Yellowstone Natl Park

[WyoTraveler]

They lost another tourist in the park. 23 year old tourist stepped off the walkway and broke through the thin crust falling into the acidic steam pot. They found no organic remains, only personal property.

This has been a high accident year at Yellowstone.

[profdant139]

If you don't like the boardwalks and the tourists, and if you are willing to hike for several miles through the backcountry (make lots of noise to scare off the bears and the bison), you can have your very own private Yellowstone geyser field:




We sat there for a good hour, just enjoying the silence, punctuated by the roar of the geyser every couple of minutes. As far as we could tell, we were the only people for several miles around -- during the entire day of hiking, we saw no one. (In case you are wondering, the shot was taken on a tripod with a timer -- I had to push the button and then run into the shot. We have since gotten a radio remote trigger, which gives us a bigger radius, with no more awkward running.)

Yes, the ground was quite warm to sit on, even though this was a cold day in October -- heated chairs! And yes, we were extremely cautious about not getting too close to the pool. We carefully tested the crust to make sure we would not plunge through into a subterranean steam chamber, which can ruin your whole day.

But there is always some risk in venturing away from the boardwalks and into the "unmanicured" parts of the park!

[crcr]

We were there once, and would never go back, because of all those wooden boardwalks across hot pools. There are no barriers, and the walkways are two way. We had occasion to meet folks going the other way, who were walking 2 or 3 abreast and were so inconsiderate of the safety of others, that they wouldn't switch to single file when passing folks going the other direction, making it very unsafe to walk on the boardwalks.

[Johno02]

This is a National park!! Congress should pass a law declaring the entire park as dangerous and spend lots of money building high fences with armed guards and lights to keep people from killing themselves.

[Johno02]

Darwin wins again....

[bukhrn]

Sorry for his family, but this just eliminated one more glitch in the gene pool, And don't tell me he couldn't read the signs.

[TucsonJim]

Why don't they just shut off the geyser and hot pool switches when somebody ventures off the boardwalk?

[Twomed]

NPS YELL PRESS RELEASE

WyoTraveler wrote:
They lost another tourist in the park. 23 year old tourist stepped off the walkway and broke through the thin crust falling into the acidic steam pot. They found no organic remains, only personal property.

This has been a high accident year at Yellowstone.

NPS YELL PRESS RELEASE

Busy and just getting started good.

[brirene]

Veebyes wrote:
What are NPs supposed to do, put up railings on otherwise safe boardwalks or at the edge of ravines?

At that point we might as well call it a zoo. And I really dislike zoos. If Ed Abbey were still alive his head would explode!

[WILDEBILL308]

It is my observation not that people die in the national parks every year but that so few die in the national parks every year.
Bill

[ReneeG]

Actually his sister was a witness to the incident.

[westernrvparkow]

Apparently he was hiking alone, so this is one of those rare instances where a Yellowstone tragedy was not preceded by the phrase "Watch This!"

[Veebyes]

What are NPs supposed to do, put up railings on otherwise safe boardwalks or at the edge of ravines?

They put up signs everywhere warning people of what is very obvious danger yet still people disregard what is posted. There is sympathy for the family but Darwin will win everytime if you give him the chance.

[Corky12]

From what I have read he did not just "step off" the boardwalk. He was 20+ yards off the boardwalk. The natural world is not forgiving.