Untimely Death In Yellowstone
There's sad news from one of America's most beloved national parks: a woman died on the very first day of her summer job as a Yellowstone concessionaire after falling into Yellowstone's Grand Canyon.
18-year-old Maria "Masha" Sergeyevna Rumyantseva of Kaliningrad, Russia was hiking near Inspiration Point with three friends when she "ventured out off trail onto a loose rock promontory," park officials said. The rock "quickly gave way underneath her."
At 5:44 p.m. on June 7, park rangers received a 9-1-1 call reporting a woman had fallen into the canyon. With the assistance of a Teton Interagency helicopter, park rangers spotted the woman's body—lying approximately 400 feet down the canyon wall—later that night. Her body was recovered the next day.
The accident remains under investigation.
Tragic? Certainly. Preventable? Definitely. Let this be a reminder to stay on trail—posted trails avoid dangerous, unstable areas for a reason.