Death in Yellowstone

It’s nighttime for me in Yellowstone and that means listening to Shawn read gruesome tales about grizzly attacks, avalanches, bison killings, and of course, missing hikers. I really am not interested, but he reads them aloud anyway – I think to scare me into not hiking alone, or putting my fingers in the hot springs – both of which I do. Tonight’s story touched me, and not in any good way. It hurt badly to hear it – I was folding clothing in the bedroom when Shawn seized his opportunity to frighten poor me. I am not a parent yet, but I can only imagine the terrible horror Mr. and Mrs. Hecht suffered when they watched their 9 year old son die. I have summarized the tragedy here:

Forty years ago a little boy named Andy Hecht died in Yellowstone. He was vacationing with his parents from New York, no doubt excited to be on an adventure in the Midwest. The family had been visiting what’s known as Crest Pool, one of Yellowstone’s more brilliant thermal features. Poor Andy - he was walking on the board walk when a gust of wind blew hot air into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. He tripped at a curve in the boardwalk and fell into the 200 + degree water. His parents did not see him fall, but heard his splash. They watched him attempt to swim a few strokes before he turned white, and sank to the bottom of the pool. The next day 8 pounds of bone, clothing, and flesh were recovered.

This is both disgusting and heartbreaking. Not a good bedtime tale.

*From Lee Whittlesey's book Death in Yellowstone