The Art Of Balancing Stones

a reply to: Night Star

this practice hasrecieved , to be blunt " mixed reviews " amongst the outdoor activities communities i participate in

yes - it takes some measure of skill , discipline and patience

but - i and many others go toplaces " off the beaten track " to get away from the rest of humanity

i dont want to find some ones idea of " art " waiting for me

rock stcking - at least has the " advantage " that one swift kick - and the area is " normalised "

there is a varient " rock painting " - look it up - which is graffity on rocks - and i would gladly purge all those who attempt it - with zero qualms [ but i digress ]

while it is almost impossible to truely " LNT " [ leave no trace ] - a philosophy i subscribe to

i at least attempt it - one has to leave footprints etc - but unless you can make out the tread psattern of my size 9 combat boots - i like to think that ist impossible to tell wether i , an animal or force of nature made the trace that marks my passage

in well travelled areas - i dont mind them [ rock stacks ] - as theres already a plethora of human blight - some people kick all over - just out of spite - i do not

i only kick - if t can look around - and the rock pile is the only trace of humanity within 50m

as always - YMMV

but some of us - prefer not to find " art " where previously no trace was seen

a reply to: Night Star

I've not seen this exactly, but something very related to it I have seen extensively.

In Wyoming where I grew up there are piles of stones known as "cairns', and these 'cairns' have a very interesting history. Cairns are created for a number of reasons, but the Basque sheepherders who roam the wilds of Wyoming have created a whole language with them.

I worked as a surveyor for a while on pipeline projects and we'd get into some pretty remote country. I have always been very outdoorsy too so I spent a lot of time in the wild. I was always amazed when I'd be somewhere where I was certain no other human had ever set foot, and suddenly I'd see a cairn. I wasn't the first person to stand in that spot. One time I had an old Basque herder explain the stories of the stones.

Cairns would start out as a navigational marker, but over time they would grow and diminish over time. The rocks were stacked in such a way that other herders could tell not only where they were going, but also the last time someone had been there, who it was, and what direction they were traveling. As each Basque herder passed by they would add, or take away certain stones. In some cases they would rearrange the cairns completely. Everything had a meaning. It could be decades or even centuries before someone would visit a cairn someone made, but that was the whole point; they endured time. In some cases herders even had their own signature and left 'calling cards' of stones, they were greetings of sorts.

It was really fascinating!

One day when we were out surveying in a very remote area (hundreds of miles from the nearest paved road), we were looking for what is known as a 'Section Corner'. The western United States had originally been surveyed back in the 1880's, and many of the markers they left behind by what was known as the "Wagon Wheel Survey" were markers which still existed. Some of these markers were made of stones, another form of a cairn. We had some of the most sophisticated electronic distance measuring equipment available at the time, and this one particular marker was proving very difficult to locate. Our job was to re-establish the marker (or "monument" as they were called) if the original one couldn't be located. All day long we had seen a cairn in the distance but it wasn't where the marker should have been, so we kind of ignored it thinking it was probably put there by a Basque sheepherder for a different purpose.

Back at the truck that day, while eating lunch, we were reviewing our math and calculations for what we had done so far. The crew chief found a math error at an angle we had turned earlier in the day. This meant we were going to have to go back to before that point and redo the rest from scratch. (bummer! this was probably 10 miles and 50 points or so). It would take the rest of the day and we still wouldn't be back to where we were until the next day.

The next day when we returned, we swung one final angle with the instrument and guess what was directly in the bullseye of the instrument?? Yep, you guessed it...the cairn we had seen the day before! That pile of rocks had patiently waited for us in the high deserts of the American west for over 100 years. That pile of rocks had endured freezing winters, hurricane winds, scorching sun, rains and all manner of weather. It stood there like a time machine from the past. Not far away we found some remnants from an old wagon and some arrowheads. Whether that event happened at the same time or a different time we never knew, but it was pretty amazing to experience history like that.

P.S. - We documented the location of the wagon and the arrowheads and turned them in to the Historical Society of Wyoming. They would piece together historical accounts and records in an effort to determine what had happened. I never did hear anything further.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

rock stcking - at least has the " advantage " that one swift kick - and the area is " normalised "

...but unless you can make out the tread psattern of my size 9 combat boots...

And if you read my post above, you might realize you destroyed something of important value to someone. You destroyed an important navigational aide to a Basque sheepherder in a snowstorm maybe, or a greeting card between two long lost friends, or possibly even a piece of history!

You and your "size 9 combat boots".

Maybe a "size 15EEE hiking boot" to your backside might dislodge your head!

a reply to: Night Star

Intuitive geometry and physics at its finest! Sure, trial and error, but I imagine someone very practiced at it has a crazy amount of near-instant, subconscious calculations happening as the select stone and positioning.

I've done some of this in the past just out of 'something to do' when camping in rocky areas before I knew it was "a thing." What I found most interesting is how you tend to naturally know where and how to place for balance.

It reminds me of something I used to teachnew waitstaff when carrying very full and tippy drinks. Just watch where you're going - your body and mind will naturally balance better than if you're looking at the drinks trying to figure out your balance. The calculations we're capavle of making subconsciously are amazing.

Head to Sedona , Arizona then just walk around any of the various vortex areas.
Not all stacks are as artistic as those shown in the video but what is lacking in quality is made up for in quantity and location .

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

i read your post - it was hysterically funny

you clearly didnt read mine thought

oh well ...................................

a reply to: ignorant_ape

"Leave no trace" but start karate-flying-kicking stuff just because? Monkeys are funny, do you fling poo too?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

What a wonderful story! Thank you for sharing!

a reply to: dogstar23

Some people do seem to have a natural ability for such things. Too bad you don't have pics of when you tried it.

originally posted by: Night Star
I have always loved this art of nature, but have never seen it anywhere except in videos.
Has anyone ever tried this? have you seen these anywhere?

Last Year while checking on a very distant Mining Claim of a buddy of mine, I came across this one small inlet creek, wash run-off really. It was way off the beaten trail and just happen to find someone's bit of Rock-Art they created. Now normally the amount of people that would've gone by this area would maybe have been 5 people in a years time? So the odds of us finding it were already against us.

But I am thankful of whomever made this did a great job and my mining partner and I marveled about it for several hours. Sorry about the low resolution... (wasn't my camera... lol)

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

What a beautiful area! Love the rock art you came across! Thanks so much for sharing this!