When you're on vacation, sometimes you want nothing more than to turn off your brain and enjoy your surroundings, especially when visiting a national park.
So it can be particularly frustrating when a fellow tourist ignores posted warnings and puts themselves into harm's way. Not only can their actions endanger their own lives, but they can also risk the safety of other visitors, park staff, and even wildlife.
A recent post on the popular Instagram community TouronsOfYellowstone (@touronsofyellowstone) captured the reckless and potentially deadly behavior of one tourist who happened to venture far off the boardwalks put in place at Yellowstone National Park.
"I ran across someone walking off the boardwalk at grand prismatic today," wrote the original uploader, Alexa d'Atri (alexa.datri). "Luckily they weren't hurt because a park ranger called them back and reprimanded them."
The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone National Park and one of the largest in the world. Its vibrant colors, caused by heat-loving bacteria living in the cooler water around the spring, make it a popular and iconic attraction.
Despite its allure, the spring boasts a water temperature that ranges from 145 to nearly 190 degrees Fahrenheit. This is hot enough to cause severe burns when exposed to bare skin without protection. The Grand Prismatic Spring has caused many injuries and deaths when individuals and even animals have fallen into scalding waters.
Because of the potential dangers, the national park has constructed a system of boardwalks for visitors. The area surrounding the spring can appear to be solid, but it is prone to cracking and sinking, making the boardwalks essential for visitors.
"It amazes [me] how people can continue to step off the boardwalk when there are signs everywhere and clearly no one else is … She was way far away too, I didn't start filming until she was almost back," added Atri.
Over in the comments section, a majority of users were equally as frustrated at the tourist as the original poster.
"Reprimanding doesn't work," said one commenter. "They need to be arrested and charged. Then they should be banned from Federal Parks."
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"I don't understand breaking rules that are there to protect both people and the environment," noted another user.
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