunt be better to have things lined up? Of course it would. Would it have been a better hunt with snow on the ground before the hunt so the medallion would have been hidden out in the middle of a larger area? Of course. Bad clue writing? I'll get to that.
Let's pretend that there had been no snow through most of the hunt instead of getting a good foot between Sunday and Monday and a few inches prior to that but after the start of the hunt. Anyone think this hunt would have gone 12 clues? Not in my mind. We saw plenty of people out in that zone of the park. No snow and it would have been found much sooner.
I believe this about the clues:
1. They were cleverly written for what they were. Almost all folks were in the right park by the time of the wintry crop clue was released and for sure by the next one.
2. By their explanations, they did not work to line certain things up to get you to the right spot and yet many - probably the majority - folks were hunting in that north end of the park before the 12th clue.
3. To hide the medallion in unsealed food was not smart. (The medallion has been hidden in food products at least a couple times previously and were found that way. One was the oreo cookie filling it replaced at Phalen during a previous hunt and the Hostess Snow Ball thing it was found in at Langford.)
4. Once we had snow, the clue writer would have been wiser to revise the clues to get folks lined up and in a closer general area at least.
5. Even if the medallion had been hidden in something that was not eaten by raccoons, during the majority of hunts, the medallion is found in a place it was not originally placed by the hider. I know the earmuffs in 1989 had been moved. I'm sure the daughter didn't put those back exactly where she had found them.
So in the end, we're only the players in this game. The game belongs to the Pioneer Press and it's their rules by which we play.
I find it hard to believe the PP would knowingly put anyone in danger which is one reason I doubt that pit ever held the medallion. If it did, I bet it won't happen again. I'm sure they heard about the mess that was.
I would love to get back to a hunt where things line up and you zero in on an area based on how you follow the clues - but in many ways we did that this year. Even during hunts where that was more purposeful, there was almost always something you didn't see...a bordering street name would be one example.
What I fear the most from all the talk of conspiracies the past couple of years is that those whose game this is will decide that it's not worth doing when no one is happy with the results.
If the PP were to decide to end the hunt, how happy would we be then?
If we decide to play, we play as it's written. If we don't like how it's written, we shouldn't play.
The idea of using a bible verse is bothersome to me.
This is a community inclusive hunt or should be. This city includes many that don't recognize the bible. This hunt is for more than those that are Christian or Jewish.
Personally I liked the clues. ducks for fear of getting hit by frozen green donuts.
I like finding the park and then anticipating where the next clue could take you based on surrounding landmarks. The Bible clue may have been a bit of a stretch but that's only because none of us figured it out first. Although the bouncing ball clue wasn't the obvious clue we thought it was, it's not the first time where we could make a clue fit better than the original meaning. That will always happen as there can only be a couple of people that do the check and balances with the clues where we have strength in the masses. I guess I liked it more because I stuck with that pump house area since entering the park early on and only got upset with more and more people showing up in 'my' area. I'm also with you Ter in that I need to learn how to stop digging so late into the night and loosing the daytime digging time. I know my night to day hunting ratio has got to be 10-1. And that 1 is usually nothing more than a few hours past dawn after a long night of digging anyway. It's way hard to just stop after getting the fresh clue for the night. I guess that I'm one of the few that were OK with the clues this year even though they didn't narrow down the area much at all until the mosh clue. I don't like the 12th clue dash BS but don't oppose it either. Especially when there was ample time to look for the thing. I don't agree that it was originally placed where it was found though. That pit was a cool place to put it. You can put the thing in the middle of a big field on the 12th clue and you'll get the same dangerous results. It's the bandwagon hunters that ruin it for many. I personally wasn't bothered too much other than some guy kicking my lantern and ruining it, but I saw many rude and obnoxious inconsiderate morons flying through the area with no regard to anything other that that 'they' knew where it was exactly. Oh, and thanks for the new rake KC. I plan on marking my hunting tools next year so if I find any jackass who happens to show up without a tool thinking he can just grab one when with your back turned, then it will get violent. It's happened for too many years now where many people have had something stolen. Be warned you dumbshits, I will know what is my stuff from 50 feet away and will not hesitate to let you know that you will not think of grabbing anything that's not yours ever again. Just try me, I'll be out there testing you. The main thing I was bummed about this year was missing you guys at the RHB. I'm sure that me2's speech rocked and the chow and conversation was incredible as usual.
oh and one more thing; bla bla bla, bla bla bla. ;-) SSL
haha CM, I'm thinkin the best idea yet is to get one of those movement alarms, you set your rake down, and if anyone picks it up or moves it, you get a nice high 110 decibel siren going off.
