It's off to a fast start already this year! A list of incidents involving people trying to obtain the coveted Darwin Award. I will keep you up to date of all the stupid tourist tricks.
Originally Posted by Dave Lane:
Actually several rangers there know me and I'm sort of a minor celebrity there. One of the rangers told me, its better to beg forgiveness than it is to ask permission.
Originally Posted by Dave Lane:
I may or may not have stepped off the path a time or two for a photo. Not like they did mind you but a couple steps here or there
I have a rule. If grass is growing there it is safe :-)
That probably works when you're not at altitude. I can't even count the number of times I've wanted to throw rocks at people walking on the tundra in Rocky Mountain National Park (often in order to approach an elk more closely).
I presume the reason we do not walk on the spring is because it would interfere with the algae blooms that give the spring its color?
I mean, to me it looks like a fairly benign, if hot, body of water that probably isn't going to be badly disturbed by human presence. At least not any more so than countless other natural features in the nation that we allow people to go traipsing about. I think of Yosemite in particular as a place just full of stuff where people are allowed to go just about anywhere that won't kill them (and sometimes places that will).
Algae blooms are pretty much impossible to really damage so long as the nutrients that feed them remain in the water. Seeing as how those nutrients are likely coming from deep within the earth, i figure we can't do much to disturb that.
I'm sure I'm incredibly wrong here, I'm just curious as to why I'm wrong and what it is I don't understand. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
So yellowstone folks - educate me here.
I presume the reason we do not walk on the spring is because it would interfere with the algae blooms that give the spring its color?
I mean, to me it looks like a fairly benign, if hot, body of water that probably isn't going to be badly disturbed by human presence. At least not any more so than countless other natural features in the nation that we allow people to go traipsing about. I think of Yosemite in particular as a place just full of stuff where people are allowed to go just about anywhere that won't kill them (and sometimes places that will).
Algae blooms are pretty much impossible to really damage so long as the nutrients that feed them remain in the water. Seeing as how those nutrients are likely coming from deep within the earth, i figure we can't do much to disturb that.
I'm sure I'm incredibly wrong here, I'm just curious as to why I'm wrong and what it is I don't understand.
I think it's primarily because you can step in the wrong spot and collapse the dirt so that you sink knee deep into boiling water. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
I think it's primarily because you can step in the wrong spot and collapse the dirt so that you sink knee deep into boiling water.
I didn't think it was that hot around the edges; that's why the algae can grow out there (and why it's so blue in the center; extremely hot where it's flowing out, makes it sterile there and thus very blue). In the area where they were walking, I figure you'd just be at 'hot bath' temperatures.
I totally get not wanting a tide of tourists just walking through there, but it seems unlikely to me that these guys could've actually done any real damage. Hell, it seems unlikely to me that they couldn't take a couple of groups out there daily to 'see the spring' and guide them apart from the liability issues associated with taking anyone onto a shifting mud surface.
This just seems like a lot of people are upset about all the damage these guys could've done but I really don't think they could do much; algae's sturdy shit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
That probably works when you're not at altitude. I can't even count the number of times I've wanted to throw rocks at people walking on the tundra in Rocky Mountain National Park (often in order to approach an elk more closely).
It's infuriating.
I so need to come visit. I'll throw rocks. I'm not scared. We just need to leave the wives at home. Mine might not be happy if I bounce a rock off some dudes dome. :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
So yellowstone folks - educate me here.
I presume the reason we do not walk on the spring is because it would interfere with the algae blooms that give the spring its color?
I mean, to me it looks like a fairly benign, if hot, body of water that probably isn't going to be badly disturbed by human presence. At least not any more so than countless other natural features in the nation that we allow people to go traipsing about. I think of Yosemite in particular as a place just full of stuff where people are allowed to go just about anywhere that won't kill them (and sometimes places that will).
Algae blooms are pretty much impossible to really damage so long as the nutrients that feed them remain in the water. Seeing as how those nutrients are likely coming from deep within the earth, i figure we can't do much to disturb that.
I'm sure I'm incredibly wrong here, I'm just curious as to why I'm wrong and what it is I don't understand.
A huge number of people go to Yellowstone every year. One or two people leaving the path of the popular areas likely doesn't hurt anything. But if thousands of people did it, everything would eventually be trampled to dirt and mud. So instead they create designated paths to contain the impact of thousands of humans to specific areas.
Originally Posted by :
A teenage girl visiting Yellowstone National Park suffered serious injuries when she tried to pose for a photo next to a bison.
The 16-year-old Taiwanese exchange student and her host family were hiking near Old Faithful Geyser on Friday afternoon when they came across a bison grazing, according to a news release from the National Park Service. The group was between 3 and 6 feet away from the animal at the time.
When the teen turned her back to the bison to have her picture taken, the bison took a few steps and "gored her," the National Park Service reported.
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
That's a year old.
But yeah, they'll do that. Don't **** with buffalo.
True but trust me, the bison are just getting warmed up for the start of tourist season. :-) More selfie sticks and their owners will go air born before long. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I didn't think it was that hot around the edges; that's why the algae can grow out there (and why it's so blue in the center; extremely hot where it's flowing out, makes it sterile there and thus very blue). In the area where they were walking, I figure you'd just be at 'hot bath' temperatures.
I totally get not wanting a tide of tourists just walking through there, but it seems unlikely to me that these guys could've actually done any real damage. Hell, it seems unlikely to me that they couldn't take a couple of groups out there daily to 'see the spring' and guide them apart from the liability issues associated with taking anyone onto a shifting mud surface.
This just seems like a lot of people are upset about all the damage these guys could've done but I really don't think they could do much; algae's sturdy shit.
I don't know if it applies in this exact area or not, but presume it does. When I was there a few years ago there were signs saying that the ground was not always what it seemed and you risked serious injury by walking off the paths.
That said, the bison and elk completely ignored the signs and seemed to be fine. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
I don't know if it applies in this exact area or not, but presume it does. When I was there a few years ago there were signs saying that the ground was not always what it seemed and you risked serious injury by walking off the paths.
That said, the bison and elk completely ignored the signs and seemed to be fine.
In almost all cases they weigh a lot less than us and have their weight distributed by 4 legs. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I didn't think it was that hot around the edges; that's why the algae can grow out there (and why it's so blue in the center; extremely hot where it's flowing out, makes it sterile there and thus very blue). In the area where they were walking, I figure you'd just be at 'hot bath' temperatures.
I totally get not wanting a tide of tourists just walking through there, but it seems unlikely to me that these guys could've actually done any real damage. Hell, it seems unlikely to me that they couldn't take a couple of groups out there daily to 'see the spring' and guide them apart from the liability issues associated with taking anyone onto a shifting mud surface.
This just seems like a lot of people are upset about all the damage these guys could've done but I really don't think they could do much; algae's sturdy shit.
It's not the damage of one person. If everyone did it the place would be ruined in a week and there would be 100s of people in ER with serious burns. I have lots of cool photos I took there, they sell them in the giftshops there, but I never stepped on anything but grass. If the grass is growing its not hot below it and I wont contaminate the springs. Several of the pools have been stopped up because people threw pennies in the them. [Reply]
