April 2nd, 2025 a friend who lives in Santa Barbara, CA asked, "Have you watched Gold & Greed on Netflix?" "I think it's in Montana. A lot of things suggest it, you guys should look!"
That's how we got introduced to Justin Posey's treasure hunt, and then bought his 'BEYOND THE MAP'S EDGE' book (1st the digital copy, then the physical copy, then the audio version), went to the Dillon book signing (which is 4.5 hours away), and traveled over 2,200 miles for a boots on the ground mission (NOT in Montana! haha).
Posting this here for myself really. Decompressing after the unsuccessful capture of the treasure. Sharing everything so maybe while I'm typing this out I see something I missed before, or I realize how way off I really was!
First, we watched the three-part series.
Then I went on Justin's website and read the poem (and the rules, and basically any and all information available online).
I purchased the digital version of the book. I took notes and a gazillion screenshots and highlighted what I believed to be clues.
I ordered the physical copy of the book.
We watched the first episode of Gold & Greed with our girls.
We went to the Dillon book signing where we met Justin. He signed the physical copy of our book.
We did BOTG searching on our way home from Dillon.
We finished watching the series with our girls.|
I read through the physical copy of the book and have it slathered in post-it notes!
I joined a Facebook group where a few things people shared helped me re-confirm my solve location.
Our girls and I embarked on an 18-hour drive to Heron Lake in New Mexico!
While first reading the book I wrote a note in my phone after reading the chapter 'Grandma's Hands' that read, "is this the chapter that unlocks the whole poem?!"
I wrote that because the words used in the chapter reminded me of the poem itself.
BUT, maybe because of proximity bias, or our friend who introduced us to this all, my first instinct and search areas were focused in Montana.
DILLON, MT :: JUSTIN POSEY BOOK SIGNING
**It is important that at this point I make mention and immensely thank my husband! He has been extremely supportive of this wild treasure hunt and all my crazy theories. He is my sounding board, my grounding and getting me back-to-reality extraordinaire, and just the very best!
Zach drove us to Dillon so we could meet Justin.
The Bookstore was hosting the book signing on June 21st, 2025.
We rolled into town the night before and I found out on Facebook that Justin would be doing a signing at a few different locations that night. I walked into the first spot (while the family waited in the car, in case he wasn't there), and I saw him at a table signing a book, camera crew filming, and people in line. I motioned for my family to come in, and as we were walking in a lady said "this place is done, he'll be moving on to the next spot shortly, I'd get in line there."
We thanked her, walked down the street to his next signing spot, and got in line behind about 12 others. One guy got in line behind us and he was told he would be the last one.
Come to find out, the gal who told us to come to this location was Justin's cousin! She ended up taking photos for people, and was helping move everything along in a timely manner.
While in line we met the two people in front of us (forgive me for forgetting both your names!). They had met in an online forum, one from Oregon, and the other from Spokane, WA. They had come to Montana to meet and search together...how fun! Her book was overflowing in colorful notes sticking out every which way.
While watching Justin sign books and chat with everyone I noticed how focused and attentive he was to each person. His eyes didn't wander to who was next, he never rushed anyone, he was just extremely present with who he was speaking with. He looked genuinely curious, asked them questions, and looked to be actively listening.
OUR TURN:
An older gentleman came up and asked if he could take a photo of us with our girls and Justin to send to Justin's mom! [insert nervous laughter] To Justin: "Your mom would love that!"
Justin said, "Mom, would love that." Then turned to us and said, "This is my step-dad, not some random creep." We all laughed and took the photo!
Justin asked us where we're from, when I said Kalispell his face lit up and with a smile he said, "beautiful up there!"
He asked us where we've been looking and I said, "well we haven't actually started yet. Still piecing together clues."
His response, "Well the treasure's not going to find itself. So you should start looking." [This was said so kindly and almost like we should spend time looking close by, around Dillon.]
Zach interjected that I have a few spots on the Blackfoot River. And then I told him we have a couple places we're going to stop on the drive home.
I asked, "I'm not sure if you've publicly answered this, or even if you can answer, but where is the location of the topographic map on your truck?"
He turned his head slightly, and looked away, and said, "it's my treasure hunt, I don't see why I couldn't answer. [turned back to me] So yeah, down in Texas a guy did wraps and had a topographic map, so I thought that was cool and chose that one. I'm not sure if you find that helpful or not." [That might not be word for word.....but what I gathered is the topographic map on the truck is not of any elevation significance which I found to be extremely HELPFUL because I had hyper-focused on finding that elevation for quite some time.]
Some more chit-chat. Justin signed our book. His other cousin that was there took a photo with my phone.
We left.
What I gathered from the entirety of the interaction helped me when I later watched the Q&A (not in physical attendance). And helped build a better understanding about just how family-oriented Justin really is.
The next day we went to The Bookstore and purchased some stickers and a children’s book.
FIRST BOTG (boots on the ground) ::
Growing up in Montana my family has always driven backroads for fun. Because of this I've purchased a couple Montana Atlas books.
While doing research I came across "Tucker Creek" close to Dillon, by Fishtrap. We drove the road, started under two highway bridges, and...PRIVATE PROPERTY. Turned around and headed home.
We stopped along the Blackfoot River. Walked near the water, going off trail to look for anything "immediately recognizable." Nothing.
Home to keep researching. Wanted stronger connections from poem to physical locations.
POTENTIAL SOLVES::
While initially researching, it is fair to say there are a ton of clues that point to Montana, specifically around Big Hole (with the capitalization of Hole in the poem). In the book he says, "Coolidge, one of Montana's last silver boom towns...It's enough to make you want to poke about, just in case someone left a few nuggets lying around." Is it there?
I had typed in, "Ancient Gates Montana" and spent a ton of time down that rabbit hole: Gates of the Mountains, Lewis & Clark, Missouri River, Helena, bride, etc.
Looking at a physical map was the Beaverhead area the outline from the front cover? So the search is beyond the Beaverhead area?
Then I started thinking Cloudcroft, Alamogordo, White Sands National Park, NM being the map -- so beyond it was the treasure?
Someone, for a non treasure hunting reason, had posted an aerial photo of Washington State with 'Cathedral Rock' 'Granite Mountain' and 'The Cradle' labeled, causing a moment of "is the treasure there?"
While reading the book the first time I had taken note of a few words that Justin had used multiple times : pine, bear, and Christmas being the top three.
OOH, this reminded me of my very first solve!
Before I knew it was a mistake that Salem wasn't labeled I searched 'Hole in Oregon' and it came back "Near Bend, Oregon you'll find a "Hole-in-the-Ground," a large volcanic maar (explosion crater) formed by a steam explosion, roughly 1 mile wide and 490 feet deep, located in the Fort Rock--Christmas Lake Valley basin."
Haven't done any more research since finding out the capitol wasn't supposed to be missing, so this is definitely back on my radar now.
Being totally honest, I started to doubt the treasure is in Montana. I think Justin worded the poem so that AI would pick up those key words (Wisdom/ursa (Polaris)/Hole) when people started utilizing it. And if someone were to put the whole book into AI there are enough stories about places in Montana that also would trend you toward believing it's located here. I could be totally wrong in this, it's just where my brain started going at this particular point in my search.
After reading the book on my phone, after the book signing, after watching the series through a second time, after reading the poem for the umpteenth time, after watching the Q&A, and while reading through the physical book I came to a chapter that made me run upstairs from my perch and straight to the bathroom where my husband was brushing his teeth.
"I THINK I JUST FIGURED IT OUT!" I excitedly proclaimed. And then proceeded to word vomit for about 10 minutes, to which Zach said, "That is actually the most compelling you've shared so far. Try to button it up a bit, but you should definitely check it out!"
HERON LAKE, NEW MEXICO ::
As I read through the book a second time and got to 'The Postal Pilgrimage' I noticed these words describing his Grandpa Posey: hands steady, grandfatherly wisdom, his granite silence.
The next chapter is 'The Conquistador Conquest' which is a story about being at his mom's, but he brings up Uncle Hyram - which is his dad's brother. To me this was pointing back to 'Posey."
In this chapter he also says, "decoding the secret semaphore of desert plants." So of course I had to google 'semaphore' and the definition is as follows, "a system of sending messages by holding the arms or two flags or poles in certain positions according to an alphabetic code or the morse code."
**Still trying to piece this into the final solve.
The next chapter..chapter 8..'The Bait Bonanza'.. this is where I had a complete epiphany that the treasure is hidden at Heron Lake in New Mexico!
"The Tusas Mountains watched it all, their rugged peaks shaped by ancient forces and named in the Spanish colonial era."
I had a note: 'SPANISH to go along with acknowledgements page'
In the acknowledgements he had mentioned Victorio Peak and hidden Spanish gold, which was something he came to know through his Posey family.
Other notes I made on this chapter:
"Dad: setting the stage for memories that would outlast him."
