by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:40 PM ET, Thu November 17, 2016
Officials from Yellowstone National Park have announced that the Oregon man who died in June after falling into a hot spring at the park was looking to "hot pot," an illegal practice of soaking inside a hot spring.
According to The Associated Press, the 23-year-old man named Colin Sable was visiting Yellowstone National Park with his sister Sable when the duo left the boardwalk near Pork Chop Geyser in an effort to find a spot to "hot pot" on June 7.
Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress told the media that Sable was videoing her brother when he reached down to check the temperature of the water and fell into the thermal pool. The hot spring was six feet long, four feet wide and 10 feet deep, and the video showed Sable attempting to save her brother.
The video of the incident was not released to the public.
Search teams arrived at the scene shortly after and spotted his body in the water, but a lightning storm prevented recovery. The following day, rescue teams were unable to find his body due to the boiling, acidic water dissolving it.
While the National Park Service did not issue any citations in the case, the report showcased several signs in the area where Colin died warning visitors of the clear dangers associated with the water of a hot spring.
Colin and Sable Scott were on a college graduation trip when he died. Six days before the incident, another group of tourists were cited for walking off a trail at the park's Grand Prismatic Spring, and a week after the death, a Chinese tourist was fined $1,000 for doing the same.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
