https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbi ... any-stones

Sounds like the NPS has completely and totally run out of people to needlessly harass...

I disagree. It's a worldwide plague, and I've personally witnessed several natural areas that've been fouled by this mindless vandalism: Dome Rock in the Southern Sierra and Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas, to name a couple.

Red Rocks is the worst I've seen. And many of the cairns there actually lead one into dangerous terrain.

I'm not saying making needless cairns should be a crime, but I've knocked down many a pile, including on wilderness routes in the Winds where they had no business, and I encourage others to do the same.

Good cairn vs. bad is subjective, of course, and I'd argue that only those marking key spots where a wrong turn could turn into a SAR fiasco belong, but if I had to pick one side, I'd say knock 'em all down.

And some summit cairns are so huge that you can see them from afar and maybe the USGS needs to change the elevations on maps.

I erroneously assumed we were talking about cairns in general. Now that I have read the article, I believe even more so that what is going on is vandalism.

The people who do this are losers; those who follow them on social media are even worse.

And shit like this gives land managers excuses to further restrict access for everyone. These people suck.

I've seen the fields of cairns in Aruba... and some other places like in Koh Samet... but what is in Aruba goes on for 1000s of meters... its crazy.

Not really a fan of cairns myself actually. I knock them down all the time actually. They are all over Sawtooth Mountain in Sequoia and completely misleading and useless. But when you see something like what they've done in Aruba it is at least as interesting as what would otherwise be a completely unnoteworthy beach.

Not saying those that do it are not losers... but who cares?!?!? To call it vandalism, a plague on the environment, or something the NPS needs to address is over the top and ridiculous.

mrchad9 wrote:Not saying those that do it are not losers... but who cares?!?!? To call it vandalism, a plague on the environment, or something the NPS needs to address is over the top and ridiculous.

Some of these places are collecting literally thousands of cairns:

Looks like a plague to me...

Yes, definitely a plague.

Scott wrote:

mrchad9 wrote:Not saying those that do it are not losers... but who cares?!?!? To call it vandalism, a plague on the environment, or something the NPS needs to address is over the top and ridiculous.

Some of these places are collecting literally thousands of cairns:

Yip.... still not hearing the enormous negative consequences tho.

Sorry, this funny to ridiculous.... belongs on that "off route" or whatever they call it these days.

Marmaduke wrote:Sorry, this funny to ridiculous.... belongs on that "off route" or whatever they call it these days.

They call it: What the fook is going on with all the fookin' stones atop one another -- like they're breeding or something.

Marmaduke wrote:Sorry, this funny to ridiculous.... belongs on that "off route" or whatever they call it these days.

In that case, I have a riddle:

How many conservative disinfo shills does it take to build a needless cairn?

freakyclimber wrote:

Marmaduke wrote:Sorry, this funny to ridiculous.... belongs on that "off route" or whatever they call it these days.

In that case, I have a riddle:

How many conservative disinfo shills does it take to build a needless cairn?

The same amount of CNN watching liberal Kool-Aid drinking shills.