"poles against rocks at the shoreline"
"crustacean glory" - Is this a nod to the bonus chapter? Los Camarones Calientes - shrimp are crustaceans
"guarded our secret"
Then there is the heron statue behind Justin in the series Gold & Greed.
Going back to 'Grandma's Hands' I believe the photo of his Grandma Posey holding the fish is taken at Heron Lake. She has two feet and then is the fish the third foot, like 12 inches long? Foot of three??
The next chapter 'The Gracie Grail' he says, "I discovered my treasure: a hand drawn map from the late nineteenth century...The Apache territories"
I googled 'Apache territory New Mexico' and almost fell out of my chair when I saw Heron Lake nestled below Jicarilla Apache Nation Reservation.
He says, "Our north star was Heron Lake." "Like Christmas Eve visions...my anticipation was raw. Electric."
Heron Lake has a campsite called Blanco Electric - white electric - surges, clear and bright.
Another thought was hope surges clear and bright meant 'light at the end of a tunnel' which Azotea Tunnel moves water from the San Juan River, about 12.8 miles long, to Heron Lake. The tunnel even goes under the Continental Divide.
*At the Q&A in Dillon Justin did make mention that one thing could potentially be considered man made...I think this could mean the reservoir itself because it exists because of the manmade dam.
The more chapters I read, the more things pointed back to the Posey family.
'The Treasure Tempest' he says, "That's when I heard it -- a name whispered like a secret: Victorio Peak."
"The adults fell silent"
"Grandpa Posey..."Some say it was Apache treasure"
**This conversation with Posey family is what he claims was his beginning of treasure hunting...in the last sentence of the chapter, "That night, at age twelve, I became a treasure hunter."
In 'The Banquet Bandit' he says, "childhood runs on wonder, not wisdom" which the poem says "Wonder guards this sacred space" and I believe that means it's a place he visited in childhood.
In 'The Tender Tornado' there is a picture labeled "From left: Grandpa Posey, Mom and Dad (aka the bride and groom), Grandma Posey..."
He used bride and groom to describe his parents, so why wouldn't he use bride and groom to describe Grandma and Grandpa Posey?
I think Grandma Posey is THE "His bride stands guard at ancient gates."
In 'The Aft Assault' he says, "With the stealth of a heron..."
BUT then there are chapters like "Trailside Troubles" and "The Rod Race" and it makes me question if it really is in Montana?!?
BUT THEN : 'Grandma's Hands' hooks me right back in to Heron Lake in New Mexico.
"I watched her hands. They moved in her lap, weaving invisible threads, a gesture so foreign..." and my note says THIS is tangled, twisted finds (when her mind was not as clear and bright).
"Grandma Posey had always been my anchor, her stories a colorful backdrop to my childhood."
My note: she was a good listener -- silent
"shadows lengthened across the study's dense carpet"
"her wedding ring" [bride]
"clear to all but her"
"freeze time" [beyond the reach of time's swift race]
"we can only bear witness" [bear = ursa]
"insisting my mind remains clear as crystal"
"but both of us trying to hold onto something true." [truth rests]
In 'The Bronze Beast' Justin is talking about Tucker, "When he finally unearthed me from my leafy hideout, his excitement could've powered a small city."
At our first location by Heron Lake I dug in some leaves and was almost certain I was going to find it...nope.
In 'The Snout Scout' Justin says, "There's something about the phrase "upper Rio Grande" that makes you expect to stumble upon a hidden treasure."
Heron Lake empties into the Rio Chama, which later joins the Rio Grande.
In 'The Treasure Trail' Justin says, "The real test of any spot comes when boots hit the ground."
Truly I could not agree more!
In 'The Treasure' Justin says, "I've secreted it away in a spot that's dear to my heart, a location that whispers of personal lore and secrets."
CONTAINER THOUGHTS::
I believe the container will be blue.
In the very first chapter, "The final prize emerged like a long-lost artifact: a blue cardboard chest.
Oddly, I can't recall what was inside that chest. But I remember the surge of adrenaline. The fear of failure. The terror of being the kid who couldn't solve the puzzle. That same jolt powers everything."
The last line of the poem : "What you seek, you already know."
I put "what do you already know" into Google and it said, "the sky is blue."
My husband told me not to dwell on this because then I might miss the actual container.
THE POEM:
Beyond the Map's Edge
[Beyond his treasure map - the Apache territories]
Can you find what lives in time,
Flowing through each measured rhyme?
[memories]
Wisdom waits in shadowed sight --
For those who read these words just right.
[Grandparents - I googled 'Wisdom in New Mexico' that turned into sabiduría, which is Spanish for wisdom, but one website said, "associated with knowledge or grandparents."]
