HoCo Pirate Treasure Hunt April 2021

The HoCo Pirate Adventures are back on! We participated last Fall for their final hunt. Now, they've started again. The April 2021 adventure was The Harrowing Hunt of Hawthorn. We printed out the treasure map, drove to the starting point (Hawthorn Center in Columbia, Maryland), and followed the trail. We knew we were on the right path when we saw a message:

Yay, team!

The path meandered through a local neighborhood next to a stream. Some of the houses had strange trees. 

Maybe it sank into the ground?

The first part of the secret message was in a spot called Bowl Rock. The below rock does indeed look like a bowl and we saw our first symbol to decrypt.

There be the white rock!

The stream had some spooky bits

Further down the trail we spotted another rock in a playground. Thanks to Covid, the swings had been taken down, leaving a big T. The rock did not have a big T on it.

Well, maybe if you look at it askance it's a T...

Yet further down the trail we found a swampy bit with a park bench looking out over the overgrowth. Another rock yielded another clue.

Decryption in progress

We found another playground where no white rocks were found. The cool equipment was irresistible to our pirates.

"What be this form of transportation?"

A full seesaw

After a while we continued our hunt. 

The fourth and penultimate clue

This part of the path led by something labeled "Fossil Rock and Tall Boy" which turned out to be another short playtime opportunity.

At least we played with the rock

The map also listed several vaults along the way. They were too cleverly sealed for us scalawags to open. 

Government-sponsored vaults

The final clue was at Me Mudder's Tree. The trailhead was marked with pirate cloth; the tree was wrapped in a cosy covering.

Probably the right path

The final clue!

We had our final clue for the combination to the treasure chest, which was not much further on (and practically back at the starting point). Our youngest pirates were the most enthusiastic to get their hands on treasure.

The treasure!

Leaving it better than we found it

We took advantage of the park nearby to picnic and play a little sports (and play on yet another playground). 

Frisbee with Granny

We can't wait for the May hunt to commence!