Yellowstone Visitors Horrified After Tourist Walked Across Forbidden Off-Limits Zone in Flip-Flops
A man in flip-flops recently walked across a protected off-limits zone in Yellowstone National Park, per a July 30 post in a public Facebook group
Photos of the incident show the man collecting hats that had blown onto the ground
The man was trespassing on delicate bacterial mats near the park's Grand Prismatic Spring, an offense that is punishable by lawYellowstone visitors were shocked and horrified when an anonymous tourist walked across a protected off-limits zone in flip-flops.
The incident occurred on July 28, according to a July 30 post in the public Facebook group 'Yellowstone: Invasion of the Idiots,' where park lovers can share incidents of visitors defying park rules and common-sense safety protocols.
Photos of the incident included within the post show the unknown man stepping out onto a bacterial mat near the park's Grand Prismatic Spring. These mats are comprised of delicate living organisms and give the landscape its signature colorful appearance, per the National Park Service.
The organisms — called thermophiles — grow and thrive in the intense heat of the park's thermal basin, and are incredibly sensitive to outside disturbances.
The man, who appeared to be picking up hats that had blown onto the mats, was seen walking on the nearby boardwalk with a woman when he exited the boardwalk and 'illegally and repeatedly' walked 'all over the bacterial mats,' per the post.
PEOPLE reached out to Yellowstone National Park for comment on Saturday, Aug. 2, but did not receive an immediate response.
Walking on the mats is considered 'thermal trespassing,' and is punishable by fines, park bans and even jail time.
In 2024, a 21-year-old tourist was sentenced to seven days in jail and was banned from the park for two years after he walked off a designated visitor area to get closer to Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest active geyser, according to The New York Times.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
In 2020, two men were each sentenced to 10 days in jail, a fine of $540, five years of unsupervised probation and a five-year ban from the park for trespassing on the cone of Old Faithful Geyser, per a press release from the National Park Service.
'Visitors must realize that walking on thermal features is dangerous, damages the resource [is] and illegal,' Chief Ranger Sarah Davis said in a statement at the time, per the release.
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
'Law enforcement officers take this violation seriously. Yellowstone National Park also appreciates the court for recognizing the impact thermal trespass can have on these amazing features,' Davis added.
Read the original article on People
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How Disney Shaped the Middle-Class American Dream — And Why It's Time To Let It Go
In the commercial and modern capitalist sense, no company has succeeded in monetizing the luxury aspects of the American dream as efficiently as Disney. It may not be as mammoth or wealthy a corporation as Walmart or Amazon, but those two don't breed the dreams of small children who go to bed thinking they're the happiest places on Earth. Disney does — and worming into the middle-class psyche like that is about as powerful as power gets. Check Out: Read Next: Disney does often deliver a lot of joy, and that's valuable, but at a price — both literally and figuratively. Disney helped shape the middle-class American dream as we know it, and some of the ideals it continues to promote do us more harm than good. We need to recognize the ways Disney culture hurts our wallets and, ultimately, our hearts. Insisting That Epic Vacations Make a Happy Childhood I remember growing up in the 1990s and being blasted with ads not only for Disney movies and Disney merchandise, but for Disney vacations. My parents were divorced — at the time not amicably — and my mom was perpetually broke. Most of my friends had it better, as I saw it, and not because they had bigger houses or more meals out with mom and dad, but solely because they went on epic summer vacations with their parents and siblings. Sometimes the parents took their kids specifically on Disney-branded getaways. And why wouldn't they, if they could afford it (or shove the costs on credit cards)? Even sitcoms promoted the Disney summer vacation as the definitive family trip. Disney, on a global level, continues to contribute substantially to the ecosystem of family tourism. And this is not a healthy thing for the middle class, who must stick to a modest budget to ensure financial security. Disney theme park vacations are getting more and more expensive. An analysis by Mouse Hacking determined that in 2025 a baseline Disney World vacation for a family of four (two adults, one child age 10+, one child age 3-9) costs $7,093 ($355 per person per night). That's outrageous considering that some middle-class families in the U.S. make less than $26,000 a year. Signaling That the Road to Contentment Is Paved With Purchases It's (unfortunately) true that money can buy happiness — numerous scientific research has sealed that deal. But this is a somewhat nuanced fact. Most research finds that genuine happiness isn't measurably augmented by pricey products or luxury experiences. What makes us happy is feeling financially comfortable. The things that delight us are simple and deep: a safe home in a livable neighborhood; a paycheck that doesn't necessitate workaholism and burnout; debt-free access to education, health and retirement. Most highly profitable, consumer-facing businesses want you to feel that you and your family's best life can't be had without their services or items, but few companies are as unbelievably good at serving this feeling specifically to the middle class. Disney vacations, for example, notoriously push Americans into debt — and the sickest thing about that is that a lot of people think the Disney-induced debt is worth it. By biting the Disney bait, we're falling into money pits that actually deprive us of the real stuff of happiness — stuff that money can't buy, per se, but can enable. Promoting the Nuclear Family as the Ideal Norm This is something we still see Disney promote in ads for its parks and vacation packages. The 'classic' nuclear family. Usually it's two heteronormative parents with two or three children in tow. And we see it a lot in traditional sitcoms, too. Disney didn't invent the concept of the nuclear family, but Disney, via its books, films, shows, ads and merchandise, helped shape conventional gender roles and very specific family dynamics that became mainstream middle-class ideals in in the 1950s and still persuade us. This concept no longer serves us as families have evolved to look many different ways. We see now that dual-income households, blended families, foster families, adoptive families and families with queer parents or single parents making happy homes. Yet Disney still holds fast to an outdated model of a middle-class household. It's pretty unlikely that Disney will shed these ideals that helped build its monumental, enduring legacy. So it's on us to realize that they no longer represent or serve us. They can even hurt us by causing debt and disappointment. Let's accept that we can be free of these toxic fairytales and still access the happiest place on Earth — a place that could very well be at home with loved ones, knowing the bills are paid and the kids are alright — without the $8,000 vacay. More From GOBankingRates 7 Luxury SUVs That Will Become Affordable in 2025 This article originally appeared on How Disney Shaped the Middle-Class American Dream — And Why It's Time To Let It Go Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
29 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Airbnb Gives Modest Summer Outlook, Warns Growth May Not Keep Up
Airbnb Inc. issued a better-than-expected outlook for the third quarter as it saw encouraging summer travel demand, but warned that growth rates may not keep up later this year due to tough year-ago comparisons. For the three months ending Sept. 30, the short-term rental company said growth on the basis of nights and seats booked — a closely watched metric — is expected to be 'relatively stable' from the 7.4% achieved in the second quarter, Airbnb said in a shareholder letter on Wednesday. That's close to the 7% increase that Wall Street was projecting, according to Bloomberg-compiled estimates.
Wall Street Journal
29 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Airbnb Sales, Bookings Boosted by Travel Demand Rebound
Airbnb ABNB 0.42%increase; green up pointing triangle logged higher earnings and sales in the second quarter as travel demand picked back up despite economic uncertainty. The vacation rental platform on Wednesday posted a profit of $642 million, or $1.03 a share, in the quarter ended June 30, compared with $555 million, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts forecast 94 cents a share, according to FactSet.
