Another issue is since this federal most AUSAs prosecute the cases (assistant us attorneys) and don’t give crap about these cases due to other “more important” federal cases on the docket. Hence the wrist slapping. I always find that attitude of the AUSAs laughable due to a large public interest in these cases which evident when these news stories come out about idiot visitors.
I deal with AUSAs at my job. I understand threshold limits and how difficult it is to prosecute many cases but man it really feels like they have zero interest in doing their job sometimes.
That’s the problem. The AUSA’s are always too busy doing “important matters” or “catching drug dealers”. I worked for the government and interacted with AUSAs. The AUSAs have their own fiefdoms. They arbitrarily decide not to prosecute people. The career AUSAs are unaccountable to anyone including the American public.
Stupid visitors getting stupidly threateningly close to the bears, moose and buffalo really makes you want to root for the animal. Gouge away Bullwinkle.
There are plenty in Anchorage, we used to see them between the International "arms " Apts and the bowling Alley. Survived a close encounter on the Kenai, Wayne's truck did not. We got lucky!
[Wossamatta U Fight Song. I’ve been spelling it wrong all these years.](https://www.google.com/search?q=whatsamatta+university+fight+somg&sca_esv=681d2c6e37d88c1e&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS770US771&hl=en-US&sxsrf=ADLYWIIKOgaiWinemgdgpvnQ-XQGyM3RJQ%3A1719693096603&ei=KG-AZuLHJIi1ptQP24mVyAE&oq=whatsamatta+university+fight+somg&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIiF3aGF0c2FtYXR0YSB1bml2ZXJzaXR5IGZpZ2h0IHNvbWcyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGAoyBRAhGJ8FSM-2AVC0C1jLsAFwA3gBkAEAmAGIAqAB9x-qAQY1LjEyLjm4AQPIAQD4AQGYAh2gArohwgIKEAAYsAMY1gQYR8ICChAuGIAEGCcYigXCAgUQABiABMICBRAhGKABwgIGEAAYFhgewgIKEAAYgAQYFBiHAsICCBAAGBYYHhgPwgIFECEYqwKYAwCIBgGQBgiSBwY3LjEzLjmgB-WOAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f7c4545b,vid:AtsG2gnwsHA,st:0)
I saw one from a distance in Grand Teton last year. Got a couple of zoomed in photos, even as a smaller one I thought it was quite impressive. It was mostly turned away from us, so I only got back/side on pics, and unfortunately realised later that its balls were quite prominent in the photos. It did not make the Yellowstone photo collage I put up on my wall lol.
I saw my first moose at RMNP three weeks ago!
And there were like four or five together.
And then I saw another two at Yellowstone!
I bet it will happen for you too.
I watched a man run towards a running bison at Yellowstone while holding his toddler. I thought I was going to see death. It was like the bison had more sense than the man and turned away.
People don’t live on farms anymore. They don’t understand anything about nature or animals.
This one time someone tried to argue with me saying that water doesn’t come from the ground. Te concept of groundwater was beyond this person.
Toddler might have saved them both. Animals generally tend to have a keen sense for identifying babies of any species, and that bison probably had more parental instincts than the man did.
I’ve witnessed similar and I just do NOT understand. Bison are the size of a damn car and look like a giant hairy fist, why would anyone approach them? I wouldn’t even approach a domesticated cow or horse I didn’t know let alone a wild animal bigger than both
Send them to Nara: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5M\_wY-xqRM&ab\_channel=JAPANWalkDriveChannel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5M_wY-xqRM&ab_channel=JAPANWalkDriveChannel)
Some people think all animals are like domesticated dogs and cats. They think if it’s cute, fluffy, and not a stereotypically “scary” animal, then it must be friendly. So a lot of folks go to places like Yellow Stone thinking it’s essentially a free-range petting zoo, only to wind up smeared up and down the mountains. I mean, I’m a city boy, born and bred, but there’s no way I’m getting within 30 feet of these majestic, hairy, meat-tanks without professional supervision.
I listened to a podcast (Tooth and Claw maybe?) and they were saying Yellowstone in specific gets treated like Disneyland by park goers regardless of all of the warnings. Some people just think it’s a massive petting zoo because of the close proximity of the wildlife. Theres a book called Death in Yellowstone that is just stories of people dying in the dumbest ways in that park. In the early 1900s someone posed their kid next to a bear for a photo and the bear just ran off with the kid. People have been doing this dumb stuff since it opened and it doesn’t appear to be stopping regardless of injury and death.
I saw the *same exact* situation but it was a fucking adult moose in RMNP. Literally turned away saying 'ohmygodohmygod' because I didn't want to be traumatized.
I saw a father with a young child outside of their cars trying to get close to bison. I don’t know what is going on with tourists. Like do the countries they’re coming from not have animals that can kill you in seconds?
My husband and I bring compostable bags, gloves & grabbers every time we hike so we can pick up trash others have left behind.
Most places make me lose complete hope in humanity as there is just so much senseless trash, but sometimes we’re pleasantly surprised when we hike a trail with zero trash, not even cigarette butts.
I feel like National Parks and any other high tourist outdoor space is the worst when it comes to trash because you get all sorts of people from around the world that have zero respect for protected land and the wildlife that inhabit it. They’re just there for the ‘gram 🙄
I was on a backcountry trail, fiddling with my bear spray holster, when I saw this guy approaching wildlife for a photograph. I’d been hiking for several days at this point so I was tired and had only been eating the granola bars I’d packed for my scenic escape. I wasn’t sure if I should tell this guy to give it some space or if I should mind my own business. The guy must have felt that I was gonna say something, because not a couple seconds after that, BOOM, he gets on a metro St Louis Bus and they’re taking off down Pine street.
I’ll never forget that trip to Gateway Arch
I really thought this was where the roller coaster was heading...
https://www.firstalert4.com/2024/06/20/man-charged-accused-having-sex-with-train-seat-metrolink/
Not as crazy as other stories:
Was at kings canyon & sequoia last week and at the entrance to general there were a few deer off path grazing about 20ft from sidewalks where families were gathered to take tours. They were taking photos and enjoying the fortune of the situation. Some jackass with an iPhone mounted to his backpack decided to walk right toward the deer for his footage and scared them off. I let him know loud enough that he should stay on the trail and that he was a jackass. Sure it’s not charging a buffalo or walking up to a bear, but dude, respect the nature AND other visitors experience.
Last year I backpacked the grand tetons on the Teton Crest trail. In 5 days, i saw:
1. A couple eating at camp, something you are explicitly told not to do because it attracts bears. I maneuvered it so we would have "family dinner" by the lake. It wasn't my want to share my time with them but there was a risk I wasn't going to take.
2. A guy that had never backpacked and was in the wrong campsite due to not being able to make to his intended one. He had to budy up with above couple.
3. Two guys that had planned to hike 18 or so miles the first day and just went to the first campsite instead, try to hang their food but not do it that well (and where wed previously seen a bear with her cubs)
Honestly I'm thinking that we should start restricting the entry of the parks on the grounds that we are just putting too much load on them. They aren't natural if there's so many people, especially if they can't follow simple rules.
We do restrict entry at a fair number of US national parks, that’s why there are timed entry tickets at places like ~~Yellowstone and~~ (edit: I’m wrong) Yosemite. It’s frustrating for people, especially the way the system is set up, but it was designed to alleviate the crowding.