Good one. I just thought about putting fishing line on the thing attached to my leg. But might use my original idea because it wouldn't hurt as much. ;-)
LOL! We could set up a sting or something. I'll watch your back as you dig and kick ass of anyone who tries to 'borrow' your tool. Or vice-verse depending on our moods. ;-)
I recall hearing something about 30 paces not 50 being more like it. If that's true, then what happened that night was a mob following a few because that was the largest area of downed trees. There were other areas that had some downed branches, logs, etc.
No, it was in the pit. let's look at the clue again.
Clue #12 You will be nifty if you remember fifty The number that leads to the zone You should be in Phalen. Stop the regalin'. And go to a bridge made of stone.
It's down Phalen Drive, and should you arrive Across the street from the golf clubhouse, observe: The pastry you'll find by leaving the old palace behind Cross the bridge, on the path, make the curve.
All your hunting hours lead to a sign for wildflowers Across the path from a picnic table. Table and sign form a line, with which you must align Head up the hill if you're able.
Fifty large paces, you're off to the races From the path to some tumbledown woods. If you stay on the line, on a side-hill you'll find Under fallen trees, a green donut, with the goods.
Inside this confection lies plastic perfection But remember, to keep the hunt credible. The hunt's heart and soul is inside the donut's hole It's valuable - but definitely not edible!
It specifically says it's in "tumbledown woods" on a hill under fallen branches. That describes the pit and certainly not where it was found. As for the 30 paces, mrmnmikey said that it was 31 paces from the sign, but that was going heel to toe, basically the opposite of "large paces". Even long after the rush, many people measured off 50 paces and they all ended up in the pit. Plus, if there had been no snow, the hillside where it was found wouldn't have been the place to put it. Only down in the Valley of Death could it really hope for much concealment. So it was definitely down there at one time.
How it got up the hill seems like a simple enough scenario. An animal got ahold of it and drug it up the hill. As it ate the doughnut, or possibly as it drug it, the doughnut fell away from the medallion. Not long after, it was covered with snow. Quite possibly the snow washed off the remnants of the doughnut from the medallion (I know my car was much cleaner after the snow).
The only question that remains is how was it not found before it was if it was sitting on that hillside? People were digging there all day even before the 12th clue. If there had been something shiny at that point, it certainly would have been noticed. One can only conclude it ended up somewhere where it got missed that wasn't where it was found. Then at some point after dark, with the people running all over the place, it likely got kicked down the hill to where it was found. Once everyone became convinced it was in the pit, no one likely paid much attention to the ground anywhere else. And being it was off "the line" and it was dark out, apparently no one noticed it.
The only really surprising thing about that to me is that there was a spot on the hillside where it wasn't found Wednesday during the day, and yet got kicked up later. Maybe the reason they're getting a new Medallion next year is because after this year, they want to be able to put a tracking device in it.
I don't believe any of the conspiracy theories. As much as the facts of this case don't seem to add up, neither do the conspiracy theories. Why would they drop the thing the morning after the 12th clue comes out? If they were going to drop it, why would they do so that far away from where it was supposed to be?
Obviously something weird happened. I just don't see the motivations behind it being something that happened on purpose.
The Bible clue may have been a bit of a stretch but that's only because none of us figured it out first.
But that's exactly the thing. *None* of us figured it out. And even when we were told the answer, we weren't like, "Doh! I should have known that!" We were more like, "What?!" Bad clue.
I guess I liked it more because I stuck with that pump house area since entering the park early on and only got upset with more and more people showing up in 'my' area.
To me that doesn't matter much. There were people all over the park for different reasons, and they would have stayed there as long as the clues didn't specifically tell them to go somewhere else. Can you look at the clues and say that the pumphouse was really the only place anyone should have been looking? Personally I don't think so. So many clues talked about other parts of the park. If you actually figured out that Bible verse clue, which was talking about something near the lakeside pavilion, wouldn't you have been convinced that a clue that took that much work to solve must be very important to figuring out where the medallion is and stayed by the lakeside pavilion?
The real issue isn't whether anyone got to the right part of the park. It's pretty much unavoidable that some people, once they got to the park, would go to that area because people were in all the areas. The issue is whether or not the clues actually guided you there, which they didn't. The people who were digging at the pumphouse were mostly just there on gut feelings. The problem is that these clues took all the fun out of the hunt, because they never let people get a sense of accomplishment. People didn't feel like they were drawing in on the location. They felt like they were just wandering around taking their best guess. That's boring. And if there's no snow, and they end up having it found on clue 7, then it will be found on clue 7. But it's better to have 7 days of being hot on the trail than 12 days of feeling like it's all a big crapshoot.
