Pagosa Springs is a great fly fishing area where the San Juan Fishing and Expedition LLC meets once a year for a week of fishing.
I arrived after some R and R in Minasato and then caught up with friends in Colorado. One day after dinner I was sitting with one of the family owners and he mentioned that he had the strangest thing take place. It seems a man came by and asked for all the Ice in his machine. This gentleman claimed at the bottom of the Ice machine there was a chest of treasure. At first I just laughed. I told the owner of the Blue Spruce about Fenn’s Treasure and explained that it couldn’t be there as there was no hot or warm spring. The owner of the resort located at the bottom of Wolf Creek Pass responded by telling me there were several hot springs on both the east and north fork of the San Juan River not far from the Blue Spruce. I thought for a moment and replied there would also need to be a home of Brown to which the owner pointed to the two nearby ranches both owned by separate families last name of Brown. Now he had my attention. He told me of a stream and a falls named Treasure Falls. This falls runs out of a mountain call The Lost Treasure Mountain. French troops trying to survive left a large amount of gold somewhere in that mountain which has never been found. I thought about the line in the poem “and hint of treasure both new and old. Here I was thinking of taking a break and doing some fishing only to be pulled back to the chase in Pagosa Springs Colorado.
The next morning I went out to search the public lands below the Brown Ranch but first I would need a map. In the town of Pagosa Springs I stopped at my favorite fly fishing store called Ski & Bow Rack. Larry and another gentleman about getting a map. One thing lead to another and Larry’s pardner told me where he had seen blazes in that area of the river below the Browns. He also spoke about running across an older man fitting Fenn’s description walking around in this area about three years ago.
Heres some of what I found. The Falls freeze in the winter causing the water to form tall sculptures. (Where warm waters halt?) When you find the brown thin trail sign just off the highway about six miles from Pagosa heading to the Blue Spruce the trails leads to a tall vent pipe. This pipe looks like an old gas pipe where they vent off excess gas. (Blaze?) There is private land all around so if you look in this area be sure to respect the property rights.
Both the Blue Spruce and Ski & Bow Rack say they will be glad to talk to anyone stopping by and they were very helpful in my case. Here’s the best part it seems the owners grandfather was a school principal in a town near Lubbock Tx. This could very well mean Fenn’s Dad and the Blue Spruce are connected!
Keep sending your ideas and comments they are most welcome.
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