- I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter the burn zone
with a hot spring.
Here we go.
Argh!
(yelling)
(panting)
(yelling)
(animal growling)
(jungle music)
Over the course of my career,
I have done some arguably crazy things
like being bitten intentionally by an alligator.
(yelling)
or happily submitting my self to a sting
from the Japanese Giant Hornet.
(yelling)
All of my brushes with intense pain
have been done in the name of science and education.
So today's experiment loosely falls
into those exact same categories.
As an extreme educator,
this is also the point where I tell you
never attempt to recreate the following science experiment.
Thermopolis, Wyoming is without question
one of the greatest locations
the brave wilderness team and I have ever visited.
It's a quaint little town
and with a population of around three thousand people,
it has an unforgettable charm.
They are famous for many things
including the world-renowned Wyoming Dinosaur Center,
where aspiring paleontologists can actually spend a day
looking for fossils.
Then you have Dairyland
which proudly boasts being the birthplace of pickle pops.
Yep, this is where I set the world record
for eating ten of these salty treats in thirty minutes.
(gagging sound)
As if dinosaurs and pickle pops weren't enough,
Thermopolis also has a very catchy nickname, The Hot City,
which is rightfully earned as they stake claim
to the world's largest mineral hot spring.
Before we get hands-on with the hot springs
for this brilliant experiment,
first it's important that we understand
the science behind these bubbling pools of beauty.
These hot springs originate in the Owl Creek Mountains,
where surface water like rain and melting snow
seep down through layers of porous rock.
As the water flows deeper into the earth,
it's heated by a geothermal gradient.
When the heated water reaches fractured rocks
within the Thermopolis anticline,
it's channeled back up to the surface
and voila, you have hot springs.
But are these hot springs hot enough
to make me breakfast?
We are just a few feet from the main source of Big Spring,
which is the largest mineral spring
in the entire United States.
Now, this water...
Oh yeah! Woo!
Yeah, that is definitely hot.
What we're gonna to try to do today
is find out whether or not a hot spring can boil an egg.
What I've done in advance is prepare a couple of eggs.
So you see this here?
That is an egg in cheesecloth tied to a shoestring.
Now we're going to try this experiment
in three different time intervals.
Five minutes,
fifteen minutes,
and thirty minutes.
This water stays at a consistent 127 degrees Fahrenheit.
The actual boiling temperature of water
is 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
To make hard-boiled eggs, you usually need to put
a fresh egg inside of boiling water
and keep it there for ten minutes.
So you may be saying to yourself
well, the math doesn't exactly add up.
If you have to have boiling water to make hard-boiled eggs,
how's this experiment going to work?
Basically what we're gonna do
is keep the eggs in there longer
than it would take to normally boil an egg
and see what happens.
Boiling eggs in the hot springs is completely fitting
because the entire area already smells like rotten eggs.
That's not because thousands of people
have tried this experiment before me
but instead as a result of gas bubbles rising to the surface
that contain hydrogen sulfide.
H2S is a colorless, poisonous,
flammable, and corrosive chemical compound
which has the distinct stench of rotten eggs.
Talk about some delicious science.
All right, it has officially been five minutes
which means it's time to pull the first egg
and gently slice open the cheesecloth.
Wow, it's really hot.
Okay, there it is.
(tapping)
Ah.
Nope.
Definitely not.
Oh wow, it's hot, it's really hot,
but it is definitely not hard-boiled.
Not gonna be eating that one.
I'm gonna actually just dump this off to the side here.
We'll wait for another ten minutes
for egg number two to maybe finish cooking.
Hey Garrity, what time is it?
I think it's been, it's been ten minutes or so.
Oh yeah, actually it's been eleven minutes.
Okay, we've gotta check the second egg.
Oh yeah, that is a hot egg right there.
(tapping)
Aw, the shell is really soft
but it is definitely not hard-boiled.
Hold on, let me crack it open.
Oh, it's hot.
Way more gelatinous though.
Look at that.
Considerably thicker than the last egg.
I can actually hold the entire thing in my palm.
Okay, we're making some progress here.
That is definitely starting to cook.
Long before I had the idea to boil eggs,
and even before the arrival of fur traders in the West,
Native Americans discovered the hot springs
and referred to them as medicine waters.
It was believed that these springs
had incredible healing powers
which had the ability to cure everything
from disease to gunshot wounds.
Fast forward to the modern advancements in science,
and today we know that the water in these springs
has nearly six times the total dissolved solids
found in drinking water,
basically classifying these springs
as a supercharged vitamin pill.
Our first two eggs weren't exactly edible
but with any luck our third egg is going to be the charm.
Ah, that is a hot egg right there.
It's just about my breakfast time
so I'm really hoping that this egg is cooked
so I can actually eat it.
Here we go.
There it is.
An egg that has cooked for thirty minutes in a hot spring.
Is it hard-boiled?
I think there's a good chance.
All right, here we go.
One, two,
(tapping)
Oh!
No, not fully cooked
even after thirty minutes.
(groans)
Do you guys like your eggs extra runny?
Oh no!
It did not cook!
Well, I guess that proves it.
127 degree Fahrenheit water is not capable,
even after thirty minutes, of boiling an egg.
Now I'm gonna get some of this yolk off of me.
Ugh, oh smells horrible.
Gross!
Warning.
Never attempt to recreate the following experiment
as hot water can cause
serious burns, trauma, and medical bills.
Okay, this is it.
The moment you have all been waiting for.
Am I capable of keeping my hands
in the scalding water of this natural hot spring?
Now keep in mind, this is 127 degrees Fahrenheit.
Your hottest hot tub is probably around 104 degrees.
So am I gonna be able
to keep my hands in it for sixty seconds?
Not likely.
Thirty seconds?
Maybe.
Fifteen seconds?
I think that's probably pretty fair.
So when you guys are ready,
I'm Coyote Peterson
and I'm about to enter the burn zone with a hot spring.
Here we go.
One,
(panting)
two,
three.
(groaning)
Oh wow, it gets hotter the deeper you go.
(yelling)
(panting)
(yelling)
Oh my gosh!
(panting)
(yelling)
No!
That is crazy hot!
Holy cow!
Phew!
Wow!
Unbelievable how hot that water is!
Oh my gosh.
I thought I might be able to last sixty seconds
but as soon as your fingers go down through the surface
and get closer to the bottom,
the water gets hotter and hotter and hotter,
and I can actually feel the blood inside my fingers
as if it was starting to boil.
That was crazy.
My hands are tingling right now
from the intensity of that heat.
I'd definitely say the take away from this episode
is that first of all, this water is
not hot enough to boil eggs.
Even after thirty minutes, our science experiment failed.
And when it comes down to the ridiculous nature
of actually placing my hands into the hot springs,
I know that was entertaining
but guys it is all about safety.
These hot springs are incredibly hot.
If you were to fall into this water
or just place your hands into there for too long,
you could face a serious burn situation.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
If you get the chance to visit Hot Springs State Park,
make sure that you stick to the designated trails,
and definitely admire it's bubbling hot springs
from a safe distance.
Hey Coyote Pack, if you thought
challenging the hot springs was hilarious,
make sure to go back and watch the episode
where I set a new world record
by eating ten delicious pickle pops.
And don't forget, subscribe and click the notification bell
so you can join me and the crew on our next location.
(yelling and gagging)