Can you look at the clues and say that the pump house was really the only place anyone should have been looking?
Not at all. I was just stating my viewpoint. I got lucky and felt OK that I spent all my time in that area. That's never my case. I can't count the F-ing hours I spent breaking my back out in Harriet last year or any year other than Langford for that matter. I hit this one on a 'gut feeling' and it held true for a change. The clues didn't say to go to the pump house any sooner than normal but it just brought over the BC people sooner than I wanted. To me it was like playing 'Wipeout' on NTN bar trivia where you stick with a whim and hope it hits as the other answers are wiped out. I just feel like I got 1000 pts for that round is all. The clues didn't help me narrow it down one bit. But I liked the clues for nothing more than it worked for me this year. Langford was kinda the same thing. I hit it real early and stuck with it only to find it was in something edible.
So next time it's in something edible, come out and hunt with me. Unfortunately it'll be a warm day in Minnesota when that ever happens again. ;-)
Do you think there will be ice blocks for the taking after they demolish the palace? It would take more than one person to grab one, but just a thought for those of you who are building your own palace in your front yard. ;)
How it got up the hill seems like a simple enough scenario. An animal got ahold of it and drug it up the hill. As it ate the doughnut, or possibly as it drug it, the doughnut fell away from the medallion. Not long after, it was covered with snow. Quite possibly the snow washed off the remnants of the doughnut from the medallion (I know my car was much cleaner after the snow).
The only question that remains is how was it not found before it was if it was sitting on that hillside? People were digging there all day even before the 12th clue. If there had been something shiny at that point, it certainly would have been noticed. One can only conclude it ended up somewhere where it got missed that wasn't where it was found. Then at some point after dark, with the people running all over the place, it likely got kicked down the hill to where it was found. Once everyone became convinced it was in the pit, no one likely paid much attention to the ground anywhere else. And being it was off "the line" and it was dark out, apparently no one noticed it.
We (me, scribe, leelabell, big g) cleared off a large area on the side of that hill, it wasn't where it was found on monday, I am 100% certain. We dug to the ground, to the point that we found clovers, which are pretty small, we also left no clumps.
new daddy cleared the top of the hill, above the spot where we had cleared.
So, we know that it wasn't there on monday, the questions that naturally arise are 1) where was it on monday, and 2) how did it get to where it was between monday and thursday.
In my opinion, and the opinion of just about everyone that experienced the pit, everything was being moved down the pit, into the middle. So it couldn't have started where the clue led us (the pit), because it couldn't have been moved up the hill and then back down the other side incidentally.
So far I have concluded that it wasn't where the clue said it was on weds night, or thursday morning, and it wasn't where it was found on monday.
No one will ever be able to prove that the medallion wasn't hidden until thursday morning, it isn't possible to prove. This year however, my personal observations make me think that it was not out there until very late in the hunt, and that is really putting a dampering on my spirits. I don't think I'll ever be able to give to this hunt what I have in the past, and that is my %100 effort. For that, I am a bit sad actually.
Although the green snow is very suspicious. It seems a good bet the doughtnut was there at one time. What else could have made green snow? I guess the evidence seems to suggest, as hard as it may be to believe, that it really was on that hillside the whole time. You guys must have missed it somehow.
If I worked for the PP and for whatever God forsaken reason I was charged with hiding the medallion the morning after the 12th clue came out, I wouldn't hide it where it was found. I would have still put it somewhere in the pit. Yes there were a lot of people there, but will all that chaos, I doubt too many people were aware of everything going on. It wouldn't have been that hard to hide it. And if it was hidden before the 12th clue, it still wouldn't have been that hard to hide it where it was at least supposed to be. Not to mention that if it was hidden somewhere else before the 12th clue, they could have just changed the dang clue. This is way too clumsy and pointless to be a conspiracy.
aw- green snow was way to small to be from the donut. it was a speck. it was so small, scribe had it on her finger and then lost it.
I wasn't aware of that. I thought it was larger. Still, could have been a crumb.
If it was on the hillside the whole time, why would they write a clue leading into the pit?
Because the pit is indeed where they hid it. But it was probably only there for a day or two at most. It must have been on the hillside the rest of the time.
