Details have emerged about the Portland man who died in a Yellowstone hot spring in June, who was allegedly looking to "hot pot" in the park.
Colin Nathaniel Scott, a 23-year-old Portland resident, and his sister walked about 225 yards off the boardwalk near Pork Chop Geyser at the Norris Geyser Basin, looking for a place to "hot pot" or soak in an extremely hot natural spring.
That's according to a final report on the incident by Yellowstone National Park officials, who released the information in response to a Freedom of Information Request filed by KULR-8, a news station based in Billings, Montana.
While Scott was bending over to check the temperature of a spring, according to the report, he slipped and fell in, succumbing quickly to the boiling acidic water.
"There's a closure in place to keep people from doing that for their own safety," Lorant Veress, deputy chief ranger, told KULR. "It's a very unforgiving environment."
Scott's sister recorded the accident on her cell phone, officials wrote in the report, but the park has refused to release that video to the public.
Scott was not the first, and won't likely be the last victim of Yellowstone's gorgeous but dangerous geothermal features. The hot springs have claimed 22 lives since 1890, according to the park, far more than have been killed by grizzly bears or lightning strikes.
The danger lies in the heat. The pools can reach temperatures of up to 205 degrees Fahrenheit, enough to cause third-degree burns in seconds. Those who have survived a dip in a Yellowstone hot spring have come out with skin peeling, their eyes white and blinded from the heat.
Warning signs have been posted in the park since at least 1888, but they have been regularly ignored for generations. Boarded walkways came to the park in the 1960s, but wandering off-trail persisted. Today, Yellowstone officials can rely on social media to spread news of the dangers faster and farther than ever, though that same medium can just as easily be used to promote reckless behavior.
Earlier this year, a group of young Canadian tourists invoked outrage after walking onto the Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone, filming their exploits for online adventure series "High on Life." After a swift reprimand from both park officials and the public, the group removed all photos and videos of their excursion, offering an apology instead.
Scott had just graduated from Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He was one of two students named as outstanding seniors in psychology, university spokesman Joe Lang told the Associated Press.
He also worked at the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in Hillsboro, volunteering at the education center for about 20 months as part of a work-study program. Mary Loftin, a manager at the Hillsboro parks and recreation department, remembered him as a "bright spirit."
--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB