Source
r/hiking•
Watten

Hikers that build piles of rocks..

I have been out hiking now and everytime I am out I find them. Piles of rocks... Around rivers, beaches and so on. I tip over every single one I see. (I am not talking about cairns that are there for marks along the trail.) Just the ones that hikers have built for some stupid reason. Stones are part of the natural landscape like trees and flowers. And it is destroying the lanscape when people go and build. From a person that have been living in Iceland I can tell where a big part of the landscape is rocks it is a huge problem in some places that people build it. But for some reason people see it just like rocks are something you can alter as ju whish. It is just stones. And one highly upvoted post on Travel is one of these piles of rocks: www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/2cetbf/today_i_walked_3_hours_to_see_this/ and that is just telling about is a big acceptance around building these. Why is it? "Leave no mark" applies to this too.

Posted Aug 18, 2014, 3:30 PM UTC

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ctgt•

You're right and the Leave No Trace organization advises people not to move rocks.

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eng_pencil_jockey•

This sub seems like a bunch snobs. Making a pile of rocks has never appealed to me but I have never thought it was somehow de-appreciating nor destroying the landscape. It has always been a sign of another hiker passing. If you want to hike somewhere remote, stop going to weekend parks and do some back country hiking off the beaten path.

7†
WattenOP•

Why are we snobs? We love nature, we love hiking. We love nature so much that we don't want it being destroyed.

You should ask yourself why you don't believe it is destroying the landscape. And ask yourself if you rather would want to see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Friendly_Beaches_1.jpg/300px-Friendly_Beaches_1.jpg this in a pile instead.

Rhe sign of another hiker passing should never be more than footprints or any other non. There is a reason why people are trying to teach hikers the philosophy of "leave no traces" for a reason. Because that people for some reason want to show that they have been there is destroying several national parks with graffiti and so on. And also moving rocks are destroying the landscape. Not just the view but also the soil and plants but that is not you concern,

4
[deleted]•

They are so useful in places like Wales where huge amounts of fog settle in.

1
freedomweasel•

Snobs = following the generally agreed upon guidelines, or in some cases, the regulations of the land?

If you can't control your desire to build little piles of rocks, at least take them down before you leave.

4
CalHiker•

at least you don't have idiot "gold miners" on your favorite hiking trail, these assholes really think they are going to get rich quick since those stupid tv shows came on

6
Gliese2•

I hike to experience the wilderness. I want/need to get away from the artificial constructs of man. I don't get angry when I see one of these, but it does put a damper on the experience. I couldn't picture myself altering anything in a forest or on a trail. These wilderness areas were protected and made public so that everyone can see untouched natural beauty. When you build these, you're no longer sharing a special place with others. You're laying claim to it in a way.

4
jasnooo•

Yeah, people can be assholes sometimes... I admit it - a friend and I once made trail art out of pinecones, stacking them oddly and making patterns near the trail(San Jacinto, half-way up Marion Mountain trail. Miss ya buddy). I frown on it now though. Hiking in SoCal, I'll take piles of rocks over garbage and graffiti any day though.

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Motorhead8333•

I totally agree. There is a very famous trail a few hours north of me that has this massive look out point that people canoe in to see for a day trip. The top of this point is a massive open piece of cap rock that also Intersects the hiking trail which can take up to 4days to reach on foot. These people day tripping in have obviously seen the carins and thought they were art or something, now there are so many that are randomly placed I have herd of groups being lost for hours taking a wrong turn.

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Imazagi•

They are not too common here in the alps, apart from some river banks. I guess I'd die of sensory overload. In the places where I like to hike, I'm constantly searching for cairns and other hints of where old hunter's trails go.

Oh, and I rebuilt many of them last weekend as it looks like I was the first one up there this year.

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liog•

Some state parks here in New Hampshire, like Cardigan, maintain cairns for the safety of year round hikers. It's against the law to create your own but the rock piles do come in handy when hiking in foggy, wet conditions.

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marylou5•

I agree with you. Of course there are worse things asshole hikers can do (leave trash, feed wildlife, leave graffiti, etc.) but piling rocks on top of each other is still irritating.

1