Lembert Dome Cairn Art- Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 252

Artistic cairn layout at Lembert Dome

Artistic cairn layout near Lembert Dome Trailhead

Near the trail head of Lembert Dome, some hikers showed their artistic side by creating a grouping of cairns. These rock formations are ostensibly used to guide others in areas where the path may not be clear. There is some “controversy” about these unofficial guide posts primarily because they are unofficial. There have been times when not-so-funny jokesters deliberately mislead others.

A grouping like this may cause confusing since they appear in a rounded formation without a clear direction. There were others in the area that did point the way, however.

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 252 YOY – Year of Yosemite

File Name: 3540.JPG
Capture time: 4:55:09 PM
Capture date: June 7, 2016
Exposure: 1/800 sec @ f/4
Focal Length: 6.6mm
ISO 80
Canon PowerShot A590 IS

 

Careful Cairn Construction and Care – Hiking Guides

cairn – a pile of stones that marks a place (such as the place where someone is buried or a battle took place) or that shows the direction of a trail [ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cairn ]

 

Stone Trail Cairn Marker

As indicated by a number of our posts, my wife and I are avid hikers and nature lovers. We often seek places where few want to go as well as those that provide views that few will ever get to see. Thus we often hit the trails of lesser known hiking sites and we are always thankful when we have difficult locating the “marked” trail and other hikers have taken time to construct a cairn.

Unfortunately, there are times when we have been misled by cairns or they were constructed in such a way that we misinterpreted them. We carry a GPS system so we have a backup plan when necessary.

Stone Trail Cairn Marker

David B. Williams has written a book, Ciarns: Messengers in Stone, whereby he covers a broad array of topics related to their history, geology, etc.

Among the topics discussed is the proper construction and care of cairns. One point, for example, is as follows:

“If you build a cairn to mark your trail or a specific location, don’t forget that certain responsibilities come along with creating rock piles outdoors. Cairns can convey many messages to travelers but they are commonly interpreted as trail markers. Misplaced cairns can lead hikers astray and leave them lost and disgruntled after discovering it is a dead end.”

You can read the rest of the article about the book and learn more about building cairns at the link that follows.

Via The Mountaineers Books

Originally seen on the Wirecutter! a recommended website for tech reviews, etc.