Death Valley cracks down on sidewalk egg-frying

Death Valley cracks down on sidewalk egg-frying

With current temperatures hovering above 120 degrees, rangers in Death Valley National Park have some advice for ‘would-be’ visitors: Drink plenty of water, avoid excessive outdoor activity and please, stop trying to fry eggs on the pavement. It doesn’t work, it makes a mess and the staff has better things to do than clean up after you, NBC News reports.

In fact, the proliferation of broken shells, discarded cartons and accumulated goo has reached such a point that the park recently took to its Facebook page to implore people to stop — or at least use a pan or tin foil and dispose of the results when they’re done.

In Death Valley, visitors testing the theory that it’s “so hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk” are making a mess of parking lots and scenic overlooks. “The Death Valley National Park maintenance crew has been busy cleaning up eggs cracked directly on the sidewalk, including egg cartons and shells strewn across the parking lot,” said in facebook post. “This is your national park, please put trash in the garbage or recycle bins provided and don’t crack eggs on the sidewalks, or the Salt Playa at Badwater.”

“It’s just one more thing to do with a short staff and hot temperatures,” said park spokesperson Cheryl Chipman. “It’s really not appreciated.”

Prior to the recent rash of sidewalk egg-frying a park employee posted a video of her own experiment on YouTube when temperatures soared in late June. The clip has racked up over 81,000 views.

The anonymous employee used a pan, but some visitors are cracking their eggs directly on the blacktop or rocks and not cleaning up their shells and cartons after the fun is done.

“The video set off a surge of (egg-frying), especially since we were nearing our record temperature,” said Chipman. “I don’t think we’ve seen the garbage strewn about that we did this time, which was a little disappointing.” daily times monitor