A woman walking in a prohibited thermal area of Yellowstone National Park sustained severe burns to her lower leg when she broke through the thin crust and into scalding water.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, was walking off-trail with her husband and leashed dog near Mallard Lake Trailhead at Old Faithful when the incident occurred Monday afternoon, the National Park Service reported.
The husband and dog were uninjured, but the woman suffered second- and third-degree burns. She was treated at the park’s medical clinic before being transported via helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for further treatment.
The couple ignored two rules at Yellowstone by going off-trail and taking their dog. Pets are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas. The couple could be cited by Yellowstone law enforcement. The incident is under investigation.
It is the first known thermal injury this year in Yellowstone.
To show how dangerous thermal areas are in Yellowstone, the National Park Service posted images of Crested Pool. One is the normal view, the other an infrared view (yellow=hottest, blue=coolest). The pool is 159 degrees and the outer edge is 107 degrees.
Not only is the pool lethally hot, but so are the grounds surrounding the hydrothermal feature.
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“Boardwalks and trails protect you and delicate thermal formations,” the National Park Service states online. “Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs.”
From the Post Register in Idaho Falls:
“Deaths from hot springs are more common even than deaths from animal encounters in the park. According to the United States Geological Survey, there have been at least 22 deaths and hundreds of injuries related to hot springs since 1872. In contrast, two people have been killed in bison encounters and eight from bear encounters since 1872.
“Many thermal areas can be above 150 degrees Fahrenheit, some exceeding 185 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the USGS. Even seconds of exposure can cause serious burns.
“Numerous severe injuries have been a result of dogs jumping into hot springs, and their owners trying to save them.”