This way, a lot less people can claim that they cleared the area that it was found. It's more like 5 instead of 500.
Still, it raises far more questions and suspicions than it puts to rest.
Another thought I was pondering... what if the cluewriter/paper suddenly got smart mid-hunt and decided that if the thing was in the pit it would be a disaster? People got hurt as it was... imagine if the thing had been in there.
It was bright enough in there that if it had been turned over, multiple people would have seen it. People would have been hurt, no doubt.
So maybe they moved it to the hill sometime between Monday-Thursday.
Another thought I was pondering... what if the cluewriter/paper suddenly got smart mid-hunt and decided that if the thing was in the pit it would be a disaster?
I thought about that too, but again, shouldn't they have changed the last clue as well and not sent people down there at all? And if it was decided after the last clue was printed, wouldn't they have had to have sent someone to go get it?
The fact of the matter is nothing here is entirely making sense. It seems hard to believe the medallion could have just sat on that hillside, not even really hidden, and been completely missed for so long. But nothing else really makes any more sense.
Unless someone did have it in their pocket and lost it - they are not going to come forward like the lottery lady and say they had it.
I think it was somewhere on the top of that hill in a missed pile, under some sticks or something and made its way to the spot we cleared on Wednesday night.
I don't think it was dropped on Wednesday or Thursday.
I guess the bottom line is that any of these possibilities seems somewhat incredible and not entirely possible. I don't know that we can ever prove it one way or another, so in the end, why choose to believe the possibility that makes you unhappy?
well one way or another, found it was, though the 2nd medallion idea still intrigues me. I still say come spring it'd be worth having a little look out in the valley of death.
Near the beginning of his show today, Joe used the word prattle. I thought that was an interesting choice of words considering he wants to deflect attention from himself.
I think Joe thrives on attention. Good, bad, indifferent, Leela.
I wish they'd bring back Millett... He's some kind'a honorary-like writer still. Why can't they let him write honorarily at the beginning o'the year, for 12 times? The Hunts he was involved with were FUN!!!! He's likely to use a honey wagon kind'a clue! :D
Souch is not the clue writer.
Even if he is, who cares?
We need to stop bitching, or it's gonna suck like this every year.
If I was the clue writer, and I was reading all this, I'd say "Oh yeah! Well how's this?", and do exactly what he/she did the past two years.
So he says. But if he were, wouldn't he still deny it?
Not the way he denied it.
To me it sounded geniune.
We need to stop bitching, or it's gonna suck like this every year.
I disagree. I think if we don't bitch, then they have zero reason to do anything differently. If they're doing something that makes it so that the hunt isn't fun anymore, then I think we should let them know. How else are they going to fix anything if they don't get feedback?
I honestly think souch is the cluewriter, and I agree... "so what?".
Stop complaining? Not likely, especially not on the clue writers account.
I agree we should give them feedback, just in a less aggressive/bitchy way.
I think the clue writer needs to see it from our standpoint.
The only reason we're so ticked, is that we love it so much. The people, the tradition, the history, the challenge...
I think we're just coming off as whiners in their mind, and that's not the impression we want to give them.
BBL. Back to work I go.
Millett, himself, told me he did Chair-O-Key. I asked him at the book signing. Remember how fun and GOOD Chair-O-Key was? That damn double division and to'ing and fro'ing?
And all the stuff to line up????
If Allison doesn't get the job, I think they should bring back Millett.
Millett did fun hunts! I *think* he did Conway, too, but I'm just thinking. I don't know for a fact.
Good point, THX.
Mr. Clue Writer, would you please talk to Larry Millett? We'd like LONG hunts, but ones that we can actually noodle in on things - use our brains - to find The Med.
No more 12th Clue Death Trap, Free-For-All, just damn lucky if you find it clues, please!
Thank you!
Here's my take on all this. Sorry if it gets a bit long.
Though conspiracy theories can be fun in a way to think about, there is NO WAY that the clue writers/hiders would wait to drop the medallion on clue #12. Seems from what reports I was hearing that everyone ended up in the pit. How sure are most of you that 50 paces from the path to the pit was accurate. Got the sign with the 'right' table lined up? Or was it a few that counted it out and everyone followed.
I recall hearing something about 30 paces not 50 being more like it. If that's true, then what happened that night was a mob following a few because that was the largest area of downed trees. There were other areas that had some downed branches, logs, etc.
I was out there on Sunday and did some digging. It was snowing like crazy. Later the area I had been digging looked untouched.
