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People Are Stacking Too Many Stones

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31–37 of 37 posts

Re: People Are Stacking Too Many Stones

#31
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to hear that. I spend a lot of time in the backcountry and would rather not deal with your visual pollution -- a billboard of your presence. Why not just do the rock stacking in your own back yard where it will (apparently) be appreciated?

My point in posting such a response is that it’s actually a mistake to complain about this. My revulsion is the use of the internet as a bragging platform, in general. It doesn’t matter if it’s a walled garden or a fediverse of open source aggregators. People showing off and hamming it up to score points is the root cause, and any attention, even negative is going to fan the flames. Particularly if people develop a s…

I do find the idea of love locks possibly overloading bridges to the point of damage or collapse kind of awesome though.

As for the consequences of stacking rocks into formations, I thought this mystery was solved several thousand years ago with any variety of ancient pyramids?

Re: People Are Stacking Too Many Stones

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the real world, police enforce trespass laws all the time . It's far better than having to deal with the fallout after a direct confrontation between trespassers and property owners, in most cases.

The results are actually mixed and varied. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=skateboarders+v...

[deleted]

Re: People Are Stacking Too Many Stones

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the real world, police enforce trespass laws all the time . It's far better than having to deal with the fallout after a direct confrontation between trespassers and property owners, in most cases.

The results are actually mixed and varied. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=skateboarders+v...

Indeed they are. Which is why "will shrug at you all the time" was untrue.

Re: People Are Stacking Too Many Stones

#35
post #24

A notable feature of stacks of stones is that they're easy to knock over. So if you don't like them, knock them over. It'll make you feel good, to the extent that you don't like them. So it's a way for stackers to help topplers feel good about themselves. Toppling stones is actually strangely satisfying, like stomping a sand castle, starting a domino avalanche or exploding a death star. Cumulatively the number of sta…

Yes! Stickers! I bought a cheap cell phone and it had a sticker I couldn't see when it was in the package, that covered the battery compartment so I couldn't even open it. And it wouldn't come off. Picking at it produced a gummy hopeless wad. I resorted to a pocket knive, carved away plastic and paper until it was gone.

Re: People Are Stacking Too Many Stones

#36

This is somewhat of a problem on mountain routes, where stack stones are sometimes used as navigational markers (cairns). The ethics of Leave No Trace say not to leave these cairns. Many times, people will put these up to aid others, but their route deviates from what could be a better/safe alternative. Or at least a different opinion on what one is. Then, you have two sets of cairns, each going off in its own way. U…

This is an excellent point that a lot of people overlook. In some parks the cairns are so far apart that creating a new "pseudo cairn" can cause some serious navigational inconvenience. There's nothing more annoying than having to constantly double back and recheck against a trail map because some individual has decided to exercise a best neglected artistic flair. They should save it for their own garden.

Re: People Are Stacking Too Many Stones

#37
I was in WY to summit Gannett peak during the eclipse a couple summers ago. It was windy. Our tent was starting to deteriorate and rip apart. We moved stones. Built a wall. For shelter. I respect nature and it's beauty but never once did "I shouldn't be stacking these stones" cross my mind. There were plenty of stones left!

My only issue with stone stacking would be if people intentionally did this to throw people off a trail route. Even with a good map and compass a rock cairn can be a godsend. Especially when you're in a boulder field.

Anyone doing this for Instagram likes is an idiot.

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