Up close at Old Faithful – for $125

Sat., April 30, 2011

Mead Gruver Associated Press

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Warning signs in multiple languages and the risk of getting cooked like garbanzo beans in a pressure cooker didn’t stop some 30 tourists from taking a way-too-close look at Yellowstone’s famous Old Faithful Geyser.

Fortunately, someone was keeping an eye on them – by webcam, hundreds of miles away in Wisconsin.

Before the geyser’s next eruption, the viewer called Yellowstone and a ranger herded them to safety. The ranger handed out $125 tickets to several people, including the tour group leader.

Yellowstone National Park officials on Friday used the incident to repeat yet again their message to all who visit: Getting too close to boiling-hot geysers, mud pots and thermal pools is very dangerous.

Obey the warning signs. Keep to the boardwalks. Stay out of hot water – literally.

A video posted on YouTube showed four members of the group strolling right up to the opening of Old Faithful, followed by the rest of the group within minutes.

Park spokesman Al Nash didn’t have any specific information about the tour group but said they must have ignored several signs in several languages when they walked off the boardwalk and onto the gently sloping cone of Old Faithful.

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Up close at Old Faithful – for $125

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