Everyone assumed they were looking for something green - probably green plastic in a donut shape. Being it turned out to have been hidden in unwrapped food made that assumption incorrect.
After thousands of shovels, hoes, rakes and feet were in that area on the night of the 12th clue and the medallion was still not found made it seem impossible that the medallion was where it had been likely dropped prior to the hunt. It was obviously moved.
Raccoons? People? Feet? Digging tools? Probably all responsible for the move. And remember, everyone was looking for something green and the size of a donut.
The next morning not long after sunrise, someone comes along and spots something just a tad bit different in color than the surrounding snow. There it was - the prized medallion. Not a surpise if you think about that medallion being the color of snow in the dark or in shadows.
Would this hunt be better to have things lined up? Of course it would. Would it have been a better hunt with snow on the ground before the hunt so the medallion would have been hidden out in the middle of a larger area? Of course. Bad clue writing? I'll get to that.
Let's pretend that there had been no snow through most of the hunt instead of getting a good foot between Sunday and Monday and a few inches prior to that but after the start of the hunt. Anyone think this hunt would have gone 12 clues? Not in my mind. We saw plenty of people out in that zone of the park. No snow and it would have been found much sooner.
I believe this about the clues:
1. They were cleverly written for what they were. Almost all folks were in the right park by the time of the wintry crop clue was released and for sure by the next one.
2. By their explanations, they did not work to line certain things up to get you to the right spot and yet many - probably the majority - folks were hunting in that north end of the park before the 12th clue.
3. To hide the medallion in unsealed food was not smart. (The medallion has been hidden in food products at least a couple times previously and were found that way. One was the oreo cookie filling it replaced at Phalen during a previous hunt and the Hostess Snow Ball thing it was found in at Langford.)
4. Once we had snow, the clue writer would have been wiser to revise the clues to get folks lined up and in a closer general area at least.
5. Even if the medallion had been hidden in something that was not eaten by raccoons, during the majority of hunts, the medallion is found in a place it was not originally placed by the hider. I know the earmuffs in 1989 had been moved. I'm sure the daughter didn't put those back exactly where she had found them.
So in the end, we're only the players in this game. The game belongs to the Pioneer Press and it's their rules by which we play.
I find it hard to believe the PP would knowingly put anyone in danger which is one reason I doubt that pit ever held the medallion. If it did, I bet it won't happen again. I'm sure they heard about the mess that was.
I would love to get back to a hunt where things line up and you zero in on an area based on how you follow the clues - but in many ways we did that this year. Even during hunts where that was more purposeful, there was almost always something you didn't see...a bordering street name would be one example.
What I fear the most from all the talk of conspiracies the past couple of years is that those whose game this is will decide that it's not worth doing when no one is happy with the results.
If the PP were to decide to end the hunt, how happy would we be then?
If we decide to play, we play as it's written. If we don't like how it's written, we shouldn't play.
Forgot this:
The idea of using a bible verse is bothersome to me.
This is a community inclusive hunt or should be. This city includes many that don't recognize the bible. This hunt is for more than those that are Christian or Jewish.
Personally I liked the clues. ducks for fear of getting hit by frozen green donuts.
I like finding the park and then anticipating where the next clue could take you based on surrounding landmarks. The Bible clue may have been a bit of a stretch but that's only because none of us figured it out first. Although the bouncing ball clue wasn't the obvious clue we thought it was, it's not the first time where we could make a clue fit better than the original meaning. That will always happen as there can only be a couple of people that do the check and balances with the clues where we have strength in the masses. I guess I liked it more because I stuck with that pump house area since entering the park early on and only got upset with more and more people showing up in 'my' area.
I'm also with you Ter in that I need to learn how to stop digging so late into the night and loosing the daytime digging time. I know my night to day hunting ratio has got to be 10-1. And that 1 is usually nothing more than a few hours past dawn after a long night of digging anyway. It's way hard to just stop after getting the fresh clue for the night.
I guess that I'm one of the few that were OK with the clues this year even though they didn't narrow down the area much at all until the mosh clue. I don't like the 12th clue dash BS but don't oppose it either. Especially when there was ample time to look for the thing. I don't agree that it was originally placed where it was found though. That pit was a cool place to put it. You can put the thing in the middle of a big field on the 12th clue and you'll get the same dangerous results. It's the bandwagon hunters that ruin it for many. I personally wasn't bothered too much other than some guy kicking my lantern and ruining it, but I saw many rude and obnoxious inconsiderate morons flying through the area with no regard to anything other that that 'they' knew where it was exactly.