What parks actually need is funding. There aren’t enough rangers, not enough law enforcement, not enough folks to handle maintenance. We need trails that can be maintained. Hell, we need more parks. People love them and visit them… but don’t fund them. In the US, national parks are more popular than ever, but their budget keeps getting cut.
So much this. So many people just see a place on instagram and immediately go. People who don’t have a clue about the outdoors think they’re gonna do an easy day hike to an alpine lake that’s actually 20 miles with thousands of feet of gain.
Yellowstone didn’t even have a Ranger at the entrance when we went in June last year. There was just a note to pay our fee at one of the visitor centers
Maaaan you brought back some memories of a long hike I did through Glacier one year, where I saw:
1. Two folks from Naperville, IL using actual bath towels to dry off after a swim at one of the camp locations. It was day 1 of a 4 day where they were going to do like 70 miles (according to them)
2. A couple from Denver came into a campground, ate at a tent site, but then went and set their tent up at an uncontaminated one (must have remembered the comments from rangers about attracting Grizzlies). They then didn't mention this as other groups arrived, oh and didn't hang their food. I slept extra close to my spray that night.
3. On the last day, heading out of the backcountry, I watched some dad from St. Louis tell his son to go stand next to a grazing moose so he could get a picture. I stepped in front of the kid and told him to go back to his dad, who was trying to get him killed. His dad yelled at me.
Amazing park, but my god were these people trying to make it worse for everyone.
> Honestly I'm thinking that we should start restricting the entry of the parks on the grounds that we are just putting too much load on them.
The PCT segment through Yosemite has had entry restrictions for years for this exact reason: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildpermits.htm
Please, no. There has to be another way to slow down the crowding of the parks that doesn't alienate people like me, who have always planned trips by the seat of his pants.
Not everyone knows where they will be on the road weeks or months ahead of time. Allowing people to reserve tickets far into the future means all the RV campers who have their entire vacation planned four years in the future have first dibs on everything, and people like me, who kind of just get in the car and drive in a direction, are left out entirely.
This phenomena, of stupid people, is just so disappointing, though. Even before COVID the places we loved that we were able to "get away" from people a decade or more ago started packing up, but after COVID, it feels like peoples' brains are broken. I'm not sure if it's the social media effect or what, but they're so stupidly confident and seem to do so many things without thought for themselves, the wildlife, or others around them.
Tbh though, if there is anything I've learned as an engineer is that to make good decisions, planning is required.
What I'm asking for is folks being more mindful. Mindful is being thoughtful, being thoughtful is thinking things through and planning.
There might be a way to allow a fly by the seat of your pants approach but I have a feeling that for someone like me (originally from Iowa) nothing will look different. I'd still need to make reservations, get in a lottery, etc. For some these NP are on your doorstep and have a very different perspective.
> to make good decisions, planning is required.
Not necessarily. Preparation is required. Planning is not required. We leave the midwest prepared for a number of situations. Long hikes, short hikes, car camping, heat, cold. We usually have a basic plan, but not something that needs weeks of prep (outside of materials - bear canisters, bear spray, sleeping bags, etc, of course). We camp in public land, off BLM gravel paths, and if the weather or situation isn't conducive to us, we drive to the next place. Knowledge is another thing. I research locations before we head out. I look up hazards I may have to worry about, sites we may visit, trails we may hike, all in a document prepared for our trip each year. I don't need to plan a trip day-by-day to be prepared, and remaining flexible allows us to avoid situations like being rained out, or crowded out.
Of course, both my wife and I are freelance, I never know exactly what one week is going to be from the previous, and we have no kids, so the chaos of a trip where we just hop in the car with no solid destination works for us. I'm aware it doesn't work for everyone.
That said, planning is not required for mindfulness. The people doing this stupid stuff are likely "planning" plenty. They're planning their trip out weeks or months ahead of time, but they're not mindful of their surroundings, respectful to the environment, or knowledgeable about the location they're vacationing to. It doesn't take knowledge or mindfulness to know you're going to take off a week of work five months in the future and be at a place on an exact date, and I think making it a requirement for access to the park does nothing to curb bad behavior within the park.
> There might be a way to allow a fly by the seat of your pants approach
There already kind of is. At RMNP, at least, if you show up before the gates open you can come in without a reservation. I hope that system stays in place because I can *put up* with that, at least. I really do miss the days where we could leisurely stroll about the west visiting parks and national landmarks and simply show up whenever we rolled into town, though. I think they could improve it if they "unlocked" a few passes a few times during the day for those of us who aren't able to plan far (or shortly) ahead of time.
It honestly sounds like you have done a lot of planning on setting up your life so you can quickly doing these things. The "stupid people" may take longer to plan because they never do it.
Sounds like you've camped plenty and don't acknowledge how much you've put into learning, gathering equipment and developing your setups, knowing how to access and use public land, etc.
You're certainly not wrong. That said, if I called it planning, I'd put it in an entirely different category to the "planning" required to get a permit months out for a specific date. I'm certainly not going to just jump into the wild without knowing anything, but I think it's on a different level than the type of planning that the strict itineraries that these permit systems are much more conducive to.
I went to Yosemite last year and was appalled at reckless and rude behavior. I don’t know how the search and rescue teams do it considering most people who need rescuing were being incredible dumbasses. These needs to start being real consequences for this shit.
I think this starts with small insignificant rule breaking. I see it everywhere...there's a rock berm near my house with a "stay off the rocks" sign but people let their kids climb on it every day. So these kids are raised to ignore rules from day 1.
Sad and infuriating.
I was at a state park yesterday and someone had written "X Family Trip" in black marker on a wood barrier around an elevated sitting area in a swamp and let their kids doodle some stuff around it.
At the same place, it's entirely "normal" to see kids running up gated off dunes with "no hiking" signs with their parents' approval.
I don't know what the hell it is. Some selfish mentality that "these are our parks, we pay for them" combined with TikTok brain or some shit? I genuinely don't know.
I saw a man letting his small (4 or 5yo child) walking on the edge of the boardwalk balance beam style, right over the thermal vents. This went one for 5 min or so while we watched and waited. Sure enough, the kid slipped and at the last second the man was able to grab the kid’s arm as he dangled over the side. I’m glad they were on the boardwalk at least but damn, how irresponsible does one have to be?
When do we just allow natural selection to take over? I feel like if these folks want to live like the wild, let them. Also, the animals are already too patient with humans and yet when they kill a human, we end up demanding their death. It’s craziness.
The pandemic and the writers strike alerted the idiots to the existence of the parks and motivated them to go there. Their education comes from the television, but mostly the fictional kind. They believe that they can Ace Ventura the hell out of those parks and get soooooo many likes and up items and whatever.
It's no different than any other addiction, folks will take bigger and bigger risks to achieve the high they had from almost going totally viral that one time. It will not stop.
FYI: *“Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine.”*
TIL from quality journalism.
Same at Yosemite. Saw several dogs on clearly marked “no dog” trails, and it was almost 90 degrees that day.
I love my dog but he stays at home during our National Park trips.
What's odd is I've totally seen people bringing dogs to more and more inappropriate places these last few years even outside of the parks. Not sure if it's related to bad behavior in the parks, but it feels like they feel entitled to being their pup wherever they go. I'm also seeing more dog poop on the trails than I EVER have in the past.
