Cairns at Mirror Lake
So apparently googling the rock statues/cairns at Mirror Lake will open a can of worms. When we got up to the Lake and were walking around, we happened upon this pretty incredible site of hundreds of stacked rocks/trail markers/cairns. It looked like a graveyard almost and we were all pretty excited to walk around and look and then create our own. I decided to look it up, to see what this was all about, and what I found was a bunch of people talking about it negatively and saying it was “disrespectful.”
I really don’t get it. I thought it was cool art, something that obviously doesn’t harm the environment or the park, and was a way to share and leave your mark without really leaving a mark.
I guess some people really have their panties in a twist.
We made several stacks of our own, then wandered around to view some of the really incredible ones – like one stack that was at least 4.5 feet tall and another that was piled onto a branch sticking several feet off the ground.
Some people just don’t know how to have good clean fun, I guess. Or they are too serious for their own good.
Do you think this is beautiful or do you think it’s inappropriate?
Related Posts:
6 comments
I think it’s cool! I recently found out why people leave cairns along the trail. It’s to mark a side trail or something that is really cool to look at just off the trail. I thought what a cool idea, I just thought people stopped and had a little fun while waiting, like creating art. So I think it’s just good clean fun and not disrespectful to the environment. Well that’s my two bits about it, I don’t know if matters or not.
I feel like I’m missing something. Do they say what about this is “disrespectful”?
I thought it was beautiful! It was so natural, so temporary (a good wind or snow storm & it will all be gone). There seemed to be a hushed feeling, just like in the rest of the park.
I wonder if these are the same people who think all the buildings and people should be removed from Yosemite.
I don’t know, they didn’t think it fit Yosemite, but I didn’t see any good explanation for the complaints. Then someone said it fit as well as the flushing toilets, cafe etc.. you find through the park, and I got the feeling they thought NONE of it should be there. So.. what, just leave it inaccessible so no one can enjoy it? I understand leaving nature as it should be, but we should also be able to view and enjoy, learn and understand it. I think there is a fine line, but making the park accessible to people (including adding roads, toilets, etc..) is not crossing the line. Without those things, none of us would be able to go and see how beautiful it is! I’d rather see rock statutes like this than litter left behind, or spray paint somewhere. You know? Anyway, these people are dumb, my opinion. LOL
I think they do a marvelous job with the balance between preserving and sharing nature. I am certain that many people leave Yosemite with a greater appreciation of nature and our wonderful earth. Perhaps they will make more earth-friendly choices and spend more time outdoors – improving their own and the earth’s health.
I think “panties in a twist” says it well. Some people are just holier-than-thou. My husband and I happened upon the field of cairns and thought it was really cool.
There’s a video on youtube of people knocking down cairns with a sanctimonious note about building them “ignores Leave No Trace Ethics” and “disrupts habitat for small animals.” Oh, come on. In a park with three-quarters of a million acres (much of it built up with bathrooms, roads, buildings, etc.), one acre or so where visitors STACK UP A FEW SMALL STONES brings on the need to wag your finger? These people really need to trying living on planet Earth.
I came across them this weekend and immediately was “wowed” by them. I considered them “found art.” It does no harm to the environment and any storm passing through will knock them over. Besides all that, you can’t really say that Mirror Lake is a totally natural environment, or wilderness. There is signage, a latrine, and the rock piles have old steps leading up to them where a parking lot used to be, generations ago. Cigarette butts, trash, or graffiti spray-painted on rocks (all of which I also saw) would upset me, but not these harmless little rock piles. The Miwok Indians that used to inhabit Yosemite Valley didn’t exactly “leave no trace” either–there are the holes they drilled into rocks for grinding foodstuffs and the climbers who overrun the park don’t exactly “leave no trace” since they leave clamps and such drilled into the rocks so climbers following the same route up don’t have to hammer them in again. Those pitching a fit about it need to chill out. My word for the rock cairn garden is: MARVELOUS!