Oh, and thanks for the new rake KC. I plan on marking my hunting tools next year so if I find any jackass who happens to show up without a tool thinking he can just grab one when with your back turned, then it will get violent. It's happened for too many years now where many people have had something stolen. Be warned you dumbshits, I will know what is my stuff from 50 feet away and will not hesitate to let you know that you will not think of grabbing anything that's not yours ever again. Just try me, I'll be out there testing you.
The main thing I was bummed about this year was missing you guys at the RHB. I'm sure that me2's speech rocked and the chow and conversation was incredible as usual.
oh and one more thing; bla bla bla, bla bla bla. ;-) SSL
haha CM, I'm thinkin the best idea yet is to get one of those movement alarms, you set your rake down, and if anyone picks it up or moves it, you get a nice high 110 decibel siren going off.
Good one. I just thought about putting fishing line on the thing attached to my leg. But might use my original idea because it wouldn't hurt as much. ;-)
I had my hockey stick planted in the snow while I was shoveling... and some ass tried to snagg it. I was 10 feet from the thing.
I said, hey you think thats a tree? Maybe someone planted it?
I DID ASS
Little shocked he was.
LOL! We could set up a sting or something. I'll watch your back as you dig and kick ass of anyone who tries to 'borrow' your tool.
Or vice-verse depending on our moods. ;-)
Hell yes I like that!
Then we can both protect our tools as well as eliminate possible competing factions.
I recall hearing something about 30 paces not 50 being more like it. If that's true, then what happened that night was a mob following a few because that was the largest area of downed trees. There were other areas that had some downed branches, logs, etc.
No, it was in the pit. let's look at the clue again.
Clue #12
You will be nifty if you remember fifty
The number that leads to the zone
You should be in Phalen. Stop the regalin'.
And go to a bridge made of stone.
It's down Phalen Drive, and should you arrive
Across the street from the golf clubhouse, observe:
The pastry you'll find by leaving the old palace behind
Cross the bridge, on the path, make the curve.
All your hunting hours lead to a sign for wildflowers
Across the path from a picnic table.
Table and sign form a line, with which you must align
Head up the hill if you're able.
Fifty large paces, you're off to the races
From the path to some tumbledown woods.
If you stay on the line, on a side-hill you'll find
Under fallen trees, a green donut, with the goods.
Inside this confection lies plastic perfection
But remember, to keep the hunt credible.
The hunt's heart and soul is inside the donut's hole
It's valuable - but definitely not edible!
It specifically says it's in "tumbledown woods" on a hill under fallen branches. That describes the pit and certainly not where it was found. As for the 30 paces, mrmnmikey said that it was 31 paces from the sign, but that was going heel to toe, basically the opposite of "large paces". Even long after the rush, many people measured off 50 paces and they all ended up in the pit. Plus, if there had been no snow, the hillside where it was found wouldn't have been the place to put it. Only down in the Valley of Death could it really hope for much concealment. So it was definitely down there at one time.
How it got up the hill seems like a simple enough scenario. An animal got ahold of it and drug it up the hill. As it ate the doughnut, or possibly as it drug it, the doughnut fell away from the medallion. Not long after, it was covered with snow. Quite possibly the snow washed off the remnants of the doughnut from the medallion (I know my car was much cleaner after the snow).
The only question that remains is how was it not found before it was if it was sitting on that hillside? People were digging there all day even before the 12th clue. If there had been something shiny at that point, it certainly would have been noticed. One can only conclude it ended up somewhere where it got missed that wasn't where it was found. Then at some point after dark, with the people running all over the place, it likely got kicked down the hill to where it was found. Once everyone became convinced it was in the pit, no one likely paid much attention to the ground anywhere else. And being it was off "the line" and it was dark out, apparently no one noticed it.
The only really surprising thing about that to me is that there was a spot on the hillside where it wasn't found Wednesday during the day, and yet got kicked up later. Maybe the reason they're getting a new Medallion next year is because after this year, they want to be able to put a tracking device in it.
I don't believe any of the conspiracy theories. As much as the facts of this case don't seem to add up, neither do the conspiracy theories. Why would they drop the thing the morning after the 12th clue comes out? If they were going to drop it, why would they do so that far away from where it was supposed to be?
Obviously something weird happened. I just don't see the motivations behind it being something that happened on purpose.
Conspiracy theory's are a joke, but fun nonetheless. We need something other than Jake to blab about before your hunt gets going.
