2007 Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt I

Welcome ice and snow and temperatures low
There's no time for cold feet!
For searchers' pleasure we've parked our treasure
Where nature lovers each other greet

Boreas' vast realm can overwhelm
Even diggers used to the long haul
So here's advice to put your hunt on ice:
Look no farther than good old St. Paul

Hunters can be surly but in clue-time it's early
Be safe, friends, and in the hunt revel
Near land that is high the treasure is nigh
Vagueness rules and that's on the level

Ye who dig and blog should bike or jog
Many an athletic performer
On a trail near the dale
Would be ever so much warmer

Come one come all you'll have a ball
Thrills and skills abound
Bring your date but don't be late
You can't afford to run aground

The air is crisper where the pine trees whisper
The four winds blow with sheer force
A place once slated for one ill-fated
Will put you on the right course

If you need a clue, what you should do
Is focus on the object of your search
As a dramatic device it could entice
You near our treasured perch

With a better idea we hope we'll see ya
Where the clues all fit to a T
Facts are scant about the place of the plant
Wheels within wheels should help you see

Towers of power line your route to the loot
So for safety's sake, keep your distance
Oldsters and tykes, confine your hikes
To the path of least resistance.

He once set up camp to put his stamp
On the future of our city.
But the powers that be did not agree
So he fled his land -- what a pity!

Near the line for eight seventy-nine
A place where half is forbidden
For your hunting pleasure, both falls and treasure
Are cold, frozen and hidden

In Hidden Falls, our treasure calls
Its woods will a prize deliver
From the Magoffin gate to the boat ramp straight
Take the skiing trail down-river

One painted seat is quite a feat
To the second make your procession
From here, look to the east, through the goalpost of trees,
Eighty-odd steps, past the half-stump, to a slight depression

Angle left down the slope, to a low area, we hope
With several mounds the terrain is varied
Facing upriver now, 40 paces is how
You find fallen-down trees where it's buried

Arriving at a jog, looking under a log,
An ice shard holds the reward
And a homage to our friends around the next bend
We salute eight great decades at Ford