Treasure Hunters Challenge: Week 2

The second week’s challenge involves Abraham Lincoln. At 22, he struck out on his own by canoeing down the Sangamon River and taking a flatboat job up and down the Illinois and Mississippi. Reportedly handy with an ax, he would later be nicknamed the “rail splitter”. This leads directly to this week’s challenge.

The producers haven’t skimped on the sponsors this week, as you can see them directly, even in the opening shot. But just as with Treasures Hunters Challenge: Week 1, they aren’t really necessary, and you can still enjoy the game along the way, so get to it!

In this challenge, you start in a relatively peaceful scene, with a stack of “rails” – long pieces of wood – in front of you, while the river flows by and you can see the box containing the next piece of the puzzle across the river. You just need to figure out how to get across the river, which appears to be be too far away without something. Perhaps that pile of rails can help.

Click on the pile of rails and you’ll life one of them. That opens your phone, and Laird tells you that the job is to get to the other side using the rails. It seems easy at first, but it’s actually a bit of a puzzle.

You should first notice that there are three rails. This should indicate to you that you need to use all three rails to get across the river. To cross a gap, you first must make sure a rail is between two opposing rocks. Then click the rock on the other end. To pick up a rail, click on the rail itself. To put the rail down again, click on the rock opposite from where you stand and the rail drops into place. To solve the puzzle, you have to do some backtracking, but it is definitely possible.

• First, walk across the short rail to the right.
• Pick up the short rail by clicking on it.
• Next, walk across the long rail to the right.
• Now, place the short rail in the down position by clicking the bottom-most rock.
• Now pick up the long rail and place it in the up position.
• Walk across the long rail.
• Pick up the long rail and move it to the right position.
• Pick up the short rail to the left and walk across the long rail.
• Put down the short rail in the up position.
• Go back across the long rail.
• Pick up the long rail and move it to the down position.
• Walk across the long rail.
• Pick up the short rail and walk back across the long rail.
• Put down the short rail in the left position.
• Pick up the long rail and move it to the right position.
• Pick up the short rail, walk across the long rail and the other short rail.
• Place the short rail you hold in the left position.
• Go back across the short rail and pick up the long rail.
• Go back across both short rails and place the long rail in the down position.
• Cross the long rail.
• Pick up the long rail and place it in the right position.
• Cross the long rail. You’re done!

That sounds like a lot of steps, but it’s a lot easier when you’re doing it and I wanted it to be easily illustrated for those who were having problems. Try it out and you’ll see.

• Once you cross the last rail, you’ll get a box, and you have to find the original owner of the box. You may have to search to find the owner.
• For now, click Continue Exploring.
• You find yourself at a tree. Click the tree to reveal a carving (Sinking Spring Farm).
• Search to find that the location of Sinking Spring Farm is Hodgenville, Kentucky.
• Click the tree to return to the scene with the truck.
• Click the truck to start the engine and view the map.
• Click Hodgenville to see a small log cabin.
• Click the phone to view a message and click the open cabin door to enter the cabin.
• Click the chair for a quick rock (if you like), then click the books on the mantle.
• By clicking each book, you can search ask.com for the title.
• When you get a name, click the box in your pack to enter your guess.
• One of the authors of the titles gives you the owner of the box, and the box opens to give you the next puzzle piece
• Make sure you spell the name correctly, with no extra spaces (even at the beginning or at the end).
• You’re done!

That’s it for this week. Check back for next week’s challenge summary.

Looking for other challenges? Check out the Treasure Hunters Challenge entry. If you want to discuss the overall game theory, discuss it there please, and leave this for challenge-specific information.