National Park Mystery Spot 24 Revealed: Not the Kind a Drunk Can Hug

Submitted by Bob Janiskee on May 5, 2011 - 2:59am

You were given these clues to the identity of Mystery Spot 24, which is located in a unit of the National Park System:

That critter in the 1975 movie that made us stay out of the water.

That thing in the bathroom that a drunk hugs.

The answer is the Great White Throne in Utah's Zion National Park.

Congratulations to Davey J, who was the first to nail it. Kudos also to: Anon 9:09a.m., Ed123, Steve K, RangerLady, Anonymous out west, and celbert.

Here is how the clues take you to the answer:

The hunt for a gigantic man-eating great white shark provided the focal theme for the 1975 blockbuster movie Jaws, which is considered to be one of the scariest movies ever produced. For a long time after the movie was released, many people were afraid to swim or wade in the ocean.

A common term for toilet is "porcelain throne." Many a puking-sick drunk has knelt and emptied his stomach into this bathroom fixture, giving rise to expressions like "hugging the porcelain throne" and "kneeling before the porcelain gods."

The Great White Throne

Zion's Great White Throne is a prominent monolith of Navajo sandstone that has a northwest face soaring nearly 2,400 above the floor of Zion Canyon and a summit that stands 6,744 feet above sea level. The photogenic mountain has historically been considered the park's signature landmark, although some would assign that distinction today to nearby Angels Landing.

Like so many other landscape features in the park, the Great White Throne acquired a biblically inspired name. Frederick Fisher, a Methodist minister, named the steeply rising mountain in 1916. Fisher said that the monolith, which has white upper reaches atop a red base, is so grand that it put him in mind of the throne from which God will administer the final judgment of the dead. The great white throne judgment is described in Revelations 20:11-15.

Fisher also named several other prominent landmarks in the park, including Angels Landing and the Three Patriarchs.

The Great White Throne has no trails leading to its summit and poses interesting challenges to climbers. The intimidating Northwest Face, which rises 2,350+ vertical feet in just 1,500 horizontal feet, remained unconquered until 1967. Today the mountain remains a popular climbing venue, largely because of its aesthetic appeal and its reputation as a classic "big wall" climb by a variety of difficult routes.

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