cairns on mountain paths

[goamules]

I don't mind the occasional cairn in truly confusing spots. What bothers me is people putting them every 25 yards on a well-trod trail! On the flagging tape, I hate it. It's often used around here to help illegals in their border crossings. That gets removed.

[Terence McDonagh]

And for the record, I've never set a stone myself. But I've often appreciated them when "appropriate".

[Brian Ellis]

Not at all, I appreciate them most of the time. I see many other things that disturb my experience in the woods much more than cairns made from rocks in the natural environment - trails themselves being the most obvious, old campfire sites being another common one that, unlike cairns, serve no purpose. Yeah, the person who needs them might end up being rescued. Or maybe the cairns would have prevented the need for a rescue in the first place. Ever think of that as you were going along merrily destroying cairns because you don't like them?

[BrianShaw]

(Psychology note: I’ve so conditioned myself to dislike human cairns, that even when I come across natural ones, I sometimes grimace!)

Stacks of humans... I'd like to see a LF snappy of one of those!

[Heroique]

Fantastic!

[Daniel_Buck]

I don't know, I don't seem to mind them.

I don't like seeing spraypaintings or carvings on trees and rocks, those get me angry (same with beer bottles and other trash strewn about) But a little pile of rocks doesn't bother me at all, I don't think that is "defacing" anything.

I sometimes take photos of rock placements, like this one below, it made me smile when I saw it :-)

[climbabout]

Cairns are invaluable during the winter when deep snow obscures the trail. Doubly invaluable when visibility suddenly changes to nil as it frequently does in the winter here in the northeast. Anyone who has ever been caught in those conditions would never question their validity or necessity. I've had storms form suddenly on Mt Washington where visiblity drops to a few yards and the cairns are necessary to keep you on the trail - even in the summer.
Tim

[Richard Raymond]

In the east above the tree line cairns are mostly used to keep folks on the path, even when the fog or snow gets thick. There are lots of hikers in a relatively small area. The vegetation above the tree line is very fragile and slow growing (sub arctic growing zones). General wandering off on one's own is allowed but discouraged as most are not aware of the damage they do.
Cairns are also very helpful in the winter for the large group of hikers that climb and photograph year round. While the mountains are lower in the east they are generally more dangerous in winter ... Very high winds and extreme cold. More than 200 people have died, mostly from exposure, on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire ... only a little over 2,000 meters (6,000 ft). Lone cairns often mark escape routes or rescue routes used by search and rescue groups. Destroying what one does not understand may lead to grief for others.

[Bill_1856]

In the eastern US and UK, they seem to really like them. In the western US, I destroy every single one of them (so do my friends). One who needs to rely on cairns for movement may eventually end up being rescued.

I hope that you're saying this in jest. Otherwise you should be taken out and shot.

[Preston]

In the Sierra we call 'em 'ducks'. There are thousands of them, most of which serve no useful purpose. When I see a line of ducks, I look to see if they have feathers, walk like a duck and talk like a duck. If they don't--over they go.

I once saw twenty ducks on a scree slope below Thor Peak (on the approach to the east face of Mt. Whitney). The ducks were about 20 feet apart in an area where the route was intuitively obvious to the most casual observer. I knocked them over.

I like ducks, but only the feathered kind. So, Bill, you can shoot me, too. My question to you is; why the vehemence? If you've not seen the blight these things create in the west, I don't see how you can judge.

--P