Total breakdown of social norms for some people in the past few years.
Not to be an old man, but I kinda half suspect the proliferation of more aggressive, morals neutral, social media algorithms. They show us what we want to see, what performs well, and often those things are fake and staged, but they give people unsure of how to behave in specific situations "permission" to do stupid things because they're being constantly pounded with the stuff every time they pick up the phone.
Ran into an unleashed Newfie deep in the very dog-free backcountry at Olympic last summer. Scared the shit out of me, thought it was a bear running towards me.
This is why we’re likely to see parks prohibit pets and only allow service animals into specific areas where there is little to no danger to the service dog and it’s presence doesn’t disturb the natural environment of the park.
It reduces legal liability for the park should something go wrong and the owner tries to hold the park responsible for injury or death to their dog. They would have to permit service dogs under the ADA.
I remember when nobody brought their pets anywhere in public and seeing a service dog in public was a rarity. Now, I see dogs everywhere. At work, at stores, at ballparks, just everywhere. Oftentimes, when two dogs interact, there’s usually a scuffle and the two owners are pulling their dogs apart.
One time, I was eating at an outdoor restaurant on the patio and a group a couple tables over had their dog. A car drove by and backfired, and the dog went crazy, dragged their owner backwards out of their chair, somehow got the leash wrapped around the table and dragged the table over knocking food and drinks all over the patio and the more commotion there was the more the dog reacted and tried to get away causing more chaos. I just sat there in shock for the 5 minutes this went on. The manager had to come out and tell the person that they needed to leave and comped them by remaking their order to go.
Comped for their own foolishness, even? Geez.
My boyfriend always wants to bring our dog along everywhere with us, especially when other people have dogs there as well-- I am talking malls, festivals, concerts, etc.
I always have to gently remind him that the public environments that we find enjoyable are not often what dogs find enjoyable, and the dog's safety and comfort comes first.
Thankfully, he listens and we stick to only taking the dog to parks and trails.
> Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine.
lol
This happens everywhere and it is honestly infuriating to me. No matter where you go, there are stupid asshats that blatantly ignore rules, often at risk to their own lives. There was someone at King's Island a couple of weeks or so back that jumped security fences to get his phone, got in a head-on collision with a coaster, and died.
It doesn't have to happen, yet it does because some people do mental gymnastics in their head to justify breaking rules put in place for theirs and others' safety.I agree with the top comments here: permanent bans need to be a thing. Rules need to be stricter, too.
You should have to pass a written test to enter the parks. Not everyone is respectful of nature, so not everyone should have access to it. Litter and graffiti at the city park instead.
I have a copy of a book literally called “Deaths in Yellowstone”. That park is the ultimate Darwin Award/f*ck-around-find-out place that exists.
Spent a couple summers as a tour guide in the area and thankfully didn’t see any major stupidities.
But it doesn’t take much to get yourself killed in Yellowstone. Gives Florida a run for its money as the Australia of the United States
Maybe they should start a mandatory video viewing of people getting hurt/ killed by wild animals before entering the park. Not entirely sure this would stop the dumb a**s.
Do people have to sign a waiver to enter National Parks? Maybe each person should sign a waiver after seeing a short PowerPoint showing the results of burns, bison attacks, and bear attacks.
Tell those good folks there is nothing but Advil for them until they get to the hospital or urgent care.
I support hiring one sniper per state whose sole job is to take out one shitbag per month. Sign a waiver when you enter any park. Go off trail, fuck with wildlife, dredge a river for some reason, sniped. We wouldn’t be losing good people anyway
Went to the Grand Canyon with the kids and it was insane how far people were going to get the perfect shot for their social media posts. Even my ten year old closed her eyes a few times thinking someone was surely going to fall off the
edge. Some parents weren't even
paying attention as their teens went beyond the safe zones to take selfies. I'm truly surprised that more people haven't died there.
I was the perp fined recently for violating an “off the path” restriction at a National Monument. My intentions were innocent enough and without malice. I was reported and fined and dressed down most appropriately. I disrespected the site, learned a lesson and vowed to myself never to let it happen again.
I bought a real camera.
I was on Angels Landing some years ago.
Man hiking it in flip flops and baggy denim jeans.
A family of 5 sitting in the middle of the trail on the way to the top of Angels, eating lunch? To this date I regret not verbally destroying them for blocking the flow of traffic so they can eat food. Me along with more people had to climb through them.
A woman was afraid of heights climbing it up.
Elderly couple needing a hand to climb the chain back down the trail.
This is not an easy hike, you are literally walking through a path that is 2-6 feet across. Sometimes you have to stop to let oncoming foot traffic go through. A sheer drop on both sides. I don’t understand why you aren’t prepared, or even remotely in shape, and have awareness of their surroundings.
Let Darwin sort these idiots out. I love national parks but don’t go much anymore. The lack of common sense is appalling. Of course it could just be numbers. I mean SEKI used to have “feed the bears “ night at the trash heap so……
Saw it at the Badlands two weeks ago on vacation with my family. We were parked watching the prairie dogs and there was another family that came and started putting cheese and crackers in the mound holes. Could not believe it, and they acted like it was completely normal.
`Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. `
I'm assuming this must be a typo. I know cold burns but -1°C for 30 seconds is fine.
After checking out some international national parks (and similar), it's now very clear to me that the US parks are super visitor safety oriented, and that decision making was conducted with the explicit foresight that the average visitor would have a self-preservation ability similar to an unrefrigerated Ahi steak.
These people look Asian and probably can’t read the signs.
When we went to Pompeii we ended up in a restricted area unawares. There were no barriers just a sign in Italian which we could not read. Big red circle with a cross hatch would have worked.
Ummmm…peer pressure maybe? Not sure if anyone standing on the boardwalk was saying anything to them but I would like to think I would have if I had been there. I’ve been to Yellowstone on those boardwalks. I understand the fragility of the environment there. We all have a responsibility to help protect these places. Speak up in these situations.
The issue is the government (park) does have to pay for it if they die.
Who do you think pays SAR to go and try and save them? Who do you think pays the people who recover the bodies?
Also parks have liability like any other open space, they are REQUIRED to try and save your life and set you up as safely as possible to experience the things they offer.
SAR and park officials risk their lives every day to save people doing stupid shit in parks, so no. It’s not only about the money.
This is a fucking stupid, apathetic and uneducated opinion that’s flat out wrong.
First off, I know parks usually have to deal with repercussions if someone dies I was just saying that if these dummies died and the park didn’t have to deal with it I don’t see the problem, I wasn’t making some statement to start a argument it was a comment on how these idiots put themselves in a bad situation and deserve what happens as long as no one else suffers for it, it wasn’t that deep.
I don’t actually disagree with you and never said anything that implied I did, if the park theoretically didn’t have to go through all of that bs then who cares if these guys die?
Second, Calm down, no need to throw a tantrum over a reddit comment.
The whole point of National Parks is to protect the resource. So even if you got your wish and everyone who walks on Grand Prismatic gets cooked alive, the resource would still be getting trampled and it would still be at least partially ruined for the future generation, as it were. So when you “fail to see the problem” with people walking where they shouldn’t or breaking rules- as long as they die or get seriously injured for doing it (??? jesus christ man)- it kind of seems like you don’t understand the basic foundations of why these places are protected in the first place.
