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High On Life Members Charged For Walking On Grand Prismatic Spring In Yellowstone Park

The four walked away from designated Yellowstone National Park trails onto the protected Grand Prismatic Spring.

A group of B.C. tourists have apologized for disturbing a protected area at Yellowstone National Park, but the Internet isn't letting them off easy.

High on Life, a group of four young men who make travel and adventure videos for a living, walked off designated park trails onto Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the United States, according to CTV Vancouver.

The spring is known for its bright, vivid colours caused by a delicate balance of bacteria.

Aerial view of Grand Prismatic Spring. (Photo: Getty Images)

Charges have been laid by the Wyoming Attorney General's office against three members of the group, according to K2 Radio.

Charles Ryker Gamble, Alexey Andriyovych Lyakh and Justis Cooper Price-Brown have been charged with violating a regulation that requires visitors to stay on designated paths, and for creating a hazardous condition.

The attorney general's office has also issued a warrant for their arrest.

Busted on video

The four guys, known as Ryker, Parker, Alexy, and Justis, walked onto the spring to take pictures and shoot video, ignoring posted signs warning visitors to keep away from the area.

Another visitor witnessed their venture off-boardwalk and posted video of them walking on the spring to YouTube.

High on Life initially posted photos and videos of their off-path excursion on Facebook, but removed them Sunday.

The group apologized for their stunt in two separate posts and pledged to donate $5,000 to the park.

They said they made an "unfortunate error of leaving the pathway."

"We want to inspire others to go out and explore this vast land, to treat nature and our world with love and respect and to remind everyone watching to never take the wonders in their backyard for granted," they said.

"This is what we stand for, this is who we are, with the purest of intentions we managed to screw up."

But comments on the post remained critical. Several said the group willfully ignored posted signs and pamphlets distributed by the park, which explain that leaving the path is illegal and dangerous.

Others called the men an "embarrassment" to Canada.

One person criticized the group for pledging a dollar for every photo shared with the hashtag #donationforYellowstone, rather than donating the money outright.

In wake of the public backlash, the group removed a page from their website that lists their sponsors

Earlier this week, the park made headlines after Canadian tourists from Quebec ignored warnings to not approach wildlife and put a bison calf in their car because it looked cold. The calf was later euthanized.

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