Yellowstone Bans Man Caught Trying To Cook Chicken In The Hot Springs

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and environmentalist Wallace Stegner famously called America's national parks "the best idea we ever had." It's hard to argue with that. The national parks capture and protect the country's most majestic, fragile, and rare natural treasures.

Unfortunately, while the park system might be the nation's "best idea," people have had some seriously questionable ideas within the parks.

The national parks are a great place to go and unwind and get back to nature — within reason.

But one man's idea of kicking back and relaxing landed him in hot water with the park after rangers caught him trying to cook chickens in the park's hot springs.

As East Idaho News reported, back in August, park guests notified a ranger that they had spotted a group sporting cooking pots headed towards Shoshone Geyser Basin. When the ranger caught up with the group, he found that they had not just a pot, but also a burlap sack with a pair of chickens inside it.

There were 10 in the group, including one child.

And the group (not pictured) received a stern talking-to. However, the ranger took stronger measures against three of them in particular, citing them for straying off the trails in a thermal area.

One man was told he needed to appear in court in Mammoth Hot Springs, where he later pleaded guilty, was ordered to pay a $600 fine for each of the three charges he faced, and was banned from the park for two years.

Staying on the trails and boardwalks near thermal areas isn't just about keeping the landscape tidy.

It's also a serious safety measure. The hot springs are not the same as a warm bathtub. Their temperatures can get upwards of 250 F (121 C) and have been known to cause serious injuries and even deaths. In 2016, one man tragically slipped and fell to his death in a hot spring near Porkchop Geyser — according to the park — after he and his sister left the boardwalk. More than 20 people have lost their lives to Yellowstone's hydrothermal features.

It's probably a good rule to imagine that if you think it's hot enough to cook a chicken through, it's also not going to be safe for human flesh.

Oddly enough, this is not the first time the park has had to cite someone for trying to cook in the hydrothermal areas.

As the Montana Standard reported, a Seattle television show host and producer earned themselves a $150 fine and a two-year probation for their stunt back in 2001.

The pair were trying to re-create a rumor that tour guides had once demonstrated the geysers' heat by cooking chicken in it.

h/t: East Idaho News

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