The Fenn Treasure Hunt (REAL!)

Question

I heard of this riddle and wanted to pass it on to see if you expert puzzlers could solve it! These are clues for real treasure hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.

As I have gone alone in there

And with my treasures bold,

I can keep my secret where,

And hint of riches new and old.

Begin it where warm waters halt

And take it in the canyon down,

Not far, but too far to walk.

Put in below the home of Brown.

From there it’s no place for the meek,

The end is drawing ever nigh;

There’ll be no paddle up your creek,

Just heavy loads and water high.

If you’ve been wise and found the blaze,

Look quickly down, your quest to cease

But tarry scant with marvel gaze,

Just take the chest and go in peace.

So why is it that I must go

And leave my trove for all to seek?

The answers I already know

I’ve done it tired, and now I’m weak

So hear me all and listen good,

Your effort will be worth the cold.

If you are brave and in the wood

I give you title to the gold.

Happy hunting, there are nine total clues to this puzzle!

You can find a link to an article about it here.

(I do not know the answer!)

Answer 1

Some ideas:

And hint of riches new and old.

I think this may refer to the gold rush that took place in Pike's Peak, and I'm sure there's gold pieces lingering. Also, pieces of gold were mostly found in nuggets: you'd never find a hole bar just lingering around. This part could be a complete gibberish referring to what's in the treasure themselves

Begin it where warm waters halt

I don't know yet. It could be reffering to somewhere outside Yellowstone though, where the geisers are. It may or may not refer to Colorado Springs as well.

And take it in the canyon down,

Not far, but too far to walk.

Put in below the home of Brown.

Okaay, regarding the home of Brown, I'm almost positive this is not to be taken literally. I can't exactly deduce why, but for some reason, I have an intuition it has to do with something with California and setlers crossing the Rocky Mountains to get to California.I just can't put my finger on it though. On the other hand, this can't be literal — Brown is an extremely common surname, amd there are at least about 6 different places that has Brown in their name.

From there it’s no place for the meek,

The end is drawing ever nigh;

There’ll be no paddle up your creek,

Just heavy loads and water high.

Regarding the no paddles andd heavy loads, I'm not too sure. I think it may hint that this is a waterfall (water high). One thing though, I think this hints that that you must go up the stream, so the elevation of treasu is somewhere up top. There may be a specific creek its referring to, but I doubt it, as ther is almost no creek that you wouldn't be allowed to paddle up... I'm probably wrong though. Its either that or the creek is frozen (see the line reffering to worth the cold).

If you’ve been wise and found the blaze,

Trailblazer perhaps. So it could refer to a pre-made road.

Look quickly down, your quest to cease

But tarry scant with marvel gaze,

Just take the chest and go in peace.

So why is it that I must go

And leave my trove for all to seek?

The answers I already know

I’ve done it tired, and now I’m weak

So hear me all and listen good,

Your effort will be worth the cold.

The Rockies do get pretty cold in the winter. Perhaps you have to travel during winter only?

If you are brave and in the wood

I give you title to the gold.

---

Side note:

I feel that this place must be somewhere legally accesible, but somewhere more obsure, like say the woods, to not draw attention. Also, i think there should be a noticible indicator in some sense, though not sure yet.
I found this link https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/trail-treasure-rocky-mountains that should be helpful

Answer 2

1st: The sentence prior to the poem ends in a colon. This then tells us that the first stanza, which is 4 lines long, has only 1 period and its at the end of the 4th line. This then may tell us that the sentence before poem is in fact part of the poem. All great treasure hunts that were solved had a twist at the beginning. This may be that twist.
The sentence: So I wrote a poem CONTAINING nine(nein=no) clues that IF followed precisely will lead to the end of my rainbow(rein-horse; reign-kings reign) and the treasure.
So IF followed the nine clues, well IF came after them- There are 9 words before IF. Also notice the 1st two words are homonyms: sew, eye. The book has many pictures that contain important info behind the eyes and the tittles(the small dot above the lil i and j. Sew the eyes together or sense Fenn said all you neeed is the poem then do this there. Dot to dot within the poem shows two Pinyon letters in the radical alphabet. One means a table cloth, which covers or conceals. Racical symbols relate to the word absolute which is the answer to line 23: If you are brave(have guts=abs + in the wood=def. of a lute which is a picture within book) The answer may be absolute. My def. of line 23 though is different. It involves some movie trivia and Spanish translation.
Back to poem and pre-stanza1. The word containing may tell us something about the form of the puzzle. The letters or words that are important may not live out on the edges.
Homonyms within poem: As or plural of capital As, have/halve, I/aye/eye, alone a loan; in N, bold/boled/bolled/bowled, where/wear, of/UV, new/knew, not/knot, on and on it goes plus what I think is the most important one blaze/belays. Beheadments: he uses the word guillotine in book. Plus one line of poem anagrams to wonderland beheadings hint to...
Shift letters such as AND OLD= an dold. he does dole out hints on a regular basis. And hint of riches knew an dold.
I have 4 more years worth of time out into this and will come back when I have time and update here.
Whats up North! I had once thought to do as you have done and post here for help. The acrostic and metapuzzle crew is who would be the best help imo. Just heavy loads and water high: 2 best fits- one that gives a location with 2 very bold big picture blazes- I will give part of half the answer: just is right is to lift/carry- Carry, heavy loads- ton. Carryton....Some think Washinton. I had once had ANCHOR. The other is the recipe for cement/see mint. Heavy load-rock/bold/boulder + sand + water last/high. Deeepthnkr. PS- owls and 2 degrees of Bacon type puzzle are two of the clues. The cartoon character Johnny Bravo is in one of the pictures and is clear as day, no ambiguity. I didnt know who he was but saw the face. Showed it to a bunch of younger people and 100% of them immediately ID'd him. He matches a line of poem perfectly. So does Raquel Welsh....Her last name was Tejada- means tiler. Fenn used this name as a ficticious question asker recently. It means guardian, protector.
Keep that one under yr hat and off the blogs that deal w/the hunt. The devils in the details