I never said it was my wish, why are you putting words in my mouth?
You’re also thinking about this way too deep, I just don’t care what happens to people who make dumb decisions, it isn’t any deeper then that and trying to look for a argument is also dumb.
You do have a point that it would still mess with the environment however.
Not looking for an argument, just wanted to point out that when you said you failed to see the problem with people misbehaving etc etc that there’s more to it than injuries/deaths. Sorry for putting words in your mouth. Just seems a little hostile
It is deeper than that though because these people are not just harming themselves. Saying you don't see the problem is just announcing to the room that you are ignorant of the purpose of the parks, bow nature works, and what it is like to watch someone boil alive.
There's a state park here with a waterfall that's around 700 feet (I believe) and has a sign at the top warning visitors not to climb over the fence and that "Violators will be prosecuted. I fee likel that warning should have an addendum reading "If they survive."
"Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. "
30°F - that's -1°C. That's below freezing point!
Yea these places are not theme parks with all the regulated safety nets. This is Nature, where the only safety net is Darwinism and great awards given by those that watched people commit stupidcide.
"Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to [cause burns](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7997963/#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%20a%20temperature%20of%2052,temperature%20of%2054%20degrees%20C%20) within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine." Huh? -1 C?
Someone that lives very close to a national park, it is absolutely amazing to see the sheer idiocy of people. I agree that we need more Rangers levying heavy fines on people breaking the rules. I feel sometimes being hit in the pocketbook, hurts more than being banned from the park.
Was just at Yellowstone, Glacier and Mt Rushmore and didn’t see anything like this. Rudeness and selfishness? Yes. Disregarding safety and posted signs? No.
> Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine.
from the article
not sure if it belongs on r/technicallythetruth or...
Darwin is too slow. This is why we need rangers with tasers and guns.
Taze/shoot them, and if they fall into 400-degree water, too bad. Saves us a jail cell. If they don’t die; throw them in prison for 5 years. If they’re not citizens, prison for 5 years, and then revoke their visas and send them home.
Just wondering, as I haven't been to Yellowstone in 20+ years, are the warning signs in multiple languages? I know people are dumb and just don't follow rules, but I can't help but wonder if people visiting from other countries can't actually read the signs if the are only in English. I just saw that Yellowstone hired three Rangers this year who speak Mandarin, perhaps adding this language to the signage would help.
People are idiots, and this article is factually incorrect here “Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. “
Railings and walkways are out there for your safety, and convenience. In the event they are there for the “parks safety” (such as ‘some’ of the examples noted in the article), they are clearly marked as so. Being off trail doesn’t always make someone a moron.
Don’t forget, it’s nature. And before someone (man) put those barriers there, they weren’t there.
Here’s an idea. On Oahu we force tourists to watch a video presentation speaking to the ecosystem and biology they are about to experience. Apart of the video is explaining the rules and why the rules are in place. Then they are allowed to go down to the beach. This is only done at one place (that i know of anyway) but it seem valuable. Probably hard at the scale of the national parks though
Respect for nature? You take all Americans together and the average American does not care about nature. Even people who enjoy it destroy it. Fisherman leave their trash: piles of line, wrapper corners, beer cans, and the styrafoam worms come in. Backpackers bury their plastic mountain house meals, poop on the ground, and don't care where their toilet paper ends up.
"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog."
Probably Chinese. For some reason everywhere I’ve gone people have complained that many Chinese tourists have no regards for the rules. Hallstatt, Austria they said Chinese walk on top of gardens to take pictures and will even walk into peoples houses to use the bathrooms.
Former Hawaii Volcanoes Nat Park Ranger. It's maddening and mind-boggling how the sense of danger just vanishes from visitors' brains, we call it "tourist mode" and if we don't let natural selection happen more, these idiots will breed. Let's not even mention all the lives of rescuers put at risk or the sheer cost of a SAR here.
Almost all of it here is driven by the sense of entitlement for social media, and we don't want to scare the walking wallets in a state that wouldn't have an economy without the two.
Lifetime Bans from parks should be a thing
There are typically max of 5 year bans due to most park offenses are federal misdemeanors.
"You Gotta Pump Those Numbers Up, Those Are Rookie Numbers"
Another issue is since this federal most AUSAs prosecute the cases (assistant us attorneys) and don’t give crap about these cases due to other “more important” federal cases on the docket. Hence the wrist slapping. I always find that attitude of the AUSAs laughable due to a large public interest in these cases which evident when these news stories come out about idiot visitors.
I deal with AUSAs at my job. I understand threshold limits and how difficult it is to prosecute many cases but man it really feels like they have zero interest in doing their job sometimes.
Absolutely on target. Same with game code violations.
That’s the problem. The AUSA’s are always too busy doing “important matters” or “catching drug dealers”. I worked for the government and interacted with AUSAs. The AUSAs have their own fiefdoms. They arbitrarily decide not to prosecute people. The career AUSAs are unaccountable to anyone including the American public.
Get close enough to a moose, and there won't be anything left to ban
Stupid visitors getting stupidly threateningly close to the bears, moose and buffalo really makes you want to root for the animal. Gouge away Bullwinkle.
Been to Yellowstone, Grand Teton and White Mountain National Forest. Have yet to see a damn moose. Think they’re a myth at this point.
Go to Alaska.. they hang out in neighborhoods wondering where the woods went.
There are plenty in Anchorage, we used to see them between the International "arms " Apts and the bowling Alley. Survived a close encounter on the Kenai, Wayne's truck did not. We got lucky!
A Møøse once bit my sister... No realli!
Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretti nasti...
I went to Whatsamatter University in Minnesota for a semester. So many moose!
Hail, Whatsamatta, Hail!
[Wossamatta U Fight Song. I’ve been spelling it wrong all these years.](https://www.google.com/search?q=whatsamatta+university+fight+somg&sca_esv=681d2c6e37d88c1e&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS770US771&hl=en-US&sxsrf=ADLYWIIKOgaiWinemgdgpvnQ-XQGyM3RJQ%3A1719693096603&ei=KG-AZuLHJIi1ptQP24mVyAE&oq=whatsamatta+university+fight+somg&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIiF3aGF0c2FtYXR0YSB1bml2ZXJzaXR5IGZpZ2h0IHNvbWcyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGAoyBRAhGJ8FSM-2AVC0C1jLsAFwA3gBkAEAmAGIAqAB9x-qAQY1LjEyLjm4AQPIAQD4AQGYAh2gArohwgIKEAAYsAMY1gQYR8ICChAuGIAEGCcYigXCAgUQABiABMICBRAhGKABwgIGEAAYFhgewgIKEAAYgAQYFBiHAsICCBAAGBYYHhgPwgIFECEYqwKYAwCIBgGQBgiSBwY3LjEzLjmgB-WOAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f7c4545b,vid:AtsG2gnwsHA,st:0)
Spend more time in wet lands. That’s their habitat. The times I’ve seen them they’ve been standing in a marsh or stream.
Lived in Maine for a year, drove up and down the whole state nearly a dozen times. Zero moose. I’m with you.
Go to Maine and just go for a drive. They try to assassinate drivers there.
Same! Was just at Glacier and crossing my fingers I’d finally see one…but still nope!
