Is finding an empty hole worth it?

The simple answer to that question is YES! I could just end this article here and save you and me some time but what fun would that be? Here recently I helped someone work a trail to the final outcome which turned out to be an empty hole. This individual was depressed about the “hole” thing (sorry, couldn’t help myself) and didn’t understand what good it did to do all of that work and find nothing.

Let’s face it, the majority of us are out there looking for treasure so that we can strike it rich and the rest are lying about why they are looking for treasure. Everybody wants to hit the “big one”, that’s why we put ourselves through all that we do. Everyone likes to moan and groan about the difficulties we encounter while treasure hunting. I’m one of the worst but the one thing I do understand is the importance of finding an empty hole.

Anyone that can work a trail to the end and find a hole, empty or not should be exceptionally proud of themselves and find a way to pat yourself on the back and buy yourself a beer or in some cases, a pina colada. Treasure hunting ain’t easy and if you can get to the end of a trail you are doing great!

Whether you hunt Spanish, outlaw, French, Chinese or pirate (arrrrrg!) treasure, getting to the end of the trail is a learning experience and one that will help you tremendously on any future hunts. Knowing how a clue was used and being able to interpret that symbol will be an educational experience that will increase your hunting skills exponentially. That means “a lot” for those of you already drinking those beers as you read this.

I’m sure the majority of you have found a clue or carving and beat yourself up about not knowing how to interpret it only to figure it out later. Remember that feeling? Accomplishment and pride. Even though you don’t get rich, getting to an empty hole should give you the exact same feeling. You have just figured out something that was left there decades if not centuries ago and it’s something that most people cannot do.

Once you get to that first hole you can use that knowledge to find the ends of other trails. In my first eighteen years of treasure hunting I never completed a trail to the end. What can I say, I’m a slow learner! It was harder back then since Al Gore hadn't invented the Internet yet! In the last fourteen years of hunting I have worked eleven trails to their conclusion. I've been making up for the first 18 years. Figuring out that first outlaw trail showed me how things worked and what kind of treasure hunting information I should be ignoring. Yes, I said ignoring. There is so much information out there it’s hard to know what is real and what is something the cowboys used to burn on the fire. But once you figure out how to interpret what you are looking at and are able to follow the trail from one clue to another you will get a sense of what is plausible and what is not.

OK, so I took the long way around the barn to tell you; Don’t get disappointed! Finding an empty hole at the end of the trail is a very good thing. It means you are smarter than the non-believers think you are and it means that if you keep on looking, one of these days that hole won’t be empty.

Just remember to send us a post card from you favorite vacation spot. If it happens to be Hawaii I can be a pretty good tour guide! :~)