The Bible clue may have been a bit of a stretch but that's only because none of us figured it out first.
But that's exactly the thing. *None* of us figured it out. And even when we were told the answer, we weren't like, "Doh! I should have known that!" We were more like, "What?!" Bad clue.
I guess I liked it more because I stuck with that pump house area since entering the park early on and only got upset with more and more people showing up in 'my' area.
To me that doesn't matter much. There were people all over the park for different reasons, and they would have stayed there as long as the clues didn't specifically tell them to go somewhere else. Can you look at the clues and say that the pumphouse was really the only place anyone should have been looking? Personally I don't think so. So many clues talked about other parts of the park. If you actually figured out that Bible verse clue, which was talking about something near the lakeside pavilion, wouldn't you have been convinced that a clue that took that much work to solve must be very important to figuring out where the medallion is and stayed by the lakeside pavilion?
The real issue isn't whether anyone got to the right part of the park. It's pretty much unavoidable that some people, once they got to the park, would go to that area because people were in all the areas. The issue is whether or not the clues actually guided you there, which they didn't. The people who were digging at the pumphouse were mostly just there on gut feelings. The problem is that these clues took all the fun out of the hunt, because they never let people get a sense of accomplishment. People didn't feel like they were drawing in on the location. They felt like they were just wandering around taking their best guess. That's boring. And if there's no snow, and they end up having it found on clue 7, then it will be found on clue 7. But it's better to have 7 days of being hot on the trail than 12 days of feeling like it's all a big crapshoot.
Can you look at the clues and say that the pump house was really the only place anyone should have been looking?
Not at all. I was just stating my viewpoint. I got lucky and felt OK that I spent all my time in that area. That's never my case. I can't count the F-ing hours I spent breaking my back out in Harriet last year or any year other than Langford for that matter. I hit this one on a 'gut feeling' and it held true for a change. The clues didn't say to go to the pump house any sooner than normal but it just brought over the BC people sooner than I wanted. To me it was like playing 'Wipeout' on NTN bar trivia where you stick with a whim and hope it hits as the other answers are wiped out. I just feel like I got 1000 pts for that round is all. The clues didn't help me narrow it down one bit. But I liked the clues for nothing more than it worked for me this year.
Langford was kinda the same thing. I hit it real early and stuck with it only to find it was in something edible.
So next time it's in something edible, come out and hunt with me. Unfortunately it'll be a warm day in Minnesota when that ever happens again. ;-)
anybody got a rfid scanner??
Do you think there will be ice blocks for the taking after they demolish the palace? It would take more than one person to grab one, but just a thought for those of you who are building your own palace in your front yard. ;)
They're dumping along the shore of the river.
they've been doing that for years
I meant the ice blocks!
:-)
How it got up the hill seems like a simple enough scenario. An animal got ahold of it and drug it up the hill. As it ate the doughnut, or possibly as it drug it, the doughnut fell away from the medallion. Not long after, it was covered with snow. Quite possibly the snow washed off the remnants of the doughnut from the medallion (I know my car was much cleaner after the snow).
The only question that remains is how was it not found before it was if it was sitting on that hillside? People were digging there all day even before the 12th clue. If there had been something shiny at that point, it certainly would have been noticed. One can only conclude it ended up somewhere where it got missed that wasn't where it was found. Then at some point after dark, with the people running all over the place, it likely got kicked down the hill to where it was found. Once everyone became convinced it was in the pit, no one likely paid much attention to the ground anywhere else. And being it was off "the line" and it was dark out, apparently no one noticed it.
We (me, scribe, leelabell, big g) cleared off a large area on the side of that hill, it wasn't where it was found on monday, I am 100% certain. We dug to the ground, to the point that we found clovers, which are pretty small, we also left no clumps.
new daddy cleared the top of the hill, above the spot where we had cleared.
So, we know that it wasn't there on monday, the questions that naturally arise are 1) where was it on monday, and 2) how did it get to where it was between monday and thursday.
In my opinion, and the opinion of just about everyone that experienced the pit, everything was being moved down the pit, into the middle. So it couldn't have started where the clue led us (the pit), because it couldn't have been moved up the hill and then back down the other side incidentally.
So far I have concluded that it wasn't where the clue said it was on weds night, or thursday morning, and it wasn't where it was found on monday.
Maybe someone found it and dropped it accidentally while making their getaway.
I wouldn't want to be tht person..... I think I would be hugging that thing all the way to the PP/
conspiracy theories...
No one will ever be able to prove that the medallion wasn't hidden until thursday morning, it isn't possible to prove. This year however, my personal observations make me think that it was not out there until very late in the hunt, and that is really putting a dampering on my spirits. I don't think I'll ever be able to give to this hunt what I have in the past, and that is my %100 effort. For that, I am a bit sad actually.
Although the green snow is very suspicious. It seems a good bet the doughtnut was there at one time. What else could have made green snow? I guess the evidence seems to suggest, as hard as it may be to believe, that it really was on that hillside the whole time. You guys must have missed it somehow.
If I worked for the PP and for whatever God forsaken reason I was charged with hiding the medallion the morning after the 12th clue came out, I wouldn't hide it where it was found. I would have still put it somewhere in the pit. Yes there were a lot of people there, but will all that chaos, I doubt too many people were aware of everything going on. It wouldn't have been that hard to hide it. And if it was hidden before the 12th clue, it still wouldn't have been that hard to hide it where it was at least supposed to be. Not to mention that if it was hidden somewhere else before the 12th clue, they could have just changed the dang clue. This is way too clumsy and pointless to be a conspiracy.
aw- green snow was way to small to be from the donut. it was a speck. it was so small, scribe had it on her finger and then lost it.
If it was on the hillside the whole time, why would they write a clue leading into the pit? Either way you look at it, it doesn't add up.
This way, a lot less people can claim that they cleared the area that it was found. It's more like 5 instead of 500.
aw- green snow was way to small to be from the donut. it was a speck. it was so small, scribe had it on her finger and then lost it.
I wasn't aware of that. I thought it was larger. Still, could have been a crumb.
If it was on the hillside the whole time, why would they write a clue leading into the pit?
Because the pit is indeed where they hid it. But it was probably only there for a day or two at most. It must have been on the hillside the rest of the time.
This way, a lot less people can claim that they cleared the area that it was found. It's more like 5 instead of 500.
Still, it raises far more questions and suspicions than it puts to rest.
Another thought I was pondering... what if the cluewriter/paper suddenly got smart mid-hunt and decided that if the thing was in the pit it would be a disaster? People got hurt as it was... imagine if the thing had been in there.
It was bright enough in there that if it had been turned over, multiple people would have seen it. People would have been hurt, no doubt.
So maybe they moved it to the hill sometime between Monday-Thursday.
Another thought I was pondering... what if the cluewriter/paper suddenly got smart mid-hunt and decided that if the thing was in the pit it would be a disaster?
I thought about that too, but again, shouldn't they have changed the last clue as well and not sent people down there at all? And if it was decided after the last clue was printed, wouldn't they have had to have sent someone to go get it?
The fact of the matter is nothing here is entirely making sense. It seems hard to believe the medallion could have just sat on that hillside, not even really hidden, and been completely missed for so long. But nothing else really makes any more sense.
Unless someone did have it in their pocket and lost it - they are not going to come forward like the lottery lady and say they had it.
I think it was somewhere on the top of that hill in a missed pile, under some sticks or something and made its way to the spot we cleared on Wednesday night.
I don't think it was dropped on Wednesday or Thursday.
I guess the bottom line is that any of these possibilities seems somewhat incredible and not entirely possible. I don't know that we can ever prove it one way or another, so in the end, why choose to believe the possibility that makes you unhappy?
well one way or another, found it was, though the 2nd medallion idea still intrigues me. I still say come spring it'd be worth having a little look out in the valley of death.
transformed into?
Cool I'll have a cache to check out when looking for the 2nd medallion. BTW there's another cache in there isn't there?
yep, about 180 feet away
ian????????
ya sure thats a good idea?????????
oh i really don't care if you put a cache there....but i'm going to be mad if somebody else find the real medallion.....
i'm going in the spring to look...i know its there somewhere....
Me too Kitch. Shoot Phalen is my area, I could spend a lot of time lookin there. Just wait for this snow to melt off to expose the real medallion ;)
Near the beginning of his show today, Joe used the word prattle. I thought that was an interesting choice of words considering he wants to deflect attention from himself.
I think Joe thrives on attention. Good, bad, indifferent, Leela.
I wish they'd bring back Millett... He's some kind'a honorary-like writer still. Why can't they let him write honorarily at the beginning o'the year, for 12 times? The Hunts he was involved with were FUN!!!! He's likely to use a honey wagon kind'a clue! :D
I want Millett. (arms x-ed on chest and pouting)
JOE!!!!
I nominate Me2 for Mayor!
Joe sure has been quiet lately