As hope surges, clear and bright,
[electricity - start at Blanco Electric campground?]
Walk near waters' silent flight.
[Heron Reservoir has been designated a "quiet lake"]
Round the bend, past the Hole,
I wait for you to cast your pole.
[where Brandon lost his fishing pole/where they caught the motherload of crawdads]
In ursa east his realm awaits;
[in the north east of Heron Lake]
His bride stands guard at ancient gates.
Her foot of three at twenty degree,
[Grandma Posey photo holding fish is taken somewhere along that east side area?]
Return her face to find the place.
[somewhere in the southwest area of Heron Lake is where it's located]
Double arcs on granite bold,
[I think double arcs are Grandpa and Grandma Posey]
Where secrets of the past still hold.
Beyond the reach of time's swift race,
Wonder guards this sacred space.
[A place he visited in childhood.]
Truth rests not in clever minds,
Not in tangled, twisted finds.
[The treasure is where his Grandma, his anchor, was clear-headed and not dealing with dementia.]
Like a river's steady flow -
What you seek, you already know.
[Look for something BLUE!]
And then I believe you have to go boots on the ground to figure out these exact locations.
THINGS THAT FURTHER CONFIRMED MY HERON LAKE SOLVE::
I'm not sure who, but someone pointed out that the chapters start with fancy letters and that some of the letters had full circles with full dots in the middle. I looked through every single chapter and the only letters that had full circles with full dots were A I B T and if you unscramble that you can make the word BAIT -- as in, BAIT BONANZA!
The Q&A
Q: Is the bride live?
A: "I will go so far as to say the bride is not a person that is alive right now."
[I believe he is talking about Grandma Posey.]
I used onX to look around Heron Lake and the private property showed up brown while the public lands showed up blue! I found a couple spots that peaked my interest and dropped X's for where we were going to search.
BOOTS ON THE GROUND - ROAD TRIP!
With all my clues pointing to Heron Lake in New Mexico I booked campsite #42 in Blanco Electric campground.
I booked a 1 bedroom cabin at Stone House Lodge.
Our girls and I loaded up my car and traveled 1,148 miles to a state none of us had ever been to before!
We took a ‘Bandit’ with us along the way. Every time I pulled him out to photo or video I couldn’t help but hear, “Dad! The raccoons have gone rogue!” 🦝
On our road trip down we had a great blue heron fly over us in Seeley Lake, Montana. The three of us felt so much excitement in that moment! It was going to happen, we were going to find the treasure!!
We stopped at The Bookstore in Dillon, MT and picked up a signed copy of Beyond the Map's Edge.
My first copy has sticky notes protruding all over.
I might gift the 2nd copy. Haven't decided yet.
Driving into Heron Lake State Park was a dream! Where we live is beautiful, but this was a whole new beautiful! Cactus mixed with pine trees?! Otherworldly!
We stopped at the Visitor's Center and chatted with a lovely gal. She gave us some information and then directed us to the 'museum' in the back where we explored for a bit.
I picked up a map/pamphlet and we were off to our campsite.
Salmon Run Trail ran alongside site #42 so we parked the car at our campsite and walked to our first X.
Was Salmon Run Trail "walk near waters' silent flight?"
Lots and lots of tumble weeds! No treasure.
We went back to the campsite and searched all over it..at this point I was looking for the checkpoint. I'm still a little confused on what the checkpoint actually is, but in my mind as we were walking around we were looking for something that was "immediately recognizable" that gave no doubt we were in the correct place.
If I had known how much trash was going to be strewn about (literally every place we looked throughout all of Heron Park) we would have brought a pack of gloves and tons of garbage bags to help clean up. *Next time!*
The sun sets so much earlier there than it does in Montana, so we called it a night.
The next day we went back to that '2nd spot' and searched a little further out, and checked more trees.
We also searched two more X's. Which, those spots both felt like it could be there too.
On the drive home, only about an hour into our trek, a great blue heron swooped down close to our car. For a split second I thought it was a sign to turn back around, but we ventured on toward home.
I was sulking/calculating where I went wrong/scheming the next BOTG, when a voice emerged from the back seat, “I think the real treasure was us getting to do this road trip together! I had so much fun!!”
So thank you to Justin for getting us way out of our comfort zone and into a totally new (to us) state. Thank you for creating this treasure hunt! We had a blast and created many memories!
Excited to see the final solve because I definitely thought we had it! 😅
We're not done searching yet! Who knows, we might even head back to Heron Lake again.
In Justin's words...Happy Hunting!
