Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

A forum that'll feed your need for exploring the limitless adventure possibilities found in "other" places. Post trip reports or ask questions about outdoor adventures beyond the Sierra Nevada here.
User avatar
zacjust32
Topix Regular
Posts: 362
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:50 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker
Location: Fresno, Ca
Contact:

Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by zacjust32 »

BILLINGS, Mont. — A 23-year-old Portland, Oregon, man who died after falling into a Yellowstone National Park hot spring this summer was looking for a place to “hot pot,” or soak in the park’s natural thermal features.

A report by Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress says Sable Scott told investigators that she and her brother, Colin, left the boardwalk near Pork Chop Geyser on June 7. As she took video with her cellphone, her brother reached down to check the water temperature and fell into the scalding pool.

KULR-TV obtained the National Park Service’s final report through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Search and rescue rangers spotted Colin Scott’s body in the pool the day of the accident, but a lightning storm prevented recovery efforts. By the next day, workers could not find any remains.
Source: http://wgntv.com/2016/11/16/man-killed- ... ak-report/
User avatar
zacjust32
Topix Regular
Posts: 362
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:50 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker
Location: Fresno, Ca
Contact:

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by zacjust32 »

Terrible event, but what is it that makes these people think that this is ok? That steaming hot water with chemicals in it is safe!?!?!?! Not only do they potentially hurt themselves but more importantly destroy thousands of years of mineral deposits.
User avatar
rlown
Topix Docent
Posts: 8225
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:00 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Wilton, CA

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by rlown »

I can't say what should be said, but It is sad. I'll say this much: there is signage, decks with railings for the most part and literature that says "just don't"
Cross Country
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1328
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:16 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by Cross Country »

Could this really destroy thousands of years of mineral deposits. What does giant Brooke think about this. I lament that the man died but it's a lesson for those who underestimes things like this?
User avatar
rlown
Topix Docent
Posts: 8225
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:00 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Wilton, CA

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by rlown »

A follow-up piece: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/63207 ... king-place
dt.common.streams.StreamServer.jpeg
ASSOCIATED PRESS BY ASSOCIATED PRESS | November 17, 2016, 1:59PM | Updated 5 minutes ago.

BILLINGS, Mont. — An Oregon man who died after falling into a scalding Yellowstone National Park hot spring in June was looking for a place to "hot pot," the forbidden practice of soaking in one of the park's thermal features, officials said.

Sable Scott told investigators that she and her 23-year-old brother, Colin, left a boardwalk near Pork Chop Geyser and walked several hundred feet up a hill in search of "a place that they could potentially get into and soak," Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress told KULR-TV (bit.ly/2fulh4g) in an interview.

As Sable Scott took video of her brother with her cellphone on June 7, he reached down to check the water temperature and slipped and fell into a thermal pool about 6 feet long, 4 feet wide and 10 feet deep, according to a National Park Service incident record first reported by KULR.

Park officials did not release the video or a description of it, but the report said it also chronicled Sable Scott's efforts to rescue her brother.

Search and rescue rangers spotted Colin Scott's body floating in the pool the day of the accident, but a lightning storm prevented recovery, the report said.

The next day, workers could not find any remains in the boiling, acidic water.

"In very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving," Veress said.

The report included images of several signs warning people of the dangers of the park's geothermal features and of traveling off walkways in the area where Colin Scott died.

The National Park Service did not issue any citations in the case.

Scott was on a college graduation trip with his sister at the time of his death, which came a day after six people were cited for walking off-trail at the park's Grand Prismatic Spring.

A week later, a tourist from China was fined $1,000 for breaking through the fragile crust in the Mammoth Hot Springs area, apparently to collect water for medicinal purposes.

___

Information from: KULR-TV, http://www.kulr8.com

Yeah.. Don't do that.. They are impressive, but only for viewing..
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
Tom_H
Topix Expert
Posts: 795
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:11 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Camas, WA

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by Tom_H »

Cross Country wrote:Could this really destroy thousands of years of mineral deposits. What does giant Brooke think about this. I lament that the man died but it's a lesson for those who underestimes things like this?
His weight could break sections where he stepped, but his biomass would do little to change the chemical makeup of the ecosystem. Biomass from birds, mammals, and plants fall into those springs constantly.

Other reports say his entire body dissolved in the spring. I am guessing from a combination of heat and extremely low pH level. I suppose the massive amount of sulfur makes the water high in Sulfuric Acid, which dissolved flesh, bones, and everything.

You have to respect nature, even in a "civilized" section of a national park.
User avatar
zacjust32
Topix Regular
Posts: 362
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:50 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker
Location: Fresno, Ca
Contact:

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by zacjust32 »

rlown wrote:
A week later, a tourist from China was fined $1,000 for breaking through the fragile crust in the Mammoth Hot Springs area, apparently to collect water for medicinal purposes.
This was the event I was thinking of, not Yellowstone, but similar circumstances.
User avatar
Tom_H
Topix Expert
Posts: 795
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:11 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Camas, WA

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by Tom_H »

In my late 20s, I was in Yellowstone one time at Mammoth Hot Springs. The ranger had just told everyone to stay on the boardwalk and not touch the mineral deposits. There was a 50ish y.o. couple speaking English in a foreign accent. While pointing to a spot about 30 feet off the boardwalk, the woman told her husband to "go over there, break off a piece and bring it back for me." He got off, went several feet, and she yelled for him to go farther.

Upset, I started yelling to him that it was a federal crime and that he could not touch the deposits. He looked at me, but she kept yelling at him to do it. He kept going, but looked nervous. I yelled again that he could not do that. She told him to ignore me and that he better do it. There were at least 30 or more other people right there. I kept thinking others would join my protest, but everyone acted like they didn't want to get involved. He reached a place with a very pretty protrusion, reached down, and just snapped it off.

I was ready to accost the guy and take it away, but then my wife got all pissed at me and insisted I leave them alone lest they draw a weapon. It really pissed me off. It reminds me of the time I was driving slowly on 120 through Tuolumne Meadows. Some fool was parked right by the side of the highway with his rear hatch open. He pulls out an axe and starts chopping down a fir tree right by the road (for firewood I suppose). The ranger station was about 100 yds away so I just floored it, saw and yelled to a ranger, who jumped into a vehicle and raced back toward the tree.

Some people just don't have a clue.
User avatar
rlown
Topix Docent
Posts: 8225
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:00 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Wilton, CA

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by rlown »

either ignorance or the feeling of entitlement. Some will never get it that there are laws and guidelines for good reasons in this case.. could be just a lack of understanding right from wrong at a gut level.
User avatar
Lumbergh21
Topix Expert
Posts: 629
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:11 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker

Re: Man Killed in Yellowstone Hot Spring

Post by Lumbergh21 »

I'll say it. He deserved what he got. Better this than the idiots who ignored all directions and info provided upon entry to the park and "rescued" a bison calf from the cold, resulting in the death of the calf. Feel bad for his sister but not bad for him in the least.

All of these reports remind me of the last time I was in Yellowstone. I was at Mammoth when I saw a bear coming out of the trees into a grassy meadow next tot he road and buildings where some elk were grazing. The elk moved away while at least a dozen tourists started walking towards the bear taking pictures. Which of these groups of animals were the "dumb beasts"?
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests