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Tourist at Grand Canyon criticised for ignoring no entry signs to sit on ledge

Simon Calder’s Travel

Tourists have been slammed online after a video captured them sitting on a dangerous Grand Canyon ledge and allegedly practising yoga poses next to the steep drop.

In a clip posted on by the Instagram page Tourons of National Parks — “touron” being a combination of the words tourist and moron —  the video zooms into a ‘Do Not Enter’ sign with cones blocking a pathway, before panning over to a cliff’s ledge where at least one person can be seen sitting.

The video, posted on 30 August, was taken during a golden hour sunset, supposedly showing that the person ignored the warning signs and clambered over the rocky edge of the North Rim Grand Canyon cliff to sit on the ledge and admire the views.

The caption to the video, credited to Grand Canyon park ranger Sarah Anderson, reads: “Crossing over a trail closed sign and on the edge North Rim Grand Canyon.

“It might be worth clarifying that it was a group of young adults, this girl was doing yoga moves right before this.

“They were all there watching sunset, but obviously breaking rules. This was reported that people were crossing the ‘do not enter sign’.”

The Instagram page added that while the person was not harming anyone by looking at views across the national park, if they fell, they “most likely need to be rescued or recovered”.

The video sparked a debate in the comments, with some stating that the group were harmless, while others were of the opinion that the act was irresponsible.

Some users were worried as it appeared the person was by themself, but Anderson clarified that it was a group of people on the rock together practising yoga poses and looking out onto the Canyon’s landscape.

“She crossed a sign that clearly said “do not enter” – I don’t care how pretty the view is, she needs to follow the rules, “ one user wrote. “There are plenty of places that don’t have that signage to take in a beautiful view.”

“How about this [as a] sign: Enter at your own risk, death and injury are possible, you are responsible for all rescue costs,” someone else posted, agreeing with other commenters who argue that it will be the search and rescue teams at risk if something goes wrong.

“I’m just tired of people thinking rules don’t apply to them,” another wrote.

However, some did not see the groups’ sunset viewing…

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