Nearly 52 years after infamous hijacker D.B. Cooper’s mysterious disappearance, more than 1,000 hikers in Washington have started to look for clues again.
While they don’t expect to find Cooper or the $200,000 he took as ransom money, they do hope to win a prize after completing a series of six hikes and a final challenge to help solve a fictional version of the case.
Since 2010, Trek for Treasure has provided people in Skagit and surrounding counties the opportunity to go on six hikes, each with a hidden box at the end that contains a code. That code is entered on the Trek for Treasure website where participants are given a riddle to solve pertaining to that year’s theme.
This year’s theme is “The Search for D.B. Cooper.” Past themes have included “The Amazing Race,” “The Lost Treasure of the Sun” and “The Legend of the Cursed Mummy’s Tomb,” among others.
Mark Pearson started the program in 2010 with the goal of getting people healthier and moving more. It’s a part of his greater mission as the Active Living manager of United General District 304, a community-based organization that promotes healthy living.
“We thought, ‘What better way to get people out on trails?’ They can get the physical and mental health benefits of being outdoors, being in nature, being with friends, getting exercise, and that was really the inspiration,” Pearson said. “We find that, as important as Trek for Treasure is in terms of the physical part of it, that there’s definitely a huge mental health aspect of it.”
Teams are made up of two or more people, though Trek for Treasure recommends groups of 10 or less. Each team decides on a name and a difficulty level of hikes. Level I offers easy to moderate intensity hikes, while Level II hikes are moderate to intermediate intensity.
After the first hike’s details are sent to team captains, each group has two weeks to complete the hike and solve the riddle before the next hike is announced. After 12 weeks, each team that has completed all six hikes receives instructions for the final challenge. While the challenge relies more on figuring out clues rather than physical ability, this is the only event where timeliness matters.
The first team to complete the challenge and find the treasure wins, earning a prize from one or more of Trek for Treasure’s sponsors that have included gift cards, shoes, clothing and more in previous years.
Team Nessy is competing in their seventh Trek for Treasure. Gennie Clawson and teammates Colleen Schacht, Chris Caldwell and Susie Landsem started with “The Search for Sasquatch” in 2017 after meeting a participating group the year prior at Oyster Dome.
“There’s this aspect of this challenge and wanting to complete and get to the end, so that’s fun. Aside from getting to hike with my best friends and going to places I haven’t been before, we’re wearing matching T-shirts, so you see others on the trail and that has just been so fun to see who else is doing it. And it’s everybody. It’s families with little kids, it’s all ages, lots of dogs,” Clawson said.
She recommends the trek to anyone as a fun activity to enjoy Western Washington nature and commends Trek for Treasure for continuously offering the program.
“To get to be out there with others that I don’t know who are sharing this experience — I just really appreciate it,” Clawson said.
This year’s final challenge will be on Saturday, Aug. 26. Registration for next year’s program will open in April 2024 with the first hike announcement in June.
