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Not necessarily. I was in Shenandoah National Park last summer, and encountered a "bear jam" on the Skyline Drive (which runs the length of the long, narrow mountain ridgetop park). A mama bear and two cubs were about twenty feet from the road, back in the woods. People were leaving their cars in the road and jumping out to get closer. They were not only taking photos, but were yelling at the bears (and at each other - "Hey, Mabel! Look at the BEARS!! Hey, bear, come over HERE!!") and dragging kids over for photo-ops.
I've seen the same behavior in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
There are signs everywhere about giving bears wide berth and remaining in cars - but people just can't resist bear selfies, evidently.
Or moose selfies, or deer selfies, or raccoon selfies...
Some people need to be in cages, not wild animals. Thankfully, the animals still roam free in the eastern parks, just as in the western ones.
Yes animals are unpredictable - whether they are out West or back East. The scale of the natural hazards is greater out West - governments simply cannot protect everything that can kill or the humans that can be killed. Here, in the East, we are fairly quick to replace damaged guardrails and, out West, they never constructed the guardrails or the railings. It was a shocking contrast to my wife and I when we took a long road trip.
I do agree that people can be stupid no matter where they live or visit.
PS While this thread is about the heat of the hot springs; there is also the acid. Many of those hot springs have a PH of between 4 and 2 - pretty acidic.
You can break your neck falling down in your bathtub. Have to know more about whether they purposefully and willfully climbed over some railing, were drunk or ? Maybe he just tripped and fell. Some of you guys are kinda quick to blame.
You can break your neck falling down in your bathtub. Have to know more about whether they purposefully and willfully climbed over some railing, were drunk or ? Maybe he just tripped and fell. Some of you guys are kinda quick to blame.
Have you ever been to Yellowstone? The springs are at least a hundred feet from the boardwalk.
Unless the walkway caved in underneath him or a safety railing gave way, this is a case of someone being an idiot.
We were at Yellowstone three years ago. You couldn't walk ten feet without encountering a sign written in about 20 languages that warned people about a) the hot springs and b) the animals. Yet in the 48 hours we were there, there were three fatalities, one from a man falling off a horse. But the other two? A guy fell through the crust of a hot spring because he strayed off the walkways to get a picture and another guy who got way too close to an elk.
Have you ever been to Yellowstone? The springs are at least a hundred feet from the boardwalk.
Not so! I've been and I have many pictures of hot springs just a few (like maybe 10) feet beyond a railing that I am posing against. In fact there is one wooden bridge crossing something called a hot creek, which is exactly what it sounds like. Being a dope, I thought that it couldn't be that hot after running out of the hotspring and across a hundred or more feet of cold rocks. So I knelt down on the bridge and stuck the tip of a finger, just one, into the water and burned the cr*p out of my finger.
This guy was an employee of the concessionaire in the park. He should have known better. Sad for him and his family, but you can't fix stupid.
Being a dope, I thought that it couldn't be that hot after running out of the hotspring and across a hundred or more feet of cold rocks. So I knelt down on the bridge and stuck the tip of a finger, just one, into the water and burned the cr*p out of my finger.
Hahaha, how are those rocks cold if they have hot water rolling over them? Glad you're OK
That's very sad. These hot springs are no joke, and everyone needs to be very attentive around them.
A girl I coached on a gymnastics team had been severely burned up to the hips by falling or jumping into a hot spring at the age of 5 or 6. The spring was cordoned off, but she slipped away from her parents and under the barrier. By the time I knew her, her legs were a mass of scars from skin grafts, but she was not particularly embarrassed by them and just wore a leotard like everyone else. I recall that at one meet we attended, the coach of the other team complained that the sight of "Julie's" legs disturbed her girls and we ought not let her compete. We told her off pretty fast.
It's far more understandable for a young child to fall or jump into a hot spring - little kids being, well, little kids (and a parent can just take his/her eyes off the kid for a few seconds and the kid gets into trouble or danger) - than a 21 year old. I'm sorry for both, but more for "Julie", since her comprehension of the danger would not have been as thorough as that of the young man. Sounds like the other coach was a jerk.
I have been at Yellowstone several times, and you can see "boiled" animals in those hot springs all the time. From deer to large animals such as horses. So, people should stay away and walk only on the designated areas. That water is extremely hot.
Kids younger than 5, should stay at the hotel !!!
That place is not for kids.
Have you ever been to Yellowstone? The springs are at least a hundred feet from the boardwalk.
Many of the hot springs in Yellowstone are very close to the boardwalks and trails. At night, especially if alcohol and/or bad judgement was involved, it would be not that difficult to imagine many scenarios where someone could accidentally fall into a hot spring/mud pot. I actually find it amazing that more little kids don't get burned considering how close the trails are to some of the hot springs and how pretty and inviting some of them look. The people getting seriously burned are for the most part young people from 18 - 35 who exercise bad judgement in a dangerous spot.
Many of the hot springs in Yellowstone are very close to the boardwalks and trails. At night, especially if alcohol and/or bad judgement was involved, it would be not that difficult to imagine many scenarios where someone could accidentally fall into a hot spring/mud pot. I actually find it amazing that more little kids don't get burned considering how close the trails are to some of the hot springs and how pretty and inviting some of them look. The people getting seriously burned are for the most part young people from 18 - 35 who exercise bad judgement in a dangerous spot.
Uhhh...they have steam rising off them and/or are bubbling. Both indicate VERY HOT, to keep it basic.
"Little kids" should be educated/monitored/contained by their parents.
No one should be there after dark, in other words, after closing hours.
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