A woman named Lainie (@lainielouuu) posted a video of herself hiking in California’s Owens River Gorge area when she spotted what appeared to be a door built into the side of a mountain. The clip, which has since racked up 1.7 million views, shows her deciding on the spot to find out what was inside.
As found by Brobible, the video opens with Lainie pointing her camera at a door visible in the far distance, surrounded by greenery on the mountainside. “What is that? What is that? I want to go in there? We’re going in there,” she says in the clip. She then sets off toward it, telling her viewers, “Alright guys, we are on the mission to the door in the middle of the mountain. We’re figuring it out together as we go.”
Getting to the door did not appear to be a straightforward route. The journey involved scrambling over rocks, crossing a river using a plank of wood, and navigating around what she identified as poison ivy. “See the scrambling we’re having to do right now,” she said during the climb. After making it across the water, she added, “And we made it back on stable ground.”
Lainie’s trek across rocks and a river ended with a surprising discovery
In the video, as she got closer, Lainie spotted a white cross painted on the ground and announced, “X marks the spot!” She could then see the door clearly and said it was “within reach.” But as she arrived, she admitted it was “definitely not as cool coming up to it,” adding, “I don’t know what the hell we about to encounter.”
The door turned out to be the entrance to a small, narrow brick structure. Inside was a toilet. “Ew,” she said upon seeing it.
The structure is a pit toilet located in the Owens River Gorge in California, according to a commenter who identified the location under the video. Lainie replied to that comment, saying, “First person to know where this is!” The same commenter added, “Fun story… my buddy was carried out of there on that stretcher.”
According to the Bishop Climbers’ Coalition, the idea for toilets in the Owens River Gorge is credited to James Wilson, who was reportedly the first owner of what is now the outdoor retailer Eastside Sports. June Lake contractor Dean Rosnau is said to have overseen the labor and construction of the facilities.
Rosnau reportedly sourced the bricks, vaults, and toilets at low prices, and Mammoth Mountain volunteered a crane to carry and place the vaults after Rosnau arranged it. Funding for the project apparently came from The Access Fund and what the Bishop Climbers’ Coalition describes as Eastside Sports’ “Chalk Tax.”
The placement of toilets on hiking trails like this one is not unusual, according to Trail Runner Magazine. The outlet notes that when human waste and related trash are left to accumulate on trails, it can lead to serious problems including impacts on wildlife behavior, damage to vegetation, and contamination of water and soil. Poor hygiene practices on trails may also lead to illness or infection. Hiking in remote areas can turn dangerous quickly, as one Arizona hiker learned after suffering over 100 bee stings while out on the trail.
The video drew a wide range of reactions in the comments. Many viewers said they recognized the structure immediately. “Anybody else know immediately,” wrote one user. Another commenter joked, “That’s Rick’s second secret toilet. Don’t use it!!” One user went a different route, writing, “Don’t go in there. It ends in backrooms,” alongside an image of Backrooms. Others reacted to the surprising reveal. “Hilarious I was not expecting that!” wrote another. User Kenz added, “The silence when you saw it was a toilet,” with a laughing emoji.
One commenter joked that taking a bathroom break there would “teleport you to an unknown location,” while another user called it simply a “portal potty.” Another commenter said that the plant Lainie crossed near was actually a thistle and not poison ivy, writing it was “not even similar.” Solo hiking in remote areas carries its own risks, as one teen’s disappearance near Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania showed.
Published: Jun 9, 2026 03:00 pm