Teamfever Update

[rgm840]

The 2005-2006 hiking season is over. It is time for a progress report from Teamfever.

The past year was tragic for us with the death of Ellen due to natural causes. She was a very special person born with a heart defect we were not aware. She used exercise to help overcome it, which is one reason why she was always willing to hit the trail and may have had some bearing on her reluctance to carry weight. We will never know.

She was not a treasure hunter. She had too much going in her life for such things but she was open to adventure and exercise and was intrigued by a puzzle. Such motives are the driving force of Teamfever and we offered all three. Her friends put up a website about her life, www.ellenlan.org. Buried in the photo section is a picture of the original Teamfever.

She was there on our first discoveries. She was there when we understood one of the “X”s and the slashed triangle. She found the trail markers 2 and 4. She helped to find 13. She never got to see the carved rock or the monument.

She died at home while resting, June 6, 2005. She was 43. We miss her.

Last year we said we did not know what the random dots around the stone maps represented and we were unable to understand the directions for the last hundred feet or so. We think we understand the “random” dots but still do not understand what they had in mind for the end game. Cursory use of a metal detector, both deep and shallow field, shows nothing. We have a magnetometer but were not able to give it a fair opportunity this year. There are no features on the ground that attract interest save for what appears to be a nearby old mule trail we have yet to follow. There is always next year.

We think the makers of the maps had to have a transit with compass at the minimum. A theodolite (transit with elevation capability) would have been better. We wonder what instruments would have been available out of Mexico around 1850.

Next year we will research the methods used to locate the dots and give the magnetometer a fair trial.

The team has been restructured and consists of Dave, Debra, Helmut, Imka, Harry, and Judy. Margaret doesn’t like to hike and wants nothing to do with backpacking, but is still fascinated by the puzzle. We have one more team member but I wasn't able to get permission to add his name.

Harry
[email protected]

[Joe Ribaudo]

Harry,

Welcome back.

I looked at Ellen's site, and it's obvious that there is a big hole in your team and your life. What a wonderful woman and what a life she had.

You have lauded the credentials of your team here on more than one occasion, but if they are all of the same caliber and abilities of Ellen Yi Lan, you have shortchanged them all.

My condolences.

Respectfully,

Joe Ribaudo