I make no apologies for the lack of success. But having just concluded quest number FORTY lends frustration to the seriousness of my efforts to date.

The real difficulty has been the change in the flow of the creek over the last century. In the process a vital part of the original wagon road has eroded as well. Trying to see the area as it changed proved a real challenge.

The latest find may have been another piece of the wheeled barrow though the disintegration of it made identification impossible. My greater errors in previous visits may have been in searching too far from the wagonroad. Forest fires that swept through the area also changed the landscape from the summer of 1896 when Matt hid the gold.

Ever aware of the passing of another summer I continued to study my pictures and hand drawn map in hopes of seeing the area through the thief’s eyes. What have I missed? What have I failed to realize?