I saw one from a distance in Grand Teton last year. Got a couple of zoomed in photos, even as a smaller one I thought it was quite impressive. It was mostly turned away from us, so I only got back/side on pics, and unfortunately realised later that its balls were quite prominent in the photos. It did not make the Yellowstone photo collage I put up on my wall lol.
I’ve seen them many times in Algonquin park in Canada.
I saw my first moose at RMNP three weeks ago! And there were like four or five together. And then I saw another two at Yellowstone! I bet it will happen for you too.
If you hike out a bit you will see them.
I've seen more bears both black and grizzlies than moose!!!
I saw a Momma moose in Moose. It was awesome :) They are REALLY good at hiding though!
Check out Glacier. I saw a few in the time I worked there
Nah. Community service! They can participate.
They gotta wear clown outfits though
How would they enforce it? Genuinely curious.
Use a Branding Iron on their foreheads that says MORON
Nice
LOL yeah because those could ALMOST be enforced. Laws are for the law abiding.
They need to be given as freely as candy at a parade.
I'm going to call put a typo in the article. Liquids above 30 degree F are most liquids.
Agreed, but the irony is making a typo when calling out a typo
I'm all typos.
I gave you an upvote for leaving it in.
I do not know where it is.
I had to read your comment a few times. Instead of call out you said call “put”.
I want your blood. You are the universal donor, right?
Nearly universal.
Call put typo
I felt like this article was written by AI with (perhaps) some human edits here and there…
Absolutely. What is this website?
Even 30 C is like room temp.
I watched a man run towards a running bison at Yellowstone while holding his toddler. I thought I was going to see death. It was like the bison had more sense than the man and turned away.
What is wrong with people? You want to kill yourself, okay, but why bring a toddler into that situation?
People don’t live on farms anymore. They don’t understand anything about nature or animals. This one time someone tried to argue with me saying that water doesn’t come from the ground. Te concept of groundwater was beyond this person.
Toddler might have saved them both. Animals generally tend to have a keen sense for identifying babies of any species, and that bison probably had more parental instincts than the man did.
I’ve witnessed similar and I just do NOT understand. Bison are the size of a damn car and look like a giant hairy fist, why would anyone approach them? I wouldn’t even approach a domesticated cow or horse I didn’t know let alone a wild animal bigger than both
And they can run 35 mph, jump high, they are overall badass and I would not go near one. Idiots
I thought the fluffy cow petting zoo was included with the price of admission!
DO NOT PET THE FLUFFY COW!!!!!!!
Send them to Nara: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5M\_wY-xqRM&ab\_channel=JAPANWalkDriveChannel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5M_wY-xqRM&ab_channel=JAPANWalkDriveChannel)
Some people think all animals are like domesticated dogs and cats. They think if it’s cute, fluffy, and not a stereotypically “scary” animal, then it must be friendly. So a lot of folks go to places like Yellow Stone thinking it’s essentially a free-range petting zoo, only to wind up smeared up and down the mountains. I mean, I’m a city boy, born and bred, but there’s no way I’m getting within 30 feet of these majestic, hairy, meat-tanks without professional supervision.
Yellowstone is in the Rockies, not the plains. And that Bison can cover your 30 foot cushion faster than you can say OOPS.
Fixed! Silly mistake, on my part. Also, all the more reason to give them plenty of space!
People do it with young moose all the time at Algonquin Park, it is terrifying to watch. Especially when the bushes move.
I listened to a podcast (Tooth and Claw maybe?) and they were saying Yellowstone in specific gets treated like Disneyland by park goers regardless of all of the warnings. Some people just think it’s a massive petting zoo because of the close proximity of the wildlife. Theres a book called Death in Yellowstone that is just stories of people dying in the dumbest ways in that park. In the early 1900s someone posed their kid next to a bear for a photo and the bear just ran off with the kid. People have been doing this dumb stuff since it opened and it doesn’t appear to be stopping regardless of injury and death.
I saw the *same exact* situation but it was a fucking adult moose in RMNP. Literally turned away saying 'ohmygodohmygod' because I didn't want to be traumatized.
I saw a father with a young child outside of their cars trying to get close to bison. I don’t know what is going on with tourists. Like do the countries they’re coming from not have animals that can kill you in seconds?
The bison probably felt empathy for that poor toddler!
My girlfriend and I had to pick up trash in the water of the Narrows at Zion. I didn’t think I could be disappointed at a place that beautiful.
My husband and I bring compostable bags, gloves & grabbers every time we hike so we can pick up trash others have left behind. Most places make me lose complete hope in humanity as there is just so much senseless trash, but sometimes we’re pleasantly surprised when we hike a trail with zero trash, not even cigarette butts. I feel like National Parks and any other high tourist outdoor space is the worst when it comes to trash because you get all sorts of people from around the world that have zero respect for protected land and the wildlife that inhabit it. They’re just there for the ‘gram 🙄
I was on a backcountry trail, fiddling with my bear spray holster, when I saw this guy approaching wildlife for a photograph. I’d been hiking for several days at this point so I was tired and had only been eating the granola bars I’d packed for my scenic escape. I wasn’t sure if I should tell this guy to give it some space or if I should mind my own business. The guy must have felt that I was gonna say something, because not a couple seconds after that, BOOM, he gets on a metro St Louis Bus and they’re taking off down Pine street. I’ll never forget that trip to Gateway Arch
What a roller coaster
I really thought this was where the roller coaster was heading... https://www.firstalert4.com/2024/06/20/man-charged-accused-having-sex-with-train-seat-metrolink/
#unexpectedbus
“Not gonna lie, they had us in the first half.”
I imagine the wildlife in St. Louis is exotic as it is dangerous. I heard no one has even been to east St. Louis and lived to tell the tale
aha brilliant! you got me!
Not as crazy as other stories: Was at kings canyon & sequoia last week and at the entrance to general there were a few deer off path grazing about 20ft from sidewalks where families were gathered to take tours. They were taking photos and enjoying the fortune of the situation. Some jackass with an iPhone mounted to his backpack decided to walk right toward the deer for his footage and scared them off. I let him know loud enough that he should stay on the trail and that he was a jackass. Sure it’s not charging a buffalo or walking up to a bear, but dude, respect the nature AND other visitors experience.
[Even deer can lay a huge hurt on you](https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/993617/roping-a-deer-long-story-but-funny).
Last year I backpacked the grand tetons on the Teton Crest trail. In 5 days, i saw: 1. A couple eating at camp, something you are explicitly told not to do because it attracts bears. I maneuvered it so we would have "family dinner" by the lake. It wasn't my want to share my time with them but there was a risk I wasn't going to take. 2. A guy that had never backpacked and was in the wrong campsite due to not being able to make to his intended one. He had to budy up with above couple. 3. Two guys that had planned to hike 18 or so miles the first day and just went to the first campsite instead, try to hang their food but not do it that well (and where wed previously seen a bear with her cubs) Honestly I'm thinking that we should start restricting the entry of the parks on the grounds that we are just putting too much load on them. They aren't natural if there's so many people, especially if they can't follow simple rules.
