As brothers, we really got into Forrest Fenn's hidden treasure along with our families. When it was found (not by us) we were heartbroken and surprised at how quickly we missed the "thrill of the chase". It was then that we realized we could do something amazing for everyone who felt like us: people who want something more or something different from the day-to-day grind; people who are looking for opportunities to explore and solve puzzles.

And thus, Legend Has It was born during a world-wide pandemic via late night video chats between SoCal and the mountains of New Mexico. We are starting our hunts in North America with Europe soon to follow (we're looking at you, Corona virus), but we plan to expand all over. So let's tip our hats to Forrest Fenn and continue the "thrill of the chase".

Hi, Nate here. I am a proud father of 4 and am married to my dream-come-true. I grew up amid potato farms and loved it, yet somehow found myself in DC multiple times as I decided grad school was fun enough to do twice. I am a passionate mathematician/statistician and have worked on fascinating projects including machine learning (who hasn't done that nowadays?), cryptography, ethical hacking, quantum computing and cryptocurrencies. But while I love working on hard problems, I learned an important truth about myself: I need the freedom of the great outdoors.

My wife joked that I should apply to be an overqualified bicycle tour guide in Italy, where we had lived for some time. It shouldn't have surprised her when I did. Not long earlier I had returned from a 3 week bicycle trip with a buddy where we followed the Rhine river from its head in Switzerland to its end at the North Sea in the Netherlands. We were too cheap for hotels and too adventurous for silly things like maps. Living "homeless" but with a destination proved to be an action-packed adventure full of memorable experiences: from nearly dying in Switzerland to sleeping in a brothel while lost and hypothermic.

I collect slide rules and my favorite game is Go; I wish I had opportunities to play it more (why does everyone want to play Chess with me?). When I grow up I want to live on a catamaran, to be a free-diver and an astronaut and to drive a jeep so my oldest son will think I'm cool.

Growing up in a small farming community means you need to get creative. We didn’t have much for entertainment, so we often lived in our imaginations while exploring the desert and river bottoms. This left me with a deeply ingrained sense for adventure and love for the outdoors to this day. The wilderness has become my personal refuge. A place where I can be at peace and reset. In fact, it had a big role in helping me while living in a large city in the Netherlands and studying for my masters degree in aerospace engineering. I often found myself having anxiety/panic attacks and the only thing that helped was hopping on my bike and riding along the canals to the quiet farms. It wasn't until a few years later we discovered I'd been suffering from chronic mild/moderate depression likely since a young teenager. Today its under control, but my drive to explore the outdoors will never be. It's part of who I am.

My favorite adventure of all time started when I met my wife. We have four fantastic children together who we adore and take along with us on our family adventures. The current chapter in our lives has taken us to Florida where I’m putting my master’s degree to good use.

In conversation I can talk your ear off about wilderness survival or the latest in space flight. My wife thinks I'm an interesting combination of a hick and a nerd, but with how many nights I've spent looking up at the stars I think the two go hand-in-hand.

Nate

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