The box of treasure stowed by two Utah men lay covered in forest debris along the trail. With cryptic poetry written on a parchment-textured background hinting at the spot, all was in place for a real live treasure hunt. And the prize was open to all.
After over seven weeks, a participant in Utah Treasure Hunt wept tears of joy after becoming $25,000 richer with the swipe of a hand. As Iowa woman Chelsea Gotta, 38, brushed away pine cones on the Utah trail that day, her hands bumped the nodules of a wooden chest’s lid.
She stopped digging. She had to breathe.
Over the past month, Ms. Gotta had taken paid time off work and crossed four states three times all for this, while family and coworkers said she was crazy. Now, having proven them all wrong, Ms. Gotta clinched the treasure having won the hunt. She revealed how someone from out of state joined Utah Treasure Hunt 2023—its fourth year.
(Left) Iowa woman Chelsea Gotta, 38, holds her treasure chest containing $25,000; (Right) (L-R) Dave Cline, Chelsea Gotta, John Maxim. (Courtesy of John Maxim)“I was lying in bed one morning, scrolling, like we do, and I was like, ‘Oh, a treasure hunt,’” she told organizers John Maxim and Dave Cline—who started Utah Treasure Hunt to lighten the depressing tones of 2020 during COVID. “I let it go for a couple of days, and then ever since then I’ve been on it.”
She made three trips. On the first, she drove the 16 hours from her home in Pella, Iowa, to Utah with her family. The second time, she flew during a holiday weekend while family members shook their heads; coming up empty-handed, she told herself, “I’m done. I’m not doing it anymore.” But Ms. Gotta wasn’t done. She said, “I couldn’t let go.”
Her third trip was the charm.
The clues for the hunt were presented in a poem. It led Ms. Gotta and other participants to a trail in Mueller Park, which she scoured up and down for weeks. She met other treasure hunters, including three little blonde boys with their parents who had been thwarted for some time.
It was treasure or bust for Ms. Gotta. Canceling a vacation last week, she made her final trip after studying Mr. Cline and Mr. Maxim’s tips, which they emailed to participants weekly. “By Tuesday, I called my boss, ‘I need to take time off again,’” she said. “I drove back out Monday night.”
The clues were indeed obfuscated. They told of a grain tower that looks out to the west. They mentioned a shoulder of a mountain that brings fortune. There were words in Latin that Ms. Gotta could not decipher and references to the movie “Back to the Future” pertaining to the hidden spot.
Advertising imagery and the clue poem on Utah Treasure Hunt’s website. (Courtesy of John Maxim)“She actually watched [the movie] the night before so she could figure out the clue,” Polly Jones, 67, told Fox 13. “The DeLorean hit the pine tree and that’s how she figured out it was under a pine tree.” Ms. Jones was one of the first to encounter Ms. Gotta after her discovery.
Her fortunes changed on Sunday, July 17. Ms. Gotta was on the trail well before sunrise, just hours before she had to leave for work. Between two pine trees, hands pressed into the ground, she swept off more than a month’s worth of cones and prickly needles and uncovered the chest. It was filled with cash—$25,000, as promised.
Afterward, some along the trail, like Ms. Jones, saw her and were concerned that she might be hurt. “She was crying and I thought something was wrong with her,” Ms. Jones said. “I said, ‘Are you okay?’ And she said, ‘Yes, I just found the treasure!’ … I knew when she said that this was that treasure that everybody’s looking for.”
The Utah Treasure Hunt 2023 debrief clip. (Courtesy of John Maxim)
Managing to catch up with Ms. Gotta before she packed up her cache and returned home to Iowa victorious, Mr. Maxim and Mr. Cline told her how she looked: “Like the last scene of ‘Die Hard,’ covered in dirt and scrapes,” Mr. Maxim said. Though frayed, she was smiling.
In a congratulatory debrief clip, which they posted on Instagram, the men informed the world: “After 51 days, the Utah Treasure has been found.” Ms. Gotta shared how she was pulled into the hunt from out of state; how she turned on her brain to piece together the clues; and what she plans to do with the winnings.
Some of the cash will go to the three little blonde boys she met on the trail, she said. As for the rest, her answer came as a surprise.
Ms. Gotta herself once had organized a treasure hunt in Iowa. Forking out $400 of her own cash, it was for a good cause. “A single mom found it that really needed it,” she told the men. Now with her new windfall—that is, once the drain on her bank account from the latest foray is replenished—a chunk will go toward the next hunt.
Hearing this, the men were euphoric. “It’s like pay it forward with treasure hunts,” Mr. Cline said. “That’s awesome!”
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