Over the past year, I have visited West Yellowstone a handful of times while going BOTG for Justin Posey’s Beyond The Maps Edge treasure hunt. Each trip has had its own purpose, its own rabbit holes, and its own moments where the landscape seemed to say just enough to keep me moving.
In August 2025, I made it a point to track down one specific location from the book.
In the introduction, there is a photo of Justin standing and looking out over an open area. For some reason, that image was one I had not put much effort into at first. It slipped by me. I had geolocated just about every other image in the book and e-book, but this one kept nagging at the back of my mind.
Given that Justin specifically calls on hunters to find the location of a certain image in the book, it made sense to me that the other images deserved attention too. Maybe not every photo is a clue. Maybe some are simply atmosphere. But in a hunt like this, it is hard to ignore anything that was intentionally included.
After studying the image, I started to believe it was taken somewhere along the Madison River, just before the Madison Arm, with Justin looking westward.
If you have the e-book, you can zoom in and see more detail. There appears to be a river or stream, a slight bank in the trees on the far side of the water, and a mountain range in the distance. One of the things that stood out most to me was a tree leaning at an angle on the other side of the river.
Using the mountain range, the shadows in the image, the hill, the bent tree, and a few other indicators, I believed the photo was taken just north of FS 291 in the afternoon/evening.
A short hike later, I was confident I had found the spot.
While I am confident in the location of the photo, as well as several others from the book, I realize that simply finding a location is probably not enough on its own. Still, there is something incredible about standing in the place where a photo was taken and asking the bigger question:
- Why here?
- Why did this view matter enough to be included?
We spent some time at the location, taking in the view and letting the moment settle. Eventually, it was time to head back to our campsite.
The next day, we spent the entire day visiting Yellowstone National Park. This was, after all, a family vacation, and I am sure the family did not want to hear my half-baked treasure hunt theories for the entire trip.
As evening approached and we wrapped up the lower loop, I convinced everyone that we should go to The Madison Crossing for dinner.
The Madison Crossing is mentioned in the book, of course, but it also happens to have good food. I had visited the establishment back in April and again in August of 2025, and both times I really enjoyed it.
As we sat waiting on our food and drinks, Jess mentioned that she liked the artwork hanging on the walls. We had been looking for some new art for our camper, so half-jokingly, I told her to go look around and see if there was anything she liked.
“You will never guess what we found,” she said, as her and my daughter returned to table.
Her eyes locked on mine, and she had the kind of smirk I only see when she has found something exciting.
“The artist’s name on the painting above the fireplace is Tucker,” she said.
“No way. Are you joking right now?” I replied.
Now, Tucker is not exactly an uncommon name, but the similarities were too much to shake. I had to investigate the painting more closely.
I asked the bartender about the artwork. She said most of it was for sale, but not the painting above the fireplace. That one had been with the building for a long time.
Completely ignoring the fact that my dinner had arrived, I started searching for the painting online. It did not take long to understand why that particular piece was not for sale. While the other artwork rotated in and out, this one stayed fixed in place.
“Madison Crossing” – Tucker Smith, 1993
The painting stood quietly behind the name of the establishment. Then I looked closer at the painting itself. The location looked familiar. Very familiar.
I asked Jess where she thought the scene in the painting might be. While I cannot scientifically prove this, I swear I could hear her thoughts before she even answered.
“I think we were just there.”
We had been standing in that general area less than 24 hours earlier.
That was the moment the whole thing became more than just a geolocation exercise. Was Justin trying to find the location of the painting? Was the introduction image connected to it somehow?
Or was this just one of those strange coincidences that only feels important because you are already deep in the hunt?
I believe every image in the BTME book was chosen for a reason, but I cannot say with certainty why that introduction image made the cut. Maybe Justin simply liked the view. Maybe he was proud of finding the painting’s location. Maybe there is more to it than that.
Until the treasure is found, all I can do is speculate.
But whether this connection has any bearing on the hunt or not, it was one of those BOTG highlights. A photo in a book led to a quiet bend along the Madison River. A family dinner led to a painting on a wall. And somewhere between the two, the landscape felt like it had answered back.
What a cool find.