After attempting to “hot pot” in Yellowstone National Park, this man died a horrifying end in the United States. The magnificent national park is known for both its natural hot springs, albeit they can be very dangerous, and its spectacular landscapes.
Yellowstone is home to one of the largest magma chambers in the world, which naturally results in the hot springs’ surface water being close to boiling.
The hot springs are gated off, and there are numerous signs advising visitors not to approach them too closely because doing so might be fatal.
Thus, it was unexpected that Colin Scott and his sister Sable Scott went to the park with the goal of engaging in “hot potting,” which is the unlawful act of dipping oneself in a hot spring.
“[They] were specifically moving in that area for a place that they could potentially get into and soak,” Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress told KULR at the time.
Apparently while dipping his finger to check the water’s temperature, Sable’s brother fell in as she was filming Colin and her ‘deliberately’ leaving the Norris Geyser Basin’s boardwalk.
“The smartphone recorded the moment he slipped and fell into the pool and her efforts to rescue him,” the report said. There was no cellphone service in the area, so Sable reportedly went back to a nearby museum for help.
A few hours later, authorities discovered Colin’s body floating in the water; however, they were unable to rescue it since a rainstorm made them abandon the effort. The young man was completely gone when they came back the next day, save for his wallet and flip-flops.
Veress wrote in his incident report that on the day Colin met his tragic end, the waters had been especially acidic. “In a very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving,” he wrote.
Yellowstone’s geothermal ponds and pools have exceptionally high surface temperatures of 199°F (93°C), but they are much hotter underground.
The National Park Service advises visitors to stay on boardwalks or paths that pass through thermal regions. More people have been hurt or killed by hot springs in Yellowstone than by any other natural feature, according to warnings on the website.
What a horrific experience, and one that Colin and his sister could have avoided if they had listened to the warnings.