A pair of Yellowstone National Park tourists went through great (and dangerous) lengths to snap the perfect selfie. During their trip to Yellowstone, two women were filmed walking across the fragile surface of the Grand Prismatic Spring.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Visitors are instructed to walk along the designated walkways to avoid the thermal mats of the Grand Prismatic Spring.
Not only for their own safety, but for the preservation of the park. This isn't a mere suggestion, either. It is the law.
TOURIST TROUBLE ?: A pair of tourists was caught illegally getting dangerously close to a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park. See it: pic.twitter.com/2X4bVRer17
— FOX Weather (@foxweather)
Tanya Saueressig, a visitor from Livingston, Montana, was left nearly speechless while recording the dangerous endeavor.
"I didn't think it was real for a second. It was shocking," she told ABC Fox Montana. "I stood there with my mouth wide open, thinking they were going to get hurt or fall through," she added.
Saueressig watched from the designated walking areas as the two tourists risked life and limb while taking photos.
Eventually, the thrill-seeking tourists were within 50 feet of the spring's scorching hot water. Temperatures in the spring run from 145-188 degrees, capable of deep-frying humans.
"I started getting scared because I thought they were going to fall in and get really, really hurt," Saueressig told Cowboy State Daily. "I worried people at the overlook were going to watch someone die that day. They were out there where nobody could help them."
Yellowstone Bans Thermal Trespassing Among Tourists
Not only were they at risk of suffering third-degree burns and even death, but they were destroying the ecosystem they strolled across.
"They were totally oblivious to what was right under their feet. You're causing so much damage with every step you take, and you don't care," Saueressig said.
Each step damages the sensitive algal and bacterial mats, which can take up to a year to regrow.
Walking on the fragile microbial mats around Grand Prismatic Spring and Yellowstone's many thermal features is a crime, punishable by fines, incarceration, and a multi-year ban from Yellowstone.
And that's ifyou survive the walk across the steamy springs.
According to safety guidance from Yellowstone, burn injuries from entering or falling into the park's hot springs have caused more than 20 deaths.
