M'LADY
In defense of the owners of the hats pictured here, @m3moellering, these people probably DIDN'T trample where they shouldn't have and that's why their hats were picked up by the Park Service. I've watched plenty of hats blow off someone's head and into a thermal area in Yellowstone and rather than walk out there and pick it up (risking both their own safety and the fragile ecosystem) the hat gets left where it lands.
Yeah hats blow off, they collected a bunch of other stuff that shouldn't have been brought into the area to begin with.
@samh Aiiight. I'll take your word for it. I still have vivid memories of those encrusted foot gouges in the crust of the newly formed rock. That and the asshat who was trying to climb the travertine to get to the Screaming Mouth.
Coming soon to a Yellowstone gift shop near you: Hat Straps! They Don't Make You Look Silly™
Seeing the footsteps that you have taken off trail in the hydrothermal beds is what starts me off.