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I have a question and I am not trying to be a non conformist or dismissive because I agree with all above comments. Why with the degree of danger involved would it be so easy to get to that spot? Never having been there, perhaps the answer is that it is not feasible to put a barrier up, but we all know how stupid some people can be and how litigious they can be, so why not something to prevent the idiots from venturing too close. TIA for your answer.
I agree that it was a dumb thing to do, but why should they be criminally charged, people do lots of dangerous stuff in these parks, rock climbing, rappelling, cave exploring, etc
I agree that it was a dumb thing to do, but why should they be criminally charged, people do lots of dangerous stuff in these parks, rock climbing, rappelling, cave exploring, etc
Man has "killed" several of the thermal features in the park. That's why.
Man has "killed" several of the thermal features in the park. That's why.
And their stupidity could spoil it for everyone else. They refuse to read the signs or obey the rules. So what if the park starts fencing everything in and restricting access--that wrecks it for the good people who do respect the rules.
When I was there a long time ago, there was a boardwalk that went out into the paint pots--it was like a sea of boiling, bubbling mud. No railings, nothing. Then I read that someone fell in and so they had to put railings there. Okay, that's good. But next thing you know some idiot will probably try to crawl under the railings and then people won't be allowed there anymore.
I wonder if that happened yet. If people can still go walking out through the paint pots on a boardwalk?
Makes me wonder if kids are getting any education in schools--those kids wanted to soak in the boiling mud? DUH? Has no one every taught them? Can they not read signs? No education?
Or is it just another example of the pervasive stupidity so prevalent in this society lately?
I agree that it was a dumb thing to do, but why should they be criminally charged, people do lots of dangerous stuff in these parks, rock climbing, rappelling, cave exploring, etc
Because it apparently is posted do not trespass on to the area. If posted Trespassing is a criminal offense. Jus tile you are not supposed to remove anything from a federal park that you didn't bring in with you.
Why with the degree of danger involved would it be so easy to get to that spot? Never having been there, perhaps the answer is that it is not feasible to put a barrier up, but we all know how stupid some people can be and how litigious they can be, so why not something to prevent the idiots from venturing too close.
Former NPS employee here. There's always a difficult balance between installing more signs, railings, fences or other barriers to protect the deliberately stupid, and protecting the character and the views of the place. There is quite a large area of unstable ground around geysers/vents where it isn't feasible or safe to install all that. Who wants to risk workers in order to build that close to thermal vents? I'd suspect not much would last very long out there because of the caustic soils and vapors.
Visitors want photos of the features, not fences. Visitors want to view the scene without manmade junk. There tend to be cycles: some sort of accident occurs, there's an outcry about how dangerous nature is and how negligent the agency was, which triggers an uber-safety conscious cycle when all sorts of infrastructure gets put up to keep people separated from the hazards, then the NPS gets complaints from visitors about how artificial it all is, so the stuff gets removed. Rinse and repeat. There's always faint hope that people will use their brains and not wander into danger if they are educated in advance, but signs just don't work for the arrogant.
Last edited by Parnassia; 09-18-2019 at 11:57 AM..
Makes me wonder if kids are getting any education in schools--those kids wanted to soak in the boiling mud? DUH? Has no one every taught them? Can they not read signs? No education?
Or is it just another example of the pervasive stupidity so prevalent in this society lately?
People walking on thin crust around geysers or falling into thermal springs has been going on for a long time.
But I don’t know why some people are prone to ignore signs.
Another poster has asked how easy is it to actually walk up to Old Faithful. This geyser sits in a large thermal basin where there are other geysers and springs. You can walk around in the basin on boardwalks, I believe. Old Faithful has its own large viewing area partially surrounding it. But the stands set up for viewing are quite a way back from the geyser, for obvious reasons. You don’t want people sitting too close because they could get sprayed with hot water.
I think the offenders must have walked off the designated path parallel to, but pretty far from the stands, because of how the pics show them.
The geysers do not have barriers around them. There are so many geysers! And people come to the park to see them blow. But there are signs everywhere. And the basins smell strongly of sulphur. You have to sense the danger in getting too close, stumbling in, or going through the thin crust around the geysers and springs.
Man has "killed" several of the thermal features in the park. That's why.
It would be like destroying property owned by all of us.
But if someone had a terrible accident or event, the Park service would marshal EMTs, and other emergency vehicles. Yellowstone is huge. Help for the unfortunate might take a long time to arrive. (This would probably nit be the case around Old Faithful). My point is that tax dollars would be spent in rescue and emergency efforts.
At bottom, however, what they did was illegal. Also stupid.
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