A tourist visiting Yellowstone National Park has been recorded dashing off the boardwalk to set up his camera right on the rim of a hot spring.
Visitors to Yellowstone are warned to stay on boardwalks at all times when visiting the park's geothermal areas. Straying too close to spring and pools is incredibly dangerous because the ground can be fragile, and the groundwater underneath can be extremely hot.
The incident was recorded by a tour guide from Yellowstone Adventure Tours, and shared on Instagram account TouronsOfYellowstone, which specializes in highlighting bad behavior at US National Parks (from petting bison to chasing bears). In the clip, which you can watch below, the man runs right behind a warning sign, completely ignoring it.
"Hot springs have injured or killed more people in Yellowstone than any other natural feature," advises the National Park Service (NPS). "Keep your children close and don’t let them run."
Visitors are also warned not to touch thermal features or runoff, and never to try swimming or soaking in the hot water. More than 20 people have died as a result of burns suffered in hot springs, including a man named Colin Scott who accidentally fell into the Norris Geyser Basin in 2016.
As The Guardian reported at the time, Scott was looking for a place to go 'hot potting' with his sister when he slipped into the scalding water. Attempts to recover him were delayed by severe storms, and by the following morning it was determined that the extremely hot, acidic water had dissolved his body, leaving only a wallet and a pair of flip-flops.