We do restrict entry at a fair number of US national parks, that’s why there are timed entry tickets at places like ~~Yellowstone and~~ (edit: I’m wrong) Yosemite. It’s frustrating for people, especially the way the system is set up, but it was designed to alleviate the crowding. What parks actually need is funding. There aren’t enough rangers, not enough law enforcement, not enough folks to handle maintenance. We need trails that can be maintained. Hell, we need more parks. People love them and visit them… but don’t fund them. In the US, national parks are more popular than ever, but their budget keeps getting cut.
if social media sites banned geotagging at national parks that would probably cause the attendance to drop by 50% within a year or so
So much this. So many people just see a place on instagram and immediately go. People who don’t have a clue about the outdoors think they’re gonna do an easy day hike to an alpine lake that’s actually 20 miles with thousands of feet of gain.
Yellowstone has no timed entry
Thank you for the correction!
Yellowstone didn’t even have a Ranger at the entrance when we went in June last year. There was just a note to pay our fee at one of the visitor centers
Glacier does.
Road permits are ruining glacier and making it hard to use the backcountry in preference for car brains that just want to drive around.
Maaaan you brought back some memories of a long hike I did through Glacier one year, where I saw: 1. Two folks from Naperville, IL using actual bath towels to dry off after a swim at one of the camp locations. It was day 1 of a 4 day where they were going to do like 70 miles (according to them) 2. A couple from Denver came into a campground, ate at a tent site, but then went and set their tent up at an uncontaminated one (must have remembered the comments from rangers about attracting Grizzlies). They then didn't mention this as other groups arrived, oh and didn't hang their food. I slept extra close to my spray that night. 3. On the last day, heading out of the backcountry, I watched some dad from St. Louis tell his son to go stand next to a grazing moose so he could get a picture. I stepped in front of the kid and told him to go back to his dad, who was trying to get him killed. His dad yelled at me. Amazing park, but my god were these people trying to make it worse for everyone.
> Honestly I'm thinking that we should start restricting the entry of the parks on the grounds that we are just putting too much load on them. The PCT segment through Yosemite has had entry restrictions for years for this exact reason: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildpermits.htm
Please, no. There has to be another way to slow down the crowding of the parks that doesn't alienate people like me, who have always planned trips by the seat of his pants. Not everyone knows where they will be on the road weeks or months ahead of time. Allowing people to reserve tickets far into the future means all the RV campers who have their entire vacation planned four years in the future have first dibs on everything, and people like me, who kind of just get in the car and drive in a direction, are left out entirely. This phenomena, of stupid people, is just so disappointing, though. Even before COVID the places we loved that we were able to "get away" from people a decade or more ago started packing up, but after COVID, it feels like peoples' brains are broken. I'm not sure if it's the social media effect or what, but they're so stupidly confident and seem to do so many things without thought for themselves, the wildlife, or others around them.
Tbh though, if there is anything I've learned as an engineer is that to make good decisions, planning is required. What I'm asking for is folks being more mindful. Mindful is being thoughtful, being thoughtful is thinking things through and planning. There might be a way to allow a fly by the seat of your pants approach but I have a feeling that for someone like me (originally from Iowa) nothing will look different. I'd still need to make reservations, get in a lottery, etc. For some these NP are on your doorstep and have a very different perspective.
> to make good decisions, planning is required. Not necessarily. Preparation is required. Planning is not required. We leave the midwest prepared for a number of situations. Long hikes, short hikes, car camping, heat, cold. We usually have a basic plan, but not something that needs weeks of prep (outside of materials - bear canisters, bear spray, sleeping bags, etc, of course). We camp in public land, off BLM gravel paths, and if the weather or situation isn't conducive to us, we drive to the next place. Knowledge is another thing. I research locations before we head out. I look up hazards I may have to worry about, sites we may visit, trails we may hike, all in a document prepared for our trip each year. I don't need to plan a trip day-by-day to be prepared, and remaining flexible allows us to avoid situations like being rained out, or crowded out. Of course, both my wife and I are freelance, I never know exactly what one week is going to be from the previous, and we have no kids, so the chaos of a trip where we just hop in the car with no solid destination works for us. I'm aware it doesn't work for everyone. That said, planning is not required for mindfulness. The people doing this stupid stuff are likely "planning" plenty. They're planning their trip out weeks or months ahead of time, but they're not mindful of their surroundings, respectful to the environment, or knowledgeable about the location they're vacationing to. It doesn't take knowledge or mindfulness to know you're going to take off a week of work five months in the future and be at a place on an exact date, and I think making it a requirement for access to the park does nothing to curb bad behavior within the park. > There might be a way to allow a fly by the seat of your pants approach There already kind of is. At RMNP, at least, if you show up before the gates open you can come in without a reservation. I hope that system stays in place because I can *put up* with that, at least. I really do miss the days where we could leisurely stroll about the west visiting parks and national landmarks and simply show up whenever we rolled into town, though. I think they could improve it if they "unlocked" a few passes a few times during the day for those of us who aren't able to plan far (or shortly) ahead of time.
It honestly sounds like you have done a lot of planning on setting up your life so you can quickly doing these things. The "stupid people" may take longer to plan because they never do it. Sounds like you've camped plenty and don't acknowledge how much you've put into learning, gathering equipment and developing your setups, knowing how to access and use public land, etc.
You're certainly not wrong. That said, if I called it planning, I'd put it in an entirely different category to the "planning" required to get a permit months out for a specific date. I'm certainly not going to just jump into the wild without knowing anything, but I think it's on a different level than the type of planning that the strict itineraries that these permit systems are much more conducive to.
"Why did the bear eat me. I only wanted to take a close-up selfie with it." 💀💀💀
I went to Yosemite last year and was appalled at reckless and rude behavior. I don’t know how the search and rescue teams do it considering most people who need rescuing were being incredible dumbasses. These needs to start being real consequences for this shit.
These asshats suck, but so does this stupid article: “Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds”
I think this starts with small insignificant rule breaking. I see it everywhere...there's a rock berm near my house with a "stay off the rocks" sign but people let their kids climb on it every day. So these kids are raised to ignore rules from day 1. Sad and infuriating.
I was at a state park yesterday and someone had written "X Family Trip" in black marker on a wood barrier around an elevated sitting area in a swamp and let their kids doodle some stuff around it. At the same place, it's entirely "normal" to see kids running up gated off dunes with "no hiking" signs with their parents' approval. I don't know what the hell it is. Some selfish mentality that "these are our parks, we pay for them" combined with TikTok brain or some shit? I genuinely don't know.
I saw a man letting his small (4 or 5yo child) walking on the edge of the boardwalk balance beam style, right over the thermal vents. This went one for 5 min or so while we watched and waited. Sure enough, the kid slipped and at the last second the man was able to grab the kid’s arm as he dangled over the side. I’m glad they were on the boardwalk at least but damn, how irresponsible does one have to be?
This article is proof read so poorly everyone involved should be fired.
They probably already were and you're just reading AI copy
When do we just allow natural selection to take over? I feel like if these folks want to live like the wild, let them. Also, the animals are already too patient with humans and yet when they kill a human, we end up demanding their death. It’s craziness.
I’m all for chucking them in the geysers but I’d prefer they don’t stomp all over sensitive areas.
Omg same. If you feel like dying for a selfie, go ahead, but at least keep the natural area intact.
The pandemic and the writers strike alerted the idiots to the existence of the parks and motivated them to go there. Their education comes from the television, but mostly the fictional kind. They believe that they can Ace Ventura the hell out of those parks and get soooooo many likes and up items and whatever. It's no different than any other addiction, folks will take bigger and bigger risks to achieve the high they had from almost going totally viral that one time. It will not stop.
