A recent NPR article addresses this issue, and was raised following an opinion column written by NAU senior lecturer Robyn Martin. (possibly a pseudonym for BobP ?)
@big_load
Mrs. MtnBart got a painting and some other things for the house. It's more of a local festival where the artists actually man or woman their booths. Photography, jewely, paintings sculpture, and evidently cairns. Although I think I read about the guy who did the cairns being ticketed a while back when he did it.
So here is the article or an article about the rock balancer. I'm pretty sure he did the cairns in fountain creek, but he had the issues in Boulder.
http www dailycamera com/news/boulder/ci_28213966/boulder-has-not-declared-rock-stacking-illegal-city
It's all about context for me. I hike in a lot of areas where trails are infrequently used and maintained, and a cairn or two at a creek crossing or switchback or just plain vague point can be immensely helpful for some people. Other times I see 30 cairns along a 1/4 mile stretch of a 4 foot wide highway of a trail, and find those utterly obnoxious (and my boot often comes in contact with some of those).
AZ Wandering Bear wrote:.....From NAU writing for NPR? So is this a case of the stoned talking about the stacked?
"The censorship method ... is that of handing the job over to some frail and erring mortal man, and making him omnipotent on the assumption that his official status will make him infallible and omniscient."
George Bernard Shaw
To cairn, or not to cairn . . .
We've all seen the "cairn every 1/4 mile" situation, or even the fiberglass sign post every quarter mile, and I think a little judicious rearrangement is called for.
But to remove them all is a concern. Not everyone is as navigationally gifted as we might be at the moment, even us at another moment or location, so some reassurance that we are where we want to be is a good thing. And in a rescue situation it could be life-or-death.
Shawn
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.
Sredfield wrote:But to remove them all is a concern. Not everyone is as navigationally gifted as we might be at the moment, even us at another moment or location, so some reassurance that we are where we want to be is a good thing. And in a rescue situation it could be life-or-death.
I agree with this and if I'm in a duck-kicking mood, I don't kick ducks that I see are helpful. I usually don't stop to kick ducks, anyway.
Interestingly, there are a number of conversations and things available online on this topic. I googled "cairns ducks hiking." This one is interesting because it gives some context and history to the current discussion: http://cholla.mmto.org/hiking/cairns.html
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
Although I think I read about the guy who did the cairns being ticketed a while back when he did it.
Route Editor
Route Scout
