Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt: Diggers are getting confident

Ten clues into the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt, and sleep-deprived people were starting to coalesce around one St. Paul park.

A good indicator that the medallion is at Harriet Island Regional Park is that Caley Kelly was there Tuesday.

“That’s our secret weapon right there,” said Doreen Kelly, gesturing toward her 22-year-old daughter. Doreen Kelly was at the park midafternoon Tuesday with Caley and daughters Danielle, 20, and Kelsey, 25. A fourth daughter didn’t come along this time; the family is staying at a St. Paul hotel for Monday and Tuesday nights so they could dig for three straight days before heading home to Coon Rapids.

Caley was up contemplating clues until 3 a.m. and then was back at the riverside park hours later. “I’m good at noodling,” she said. “We’re always the first people at the (right) park. But we’ve never won it. So we’re good noodlers but not good finders.”

How confident was she was that she was at the right park? “Confident,” she said.

She wasn’t the only hunter pulling an almost-all-nighter: Veteran digger Steven Sanftner didn’t drive back to his Falcon Heights home the night before; instead he turned in at 4 a.m. Tuesday — in his car — then woke and was back out four hours later. “When you get into a nice, warm bed you don’t want to get up. It’s easier if you don’t give yourself the choice,” he said.

Josh Ellingson was in marathon medallion mode, too. He went home to Apple Valley at about 3 a.m. Tuesday and was back at it at 10:30 a.m. His friend and teammate Dan Schonhardt of Eagan made an appearance at work before joining him in the afternoon. Ellingson said he was going for the four-couple group’s agreed-to “finder’s fee” of an extra $400 if he lands the loot.

As for the uncertainty this late about which park the puck is in, Sanftner praised the clue writer. “He did a good job with red herrings this time. They make the hunt fun,” he said. Specifically, Sanftner like how the writer sent hunters to two big parks, Harriet Island and Como, on Sunday. “He did a good job playing off the similarities,” he said.

The Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt, with partner Fury Jeep, will bring the finder as much as $10,000. By Thursday, we hope, when hunt hounds have the 12th and final clue.

Copyright 2018 Pioneer Press.