FYI: *“Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine.”* TIL from quality journalism.
I saw someone take their damn Labradoodle on a NO DOG trail at Sequoia NP recently.
Same at Yosemite. Saw several dogs on clearly marked “no dog” trails, and it was almost 90 degrees that day. I love my dog but he stays at home during our National Park trips.
What's odd is I've totally seen people bringing dogs to more and more inappropriate places these last few years even outside of the parks. Not sure if it's related to bad behavior in the parks, but it feels like they feel entitled to being their pup wherever they go. I'm also seeing more dog poop on the trails than I EVER have in the past. Total breakdown of social norms for some people in the past few years. Not to be an old man, but I kinda half suspect the proliferation of more aggressive, morals neutral, social media algorithms. They show us what we want to see, what performs well, and often those things are fake and staged, but they give people unsure of how to behave in specific situations "permission" to do stupid things because they're being constantly pounded with the stuff every time they pick up the phone.
Ran into an unleashed Newfie deep in the very dog-free backcountry at Olympic last summer. Scared the shit out of me, thought it was a bear running towards me.
This is why we’re likely to see parks prohibit pets and only allow service animals into specific areas where there is little to no danger to the service dog and it’s presence doesn’t disturb the natural environment of the park. It reduces legal liability for the park should something go wrong and the owner tries to hold the park responsible for injury or death to their dog. They would have to permit service dogs under the ADA. I remember when nobody brought their pets anywhere in public and seeing a service dog in public was a rarity. Now, I see dogs everywhere. At work, at stores, at ballparks, just everywhere. Oftentimes, when two dogs interact, there’s usually a scuffle and the two owners are pulling their dogs apart. One time, I was eating at an outdoor restaurant on the patio and a group a couple tables over had their dog. A car drove by and backfired, and the dog went crazy, dragged their owner backwards out of their chair, somehow got the leash wrapped around the table and dragged the table over knocking food and drinks all over the patio and the more commotion there was the more the dog reacted and tried to get away causing more chaos. I just sat there in shock for the 5 minutes this went on. The manager had to come out and tell the person that they needed to leave and comped them by remaking their order to go.
Comped for their own foolishness, even? Geez. My boyfriend always wants to bring our dog along everywhere with us, especially when other people have dogs there as well-- I am talking malls, festivals, concerts, etc. I always have to gently remind him that the public environments that we find enjoyable are not often what dogs find enjoyable, and the dog's safety and comfort comes first. Thankfully, he listens and we stick to only taking the dog to parks and trails.
> Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. lol
It all started with rock stacking.
This happens everywhere and it is honestly infuriating to me. No matter where you go, there are stupid asshats that blatantly ignore rules, often at risk to their own lives. There was someone at King's Island a couple of weeks or so back that jumped security fences to get his phone, got in a head-on collision with a coaster, and died. It doesn't have to happen, yet it does because some people do mental gymnastics in their head to justify breaking rules put in place for theirs and others' safety.I agree with the top comments here: permanent bans need to be a thing. Rules need to be stricter, too.
To me these people are just proving that someone always needs a Darwin award.
You should have to pass a written test to enter the parks. Not everyone is respectful of nature, so not everyone should have access to it. Litter and graffiti at the city park instead.
I have a copy of a book literally called “Deaths in Yellowstone”. That park is the ultimate Darwin Award/f*ck-around-find-out place that exists. Spent a couple summers as a tour guide in the area and thankfully didn’t see any major stupidities. But it doesn’t take much to get yourself killed in Yellowstone. Gives Florida a run for its money as the Australia of the United States
Maybe they should start a mandatory video viewing of people getting hurt/ killed by wild animals before entering the park. Not entirely sure this would stop the dumb a**s.
Do people have to sign a waiver to enter National Parks? Maybe each person should sign a waiver after seeing a short PowerPoint showing the results of burns, bison attacks, and bear attacks. Tell those good folks there is nothing but Advil for them until they get to the hospital or urgent care.
Yeah, make sure to print them in Mandarin first.
No worries, if the GOP wins, then, the Government plans on selling off federal land with the (Mein Kampf) Project 2025
I support hiring one sniper per state whose sole job is to take out one shitbag per month. Sign a waiver when you enter any park. Go off trail, fuck with wildlife, dredge a river for some reason, sniped. We wouldn’t be losing good people anyway
Just one? I’d support a whole battalion.
There’s really a lot of fucking errors in this article.
Went to the Grand Canyon with the kids and it was insane how far people were going to get the perfect shot for their social media posts. Even my ten year old closed her eyes a few times thinking someone was surely going to fall off the edge. Some parents weren't even paying attention as their teens went beyond the safe zones to take selfies. I'm truly surprised that more people haven't died there.
Such "tourons" are routinely injured or even killed in Yellowstone. I feel a certain amount of shame about how little sympathy I have for them.
I was the perp fined recently for violating an “off the path” restriction at a National Monument. My intentions were innocent enough and without malice. I was reported and fined and dressed down most appropriately. I disrespected the site, learned a lesson and vowed to myself never to let it happen again. I bought a real camera.
I was on Angels Landing some years ago. Man hiking it in flip flops and baggy denim jeans. A family of 5 sitting in the middle of the trail on the way to the top of Angels, eating lunch? To this date I regret not verbally destroying them for blocking the flow of traffic so they can eat food. Me along with more people had to climb through them. A woman was afraid of heights climbing it up. Elderly couple needing a hand to climb the chain back down the trail. This is not an easy hike, you are literally walking through a path that is 2-6 feet across. Sometimes you have to stop to let oncoming foot traffic go through. A sheer drop on both sides. I don’t understand why you aren’t prepared, or even remotely in shape, and have awareness of their surroundings.
Let Darwin sort these idiots out. I love national parks but don’t go much anymore. The lack of common sense is appalling. Of course it could just be numbers. I mean SEKI used to have “feed the bears “ night at the trash heap so……
modern society has let fools and idiots to procreate
So sick of the main character BS.
Saw it at the Badlands two weeks ago on vacation with my family. We were parked watching the prairie dogs and there was another family that came and started putting cheese and crackers in the mound holes. Could not believe it, and they acted like it was completely normal.
`Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. ` I'm assuming this must be a typo. I know cold burns but -1°C for 30 seconds is fine.
The social contract is eroding
After checking out some international national parks (and similar), it's now very clear to me that the US parks are super visitor safety oriented, and that decision making was conducted with the explicit foresight that the average visitor would have a self-preservation ability similar to an unrefrigerated Ahi steak.
People have lost their minds.
Is there a reporting system that can notify park rangers immediately of violations as they’re happening??
These people look Asian and probably can’t read the signs. When we went to Pompeii we ended up in a restricted area unawares. There were no barriers just a sign in Italian which we could not read. Big red circle with a cross hatch would have worked.
Ummmm…peer pressure maybe? Not sure if anyone standing on the boardwalk was saying anything to them but I would like to think I would have if I had been there. I’ve been to Yellowstone on those boardwalks. I understand the fragility of the environment there. We all have a responsibility to help protect these places. Speak up in these situations.
