National Park Mystery Spot 43 Revealed: A Vast, Cold Wilderness

To solve the Mystery Spot 43 puzzle you had to figure out which of America’s 397 national parks can be identified by interpreting the following clues:

The answer is Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Since the park and the preserve are counted as two separate units of the National Park System, you got this one correct if you identified either or both of the units.

Located north of the Arctic Circle, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve encompasses nearly 8.5 million acres of tundra and mountain wilderness, including a portion of the Brooks Range. Together with adjacent Kobuk Valley National Park and Noatak National Preserve, Gates of the Arctic forms one of the world’s largest park areas and is perhaps the greatest true wilderness in all of North America.

Here is how the clues lead you to the answer:

Being close to the December Solstice (aka “winter solstice”), the month of January offers no appreciable sunlight in places above (north of) the Arctic Circle. At this time of year in the Arctic realm, the Aurora Borealis (northern lights) can often be seen streaking and shimmering in the sky.

Airport gates (aka jetways), the movable, tunnel-like bridges used for embarking and disembarking aircraft passengers, are numbered sequentially in each concourse. Thus, the 4th gate in concourses A and B would be designated A4 and B4, respectively. Embarking passengers must line up in front of the door that opens to the jetway for their assigned aircraft. That is to say, people line up before the door so they can enter the gate.

Bill Gates is the co-founder, with Paul Allen, of Microsoft. Though the firm started small – based in Albuquerque, and originally called “Micro-Soft” – it evolved into the world’s largest personal computer software systems/applications company. Both Bill Gates and Paul Allen are billionaires ranking among the world’s wealthiest individuals.

Brooks Brothers, the oldest men’s clothiers chain in the United States, introduced ready-to-wear suits to the American market in the mid-1800s. Brooks Brothers became a household name and the venerable firm, which still has over 200 stores in the U.S., gained renown as a manufacturer of traditional men’s suits worn by millions of businessmen and officials.

Congratulations to the Traveler readers who figured this one out: Grella, GeorgeS, Hailsham, jchappell740, Bob M, Ranger Dave, Caprice Kutz, viewmtn, celbert, Connier, Steve Heraly, richp39, Ggggary4, Eric, Eric Nelson, Jim Haggerty, BTexan, Yellowstone Ed, tomp2, David Crowl, erpelding, Bergie, Rangertoo, DakotaToni, Ken, RangerLady, s, BrianD, and ed-123. All have qualified for our monthly prize drawing.