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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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Mar 25, 2015 - 03:59pm PT
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Which is worse to you; stairs or stacks?
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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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Mar 25, 2015 - 04:05pm PT
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get a broom....?
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c wilmot
climber
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Mar 25, 2015 - 04:06pm PT
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Which is worse to you; stairs or stacks?
Those rock stairs have a functionality- they keep the erosion level down from the tourists constant use and keep the trail stable and free from mud. They also are not washed out by heavy rains and keep the tourists from short cutting the trail which causes damage. And sometimes they cover up slick slabs of rock that cause people to slip- or shore up the rock walls above them.
Those silly cairns on the other hand have no purpose. They cause the NPS to spend money to remove them. Create a hazard by being on the trail both as a means of stepping on and if they trundle down the hill as most trails in YOS switchback. Mainly they are pointless. If you want to build em- then knock em back down- leave no trace.
Sorry for the rant- but after years of trailwork in Yos for the NPS I had to comment
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Mar 25, 2015 - 04:12pm PT
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One of the absolute mellowest guys I know goes off like a Roman Candle when he sees cairns. It's like all his frustrations are bottled up then released when he see cairns.
I just knew we have met before!
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Mar 25, 2015 - 04:12pm PT
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I used to stack rocks just enough to make a toilet seat after digging a hole. At some point I learned to just squat over the hole to save the effort. So I'm done with stacking.
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Gilroy
Social climber
Bolderado
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Mar 25, 2015 - 04:38pm PT
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Cairn Kicking Climbing Club - Gilroy, Chairman
At some point they become monuments and I give up picking away at them. So build them high, wide and Goldsworthy.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Mar 25, 2015 - 05:15pm PT
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Despite my earlier post about liking the artful rock balancing (provided it's not everywhere), I don't like cairns adn I don't like the randomly stacked rocks, like the ones around Mirror Lake. Occasionally cairns have their place, but more times than not I spend a lot of time just kicking them over because they're everywhere, next to a really obvious trail, or simply mark the poor path some other person took. On a rest day, a buddy and I climbed Mt. Hoffman and we spent probably as much time knocking over cairns (all next to an obvious, well trodden use trail) as we did hiking.
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Edge
Trad climber
Betwixt and Between Nederland & Boulder, CO
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Mar 25, 2015 - 05:35pm PT
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I like to balance them on my head, ala Eliza Doolittle.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Mar 25, 2015 - 05:40pm PT
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but I know someone that will spend all day knocking cairns over.
Ahem.
That would be me.
On another note, I can say that back in the 1990s I was almost shot by National Park Services rangers for knocking over a cairn. Seems that they were quite enraged by my housekeeping activities. They pulled out their guns, had me on my knees and were threatening to execute me out there in the wilderness.
It wasn't a pleasant experience.
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Gene
climber
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Mar 25, 2015 - 05:56pm PT
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I hope this fad quickly passes. Just another form of tagging as far as I'm concerned. Tread lightly out there my friends.
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Mar 25, 2015 - 06:00pm PT
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Stackers . . . not slackers.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Mar 25, 2015 - 06:16pm PT
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Cairns don't bug me.
They make great subjects. If i saw a pile of them like that, i would probably have fun throwing rocks at them to knock em over.
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zBrown
Ice climber
Brujò de la Playa
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Mar 25, 2015 - 06:30pm PT
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Are these rock statues bolted into the surfaces they're on??
From the Yosemite National Park archive. (Ranked #33 of 71 Attractions)
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son of stan
Boulder climber
San Jose CA
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Mar 25, 2015 - 06:35pm PT
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Thou shalt not pile rocks without adult supervision
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Mar 25, 2015 - 06:51pm PT
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The amazing Chris Booth, stone artist from Kerikeri New Zealand. Met him in a remote anchorage on New Years Eve 2007 and became an instant fan.
http://www.chrisbooth.co.nz/
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Mar 25, 2015 - 06:57pm PT
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Leave no trace.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Mar 25, 2015 - 07:03pm PT
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Indeed Bruce...
Not exactly wilderness is it?
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Mar 25, 2015 - 07:13pm PT
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These stackers were not hackers.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Mar 25, 2015 - 07:16pm PT
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Trails & roads - part of the normal NPS Preserve & Enjoy conflict / compromise.
Trail cairns - they are nice when it's dark and I'm not sure which way to go.
Artistic cairns - they seem out of place in the "wilderness", but it's not really a wilderness. Bolts seem out of place sometimes, too.... Campfires sometimes, too.
All are ways to "enjoy" the public land; they have some impact, but maybe not too bad.
How about littering? I have a semi-crackpot theory that some people may do it, because they like the idea that "public servants" will be serving them for a change? Bruce and I have found several stashes of empty beer bottles / cans near Pinnacles trails. The people were able to pack the full bottles in, but they didn't pack the lighter empties out? Another factor could be the old teenage attitude that they can break the rules and get away with it.
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Mar 25, 2015 - 07:17pm PT
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Stackers . . . not whackers.
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