Artist Jordan Pepper

Jordan, you are our Mtn IQ Test Winner! Your GRAND PRIZE is a Marmot Limelight Tent, a Sawtooth sleeping bag, and a Jetboil backpacking stove. Congratulations. I hope you don’t mind my posting one of your beautiful paintings. Looks like you’re a guy that spends a lot of time in the great outdoors so we hope that your new gear comes in handy. Send an email to herb@granitechief.com and let him know the your sleeping bag length and if you want a right or left hand zip and if you want to pick it up in the store or shipped to you.

Thanks to everyone for playing, I can’t wait to give away a pair of skis with the upcoming Winter Mtn IQ Test.

Our first Mtn IQ question for this summer’s version was about the discovery of a skeleton believed to be that of Everett Ruess. It was a fascinating story of the grandson of an old Indian man who had witnessed a murder of a young white man from high on a ridge. He had told his wife and a medicine man about what he had seen and that he went down once the murderers had fled and buried the body in a deep crevasse in the sandstone.

Years later the grandson went to the place described by his grandfather and uncovered the remains. Initially DNA test confirmed that they were indeed the remains of Ruess, solving a 75 year mystery. This October those claims have been reversed as further test failed to prove the DNA belonged to the young Everett Ruess.

The Ruess family finally felt closure to the mysterious disappearance of Everett. Everett’s brother had searched for answers his entire adult life and died never knowing the truth. So for the family the discovery was somewhat of a comfort but for many of us that found the mystery intriguing it was almost sad to see it solved.

WINNERS: Jordan, Ryan, Alexander, Randy

BIGGEST LOSER:All you guys that didn’t play because the answer was too hard. BOO Whoo!

THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED THIS FRIDAY!!! GOOD LUCK!!!

This week we have no beautiful picture because I do not want to give any hints to this question.

What is the answer to this riddle?

Early in the game the excitement of a mystery solved was to some a sad disappointment and to others a long awaited answer. Once a mystery solved a mystery is no more. But the skeleton of misunderstood clues and the tales of an old man are not what they seemed.

WOW! You guys crack me up. I ask a simple question and I get the entire history of and the encyclopedia answer. I should get a grand prize for reading all you comments.

ANSWER PART ONE: The first recorded non-Native American to enter the Valley was The Mariposa Battalion. They were tracking down Indians that were actually upset that there land was being taken away from them, thus the Mariposa Indian War.

ANSWER PART TWO: The Ahwahneechee Indians that called Yosemite Valley, (as we know it), their home named the valley, Ahwahnee, which loosely translated means big mouth, or big gaping mouth.

WINNERS: Rod, Randy, Jordan, Ryan, Alexander, you each get 4 points.

BIGGEST LOSER: Let’s go with Lee Crouch, because the entrance fee wasn’t 50 cents, it was two acorns and a tomahawk through the heart.