Some people just have no common sense. A Yellowstone tourist broke safety protocols and walked across a protected off-limitz area in flip flops.
The shocking incident happened on July 28. Someone posted about the incident in the public Facebook group "Yellowstone: Invasion of the Idiots." It showed an anonymous man walking across a bacterial mat at Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring. This is an off-limits area due to the living organism living in the pool. Additionally, thermal heat proves to be dangerous at the park.
"Visitors must realize that walking on thermal features is dangerous, damages the resource [is] and illegal," Chief Ranger Sarah Davis said in a statement at the time, per the release.
"Law enforcement officers take this violation seriously. Yellowstone National Park also appreciates the court for recognizing the impact thermal trespass can have on these amazing features," Davis added.
Yellowstone Tourist Ignores Warning
There's a reason that the park has areas that are off-limits. Yellowstone is full of boardwalks and walking paths to help protect the features, but also prevent tourists from getting injured.
"Boardwalks and trails protect you and delicate thermal formations," the park reports. "Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs."
The shocking display comes after a teen severely burned himself while hiking at the park. His foot went through the thin crust, submerging in a boiling pool below. It left him with a significant injury to his ankle and foot, requiring medical attention. People have also died at Yellowstone after accidentally falling through the crust at various areas in the park. More than 20 people have died in Yellowstone due to thermal activity.
Their deaths aren't considered to be pleasant. Although the water isn't acidic like some believe, it is very hot.
"People think of the pools like alien blood or something like that," Mike Poland, scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told Cowboy State Daily in June. "That's not the way the pools work. The big hot springs are almost all neutral, but they're boiling. That's what causes harm to people and animals."
