Man Seeking To 'Hot Pot' Fell Into Yellowstone Hot Spring And Was Dissolved Within A Day

A man hoping to experience what’s known as ‘hot potting’ ended up completely dissolving after falling into a scalding volcanic spring inside Yellowstone National Park.

Colin Scott had traveled to the park, a place known for its powerful geothermal activity, intending to try ‘hot potting’—a risky act where someone briefly jumps into a hot spring before quickly climbing out again.

Yellowstone is filled with these hot springs because the entire park sits directly above a massive supervolcano that constantly heats the earth below.

Beneath the park lies a huge chamber of molten magma that warms underground water, causing it to bubble up to the surface rich with volcanic minerals.

While many people associate volcanic minerals with natural health remedies, the reality is that these pools are incredibly dangerous. Even touching the water for a second can cause severe burns or worse, something Colin discovered in the most tragic way possible.

The 23-year-old had been testing the temperature of one of the springs when he lost his balance, slipped, and fell into the searing water. Once submerged, he couldn’t escape.

The pools are highly dangerous Natalie Behring/Getty Images

Colin sadly died inside the spring after falling in.

Park rangers quickly arrived at the scene but couldn’t immediately recover his remains because of the extreme heat and hazardous conditions around the pool.

To make matters worse, a thunderstorm began to move in, forcing the rangers to leave and take shelter. They planned to return the next day to recover Colin’s body once the storm had passed.

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However, when rangers came back the following morning, Colin’s body was gone. Only his sandals and wallet were still floating in the bubbling, acidic water.

At first, they wondered if a wild animal might have come across the scene during the night and carried the body away. But soon, they realized something far more disturbing had happened.

Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress later wrote in his report that there was another, much more chilling explanation for why Colin’s body had completely disappeared.

Yellowstone is known for its volcanic activity George Rose/Getty Images

"In a very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving," he wrote.

Temperatures at the surface of Yellowstone’s geysers and thermal pools can reach around 199°F (93°C), and it only gets hotter the deeper you go toward the magma below.

When those extreme temperatures mix with the acidic volcanic chemicals present in the water, it creates a deadly environment that quickly destroys organic tissue, including human flesh.

Only a few types of specialized bacteria are capable of surviving long-term in these extreme volcanic pools, thriving where nearly every other living organism would be destroyed within moments.

According to data from Outforia, at least 52 people have lost their lives in Yellowstone since 2010, many of them due to similar geothermal incidents.

That number, however, is still lower than the fatality count in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, which has reported 92 deaths during the same time period.