--- description: A man who died in a Yellowstone National Park hot spring and dissolved when he fell into the water, was looking to soak in the water title: Man Dissolved in Acidic Water After Trying to Soak in Yellowstone Hot Pool image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74630dbe4e39b91f/6988aed6cd1bba4648703214/yellowstone-hot-spring.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [nature](/tag/nature/) ## nature Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Man Dissolved in Acidic Water After Trying to Soak in Yellowstone National Park Hot Pool by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 16, 2016 11:58 PM CUT  A view of the Grand Prismatic Spring at the Midway Geyser Basin at Yellowstone National Park on May 11, 2016. A view of the Grand Prismatic Spring at the Midway Geyser Basin at Yellowstone National Park on May 11, 2016.MLADEN ANTONOV—AFP/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 16, 2016 11:58 PM CUT An Oregon man who [died in a Yellowstone National Park hot spring](http://time.com/4362267/yellowstone-death-hot-spring-confirmed-man-fall/?iframe=true&preview=true "undefined") and dissolved when he fell into the boiling, acidic water, was looking to soak in the water, park officials said in a report. The report, which followed a Freedom of Information Act request from [KULR](http://www.kulr8.com/story/33709627/man-killed-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-allegedly-trying-to-hot-pot "undefined"), found that Colin Scott, 23, was looking for a place to “hot pot,” or soak in the streaming waters—a practice forbidden by the park—with his sister in June. He “was reaching down to check the temperature of a hot spring when he slipped and fell into the pool,” the report said, quoting his sister Sable Scott. Search and rescue rangers who looked for Scott found his body in the pool, along with his wallet and flip flops, but their recovery efforts were thwarted by a lightning storm. The next day, they could not find any remains because of the acidic water quality. “In a very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving,” Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress [told KULR](http://www.kulr8.com/story/33709627/man-killed-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-allegedly-trying-to-hot-pot "undefined"). \[[_KULR_](http://www.kulr8.com/story/33709627/man-killed-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-allegedly-trying-to-hot-pot "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4574226/man-dissolved-yellowstone-park/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4574226/man-dissolved-yellowstone-park/"},"headline":"Man Dissolved in Acidic Water After Trying to Soak in Yellowstone National Park Hot Pool","datePublished":"2016-11-16T23:58:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:52:05.200Z","description":"He and his sister were trying to \"hot pot,\" or soak in the water","url":"https://time.com/4574226/man-dissolved-yellowstone-park/","keywords":["nature"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74630dbe4e39b91f/6988aed6cd1bba4648703214/yellowstone-hot-spring.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74630dbe4e39b91f/6988aed6cd1bba4648703214/yellowstone-hot-spring.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-PARK-YELLOWSTONE","caption":"US-PARK-YELLOWSTONE","creditText":"MLADEN ANTONOV—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nature/","name":"nature"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4574226/man-dissolved-yellowstone-park/","name":"Man Dissolved in Acidic Water After Trying to Soak in Yellowstone National Park Hot Pool"}}]}] ```