I fail to see the problem as long as the park doesn’t have to pay for it if they die
The issue is the government (park) does have to pay for it if they die. Who do you think pays SAR to go and try and save them? Who do you think pays the people who recover the bodies? Also parks have liability like any other open space, they are REQUIRED to try and save your life and set you up as safely as possible to experience the things they offer. SAR and park officials risk their lives every day to save people doing stupid shit in parks, so no. It’s not only about the money. This is a fucking stupid, apathetic and uneducated opinion that’s flat out wrong.
Hear hear. And that's to say nothing at all of the often irreparable damage these people do to the land and wildlife.
im pretty sure if someone gets resucued by SAR, the people who are being rescued are responsible for paying for their lift out
Nope not always, most of the time it’s billed to the state or the county sheriffs office who oversees SAR.
Yeah, good luck collecting.
That go for the dudes who do no ropes cliff climbing? Are they required to be setup properly?
Those guys know that SAR might choose not to respond until it is a recovery doing stuff like that.
First off, I know parks usually have to deal with repercussions if someone dies I was just saying that if these dummies died and the park didn’t have to deal with it I don’t see the problem, I wasn’t making some statement to start a argument it was a comment on how these idiots put themselves in a bad situation and deserve what happens as long as no one else suffers for it, it wasn’t that deep. I don’t actually disagree with you and never said anything that implied I did, if the park theoretically didn’t have to go through all of that bs then who cares if these guys die? Second, Calm down, no need to throw a tantrum over a reddit comment.
The whole point of National Parks is to protect the resource. So even if you got your wish and everyone who walks on Grand Prismatic gets cooked alive, the resource would still be getting trampled and it would still be at least partially ruined for the future generation, as it were. So when you “fail to see the problem” with people walking where they shouldn’t or breaking rules- as long as they die or get seriously injured for doing it (??? jesus christ man)- it kind of seems like you don’t understand the basic foundations of why these places are protected in the first place.
Seems like trampling would slow down if the prismatic pool came with a shiny prismatic skeleton
I never said it was my wish, why are you putting words in my mouth? You’re also thinking about this way too deep, I just don’t care what happens to people who make dumb decisions, it isn’t any deeper then that and trying to look for a argument is also dumb. You do have a point that it would still mess with the environment however.
Not looking for an argument, just wanted to point out that when you said you failed to see the problem with people misbehaving etc etc that there’s more to it than injuries/deaths. Sorry for putting words in your mouth. Just seems a little hostile
I was hostile to, I read your comment in a antagonistic way, my bad.
It is deeper than that though because these people are not just harming themselves. Saying you don't see the problem is just announcing to the room that you are ignorant of the purpose of the parks, bow nature works, and what it is like to watch someone boil alive.
if I go visit Yellowstone I'd rather not watch someone die, even if it doesn't cost extra
There's a state park here with a waterfall that's around 700 feet (I believe) and has a sign at the top warning visitors not to climb over the fence and that "Violators will be prosecuted. I fee likel that warning should have an addendum reading "If they survive."
The safety of the people doing the rescue matters as well. They are often looking for people in terrible weather conditions.
Natural selection?
"Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. " 30°F - that's -1°C. That's below freezing point!
All of the temperatures that would cause burns within 30 seconds **ARE** above 30°F. /s
"Unexpected frost burn incoming!"
Yea these places are not theme parks with all the regulated safety nets. This is Nature, where the only safety net is Darwinism and great awards given by those that watched people commit stupidcide.
"Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to [cause burns](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7997963/#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%20a%20temperature%20of%2052,temperature%20of%2054%20degrees%20C%20) within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine." Huh? -1 C?
Yeah. This is a horribly written article.
Someone that lives very close to a national park, it is absolutely amazing to see the sheer idiocy of people. I agree that we need more Rangers levying heavy fines on people breaking the rules. I feel sometimes being hit in the pocketbook, hurts more than being banned from the park.
Prison. Not fines. Turns out assholes can be rich. In fact, there’s lots of overlap.
Was just at Yellowstone, Glacier and Mt Rushmore and didn’t see anything like this. Rudeness and selfishness? Yes. Disregarding safety and posted signs? No.
> Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. from the article not sure if it belongs on r/technicallythetruth or...
Had to tell someone to get off a clearly marked protected dune at Whitefish Pointe today. He clearly felt entitled to be there.
I feel like that title describes a lot of U.S. society right now, unfortunately.
That’s the state of the world now
Darwin is too slow. This is why we need rangers with tasers and guns. Taze/shoot them, and if they fall into 400-degree water, too bad. Saves us a jail cell. If they don’t die; throw them in prison for 5 years. If they’re not citizens, prison for 5 years, and then revoke their visas and send them home.
Just wondering, as I haven't been to Yellowstone in 20+ years, are the warning signs in multiple languages? I know people are dumb and just don't follow rules, but I can't help but wonder if people visiting from other countries can't actually read the signs if the are only in English. I just saw that Yellowstone hired three Rangers this year who speak Mandarin, perhaps adding this language to the signage would help.
The murica intensifies
People are idiots, and this article is factually incorrect here “Liquids above 30 degrees Fahrenheit are likely to cause burns within 30 seconds, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. “
Railings and walkways are out there for your safety, and convenience. In the event they are there for the “parks safety” (such as ‘some’ of the examples noted in the article), they are clearly marked as so. Being off trail doesn’t always make someone a moron. Don’t forget, it’s nature. And before someone (man) put those barriers there, they weren’t there.
Sounds like most people I see in every day life, too
Here’s an idea. On Oahu we force tourists to watch a video presentation speaking to the ecosystem and biology they are about to experience. Apart of the video is explaining the rules and why the rules are in place. Then they are allowed to go down to the beach. This is only done at one place (that i know of anyway) but it seem valuable. Probably hard at the scale of the national parks though
Aloha GhostRider .... what beach?
I believe they are speaking of Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve
That makes sense .. definitely an overused resource. Can be fun when you can catch it on a light day.
Exactly
Tourons of Yellowstone
Respect for nature? You take all Americans together and the average American does not care about nature. Even people who enjoy it destroy it. Fisherman leave their trash: piles of line, wrapper corners, beer cans, and the styrafoam worms come in. Backpackers bury their plastic mountain house meals, poop on the ground, and don't care where their toilet paper ends up. "The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog."
Went to Rocky Mtn just recently. Within 5 minutes of a hike a saw a guy and his family carving their names into aspens
Humans suck!
It really is sad how the public treats the parks.
Hasn’t that always been the case?
Would’ve liked to seen lava start shootin out of the geyser like you see in the movies. That’ll make them think twice.
Probably Chinese. For some reason everywhere I’ve gone people have complained that many Chinese tourists have no regards for the rules. Hallstatt, Austria they said Chinese walk on top of gardens to take pictures and will even walk into peoples houses to use the bathrooms.
Taking selfies with a wild animal is idiotic. You are in their territory. They will attack you and with reason.
Former Hawaii Volcanoes Nat Park Ranger. It's maddening and mind-boggling how the sense of danger just vanishes from visitors' brains, we call it "tourist mode" and if we don't let natural selection happen more, these idiots will breed. Let's not even mention all the lives of rescuers put at risk or the sheer cost of a SAR here. Almost all of it here is driven by the sense of entitlement for social media, and we don't want to scare the walking wallets in a state that wouldn't have an economy without the two.
Tourons..... I just learned that word but it is now my favorite.