Cairn building can be a surprisingly meditative practice that brings you closer to your community and the earth. It’s a great way for you to get your mind off of the everyday and focus more on balance and permanence.
Throughout the history of mankind, cairns have served many different purposes. They could have been built to mark a path, indicate a food supply, or warn of danger. In North America, cairns were also made to serve as burial sites for Native American peoples, a practice known as inukshuk (the plural is inuksuit).
The word cairn is derived from a Gaelic phrase that means “heaps of stones”. They are typically built in the shape of a hill. They can range in size from tiny