$10K Utah Treasure Hunt Sparks Warning From Authorities

For the second year running, two Utah men have hidden thousands of dollars somewhere in the wilderness and are urging treasure seekers to go out hunting for it. But many of those seekers are not exactly prepared for the hunt, leading officials to issue a warning to those in pursuit of the prize. Last week, while 25 search and rescue team members were assisting an injured hiker in the Wasatch Mountains after a boulder fell on his foot while he and his family treasure hunted, "Our team ran into several other groups of hikers all looking for the same treasure," the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Search and Rescue posted on Facebook. "Most were unprepared to be in the backcountry and asked our team for water on the trail."

John Maxim and David Cline, who hid $5,000 last year as a way of urging people outside during the COVID-19 pandemic, doubled that amount this year and launched the hunt with a poem for a clue on June 19, NBC News reports. Maxim and Cline assure KSL-TV the fortune is not hidden anywhere where the terrain is too rough. "If anyone feels like it’s getting a little bit dangerous, we say it’s probably not there," Cline says. Per the Idaho Statesman, hundreds of people are hunting the treasure this year, some coming from as far as Hawaii, Colorado, and Atlanta. (More Utah stories.)