2015 Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt

Clue #1 pays tribute to Pioneer Press reporter and former Treasure Hunt clue writer Jim Ragsdale, who passed away this past year. The "riches" (medallion) is wrapped in rags. "Both inside the box and out" reprises an image from recent hunts and reminds hunters that the medallion can be hidden inside or outside St. Paul city limits, anywhere in Ramsey County.

Clue #2 references the 2004 treasure hunt (for which Jim Ragsdale wrote clues). The plan in 2004 was hiding the medallion in an actual donut, but the plan went awry when the donut was moved by some woodland creature. Clue #2 indicates that unlike the past few years, when the medallion was hidden on open ground, this year it is well secured (frozen in ice and wedged next to a clump of birch trees).

In Clue #3, while the words "arch he" (Archie) and "jug head" suggest the Archie and Jughead kids' comic that was the inspiration for the 2004 Treasure Hunt in Phalen Park, the clue actually points to the location of the medallion within Snail Lake Park in 2015. The "arch" is near the foot of the sliding hill -- an intermingling of branches from trees on either side of the path that starts at the west end of the upper parking lot and winds through the park. The medallion is hidden in the vicinity of the tree-formed arch. "No defeat and no fail" refers to a clue in the 2004 that equated "defeat" with "failin'" as in "Phalen Park," but not this year.

Clue #4 tells hunters to "stay off the grass," which means stay away from "Grass Lake," which is in the southern part of Snail Lake Regional Park, and look for a "place to play," which is the playground located in the northern section of the park. "Think of heights" is Vadnais Heights and "watery sights" refers to Shoreview. Snail Lake Regional Park in Shoreview abuts Sucker Lake Regional Park in Vadnais Heights, and Ramsey County officially designates the two parks as Vadnais-Snail/Sucker Lakes Regional Park. "Do right along the way" refers to Dudley Avenue (as in Dudley Do Right of the Mounties cartoon), which is a street near the park. "Lassie and lass" references Brigadoon Drive, Brigadoon Court, Heather Drive and Highland Drive -- streets in Shoreview near Snail Lake.

Clue #5's reference to "land of lakes" suggests "lake" in "Snail Lake Regional Park." The "grain of truth" is not wheat -- the clue tells hunters to avoid that mistake (gaffe) -- but "rice." Rice Street borders Vadnais Heights and Shoreview and bisects the Vadnais-Snail/Sucker Lakes Regional Park.

In Clue #6, the "tint of green" refers to the green donut and the 2004 Phalen Park Treasure Hunt. In that hunt, clue writer Jim Ragsdale hid "Phalen," the name of the park, in an anagram in Clue #3. The same anagram device is used in Clue #6 this year. The anagram is made up of the first word in each line. If one applies the 2004 device to this clue, one gets the anagram "Ice Thy Tint On," which is an anagram for "Not in the city." "Ice, not snow" indicates that a lake (ice) is key to identifying the park. The clue also combines "ice" and "Rags." "Rags" encased the medallion in ice in the 2003 Treasure Hunt.

In Clue #7, "Suckers" and "lake" gives you Sucker Lake, part of Vadnais-Snail/Sucker Lakes Regional Park. The warning to "Stay off the ice" also means stay away from Sucker Lake. "Slow and steady" suggests Snail Lake, as does the reference to a giant that would dwarf the Loch Ness monster -- Snail Lake beach was closed for part of last summer so workers could use heavy machinery to remove aquatic plant life that grew to be more than 100 feet long.

Clue #8 alludes to "Brigadoon," a famous musical about a mythical Scottish town of the same name. One of the best-known Brigadoon songs is "Almost Like Being in Love," and another is "Waitin' For My Dearie." Brigadoon Drive and Brigadoon Court are streets near Snail Lake.

Clue #9, a double clue, references the dual nature of Vadnais-Snail/Sucker Lakes Regional Park. The first stanza references Sucker Lake (there is one born every minute -- 1,440 of them in a day). If one's fate is to be a "sucker," he or she will rush off to Sucker Lake Park. The second stanza has two anagrams for "escargot" (snail) in the first line -- "stag core" and "tag score." This clue suggests Snail Lake Park as the park to search. One might search in the woods by going through the tunnel under Snail Lake Boulevard, or one might search down by the lake, but the medallion is hidden on higher ground.

In Clue #10, "Republic" is the company name on the side of the trash bins by the upper parking lot at Snail Lake Park. In the early days of our Republic, the phrase "Go west, young man" symbolized the country's westward expansion. The hunter should follow that advice and follow the path from the west end of the upper parking lot until he or she comes around to "nature's work" from Clue #3 -- the "arch" over the path formed by trees on either side of the path. This is the general vicinity of the medallion.

Clue #11 establishes that the medallion is hidden near the top of the hill in a wooded area west of the sliding hill. From the spot you can see into the tunnel under Snail Lake Boulevard and look out over Snail Lake. "Brier chest" is an anagram for "birch trees." The medallion is secured in a clump of blackened birch trees near the top of the hill.

Clue #12 pinpoints the location of the medallion and pays a final tribute to Jim Ragsdale, who is missed by his journalism colleagues, Winter Carnival cronies, long-time treasure hunters, friends and family.

The first stanza tells hunters the medallion is in Snail Lake Park in a clump of birch trees in the vicinity of an "arch," first mentioned in Clue #3 as "nature's work high over the trail" and the sledding hill. From the "arch" you walk uphill to the clump of birch trees. From the medallion location you can see through the tunnel under Snail Lake Boulevard. If you start from the top of the sledding hill and walk west, you'll see five picnic tables. Follow those tables and you'll come to a tree with a large burl at its base. The clump of birch trees and the medallion are on the side of the hill near the tree with the burl (you can see all three park pavilions from the medallion spot). The puck is buried in the snow at the base of the birch trees. It's wrapped in rags and frozen in ice.