Forum Index > Trail Talk > Cairns Anyone? - a fresh look, etc, etc.
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Tsolo
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PostMon Dec 24, 2001 6:24 pm 
Hey, all you cairn proponents/opponents. Any recent thinking to add to the subject? Here's my current position. The only problem with cairns is that they're so plain and unimaginative. We need to make them more interesting looking. The arctic Inuits have a better idea -- they developed inukshuks, which serve not only for routefinding purposes, but also are photogenic and even have mystical significance. (And they're cute.) http://www.verycanada.com/inukshuk/ http://wpni01.auroraquanta.com/pv/nunavut?img=1087 http://www.inukshukman.com If we started making our cairns this way, would there be more tolerance for them? Merry Christmas and good hiking adventures in the new year…

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catwoman
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PostMon Dec 24, 2001 6:27 pm 
Very nice! I want to add that I've just gotten my business license and my business name is Standing Stones. My logo will be a beautifully constructed cairn. tongue.gif (Yes, I'm serious.)

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Stefan
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PostMon Dec 24, 2001 9:03 pm 
Looking at those pictures I noticed that many of those rocks in the upper portion of the cairn are rectangular like. Many of our rocks in the Cascadian area do not break that way. Yes, there are shale like places, but for the most part they don't have that cut and therefore would be difficult to reconstruct. Since the native northwestern indians came from the "inuit" I would assume that the northwestern indians would have made the same type of cairns as they travelled around this area. I know the natives did not travel frequently high becuase food sources weren't probably all that high in the mountains, but does anyone know of the native northwesterns and making cairns? I like the idea Tsolo.

Art is an adventure.
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MtnGoat
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PostTue Dec 25, 2001 2:50 pm 
It's not the shape or positioning, it's their presence.

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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Dave Weyrick
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Dave Weyrick
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PostTue Dec 25, 2001 3:05 pm 
I wonder if totem poles are related to the stone cairns. Maybe an adaptation to an area where wood is available and not stackable stones?

If I'd known ya was gonna use bait I wouldn't a brought ya!
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Mike Collins
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PostTue Dec 25, 2001 5:41 pm 
I believe it was either Natural History or Smithsonian which had an article on these stones several years ago. Some of the stones seem to be direction markers but others are constructed with a human shape to baffle migrating animals which were hunted. They could then be directed toward an ambush area where they were slaughtered. Then a limited number of men could hunt more successfully.

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Rich Baldwin
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PostThu Dec 27, 2001 10:52 am 
One of the problems with cairns is that too many people build them in too many places. Far too many to accept that they were built for survival. Often they are placed in obvious locations in no need of a cairn, even if the weather changed. They endure as an imposition on the landscape.

Was you ever bit by a dead bee?
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Stefan
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PostWed Nov 24, 2004 12:54 pm 
Bump.

Art is an adventure.
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polarbear
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PostWed Nov 24, 2004 1:13 pm 
. Bump Bump Bump

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MCaver
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PostWed Nov 24, 2004 1:44 pm 
Hey, where's Rich? He hasn't posted since August. And Dave since Sept. Come back, guys!

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Scrooge
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PostWed Nov 24, 2004 1:52 pm 
Oh, phooey.
If the cairns are out of place in the pristine wilderness ..... so are you.
And sometimes they're kind of neat.
And sometimes they're kind of neat.

Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Jamin Smitchger
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PostWed Nov 24, 2004 3:07 pm 
Cairns should not exist for any reason. If there is a trail to wherever you're going, then it doesn't need a cairn. If there isn't and you have such lousy routefinding skills that you think you are going to get lost without a cairn, you shouldn't be in the woods in the first place. The only exception to this that I can think of is when an already established trail crosses a rockfield where the trail is hard to follow. In this case, cairns are necessary to keep idiots from getting lost. When walking in the wilderness, the best rule to follow is to destroy all cairns and not make any new ones. This prevents new trails from being formed. smile.gif

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Stefan
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Stefan
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PostWed Nov 24, 2004 3:59 pm 
Jamin Smitchger wrote:
Cairns should not exist for any reason. If there is a trail to wherever you're going, then it doesn't need a cairn. If there isn't and you have such lousy routefinding skills that you think you are going to get lost without a cairn, you shouldn't be in the woods in the first place. The only exception to this that I can think of is when an already established trail crosses a rockfield where the trail is hard to follow. In this case, cairns are necessary to keep idiots from getting lost. When walking in the wilderness, the best rule to follow is to destroy all cairns and not make any new ones. This prevents new trails from being formed. smile.gif
So...are you saying there are cairns where there are no trails to point people in the direction of a trail?

Art is an adventure.
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Jamin Smitchger
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PostWed Nov 24, 2004 4:52 pm 
I am saying that where there are cairns, trails miraculously appear. I only advocate cairns on trails which have a large amount of users who could get lost.

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Jamin Smitchger
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PostWed Nov 24, 2004 5:06 pm 
Actually, I barely even advocate trails, especially not new ones. I believe that new trails decrease the amount of wilderness in the area because they make the area more accessible. New trails also decrease the amount of solitude in the affected area. I also believe that if an area has a trail nearby it cannot be considered wilderness. If cairns are built, it is more likely that a route will become a trail, and if trails are everywhere, there will be NO place where a person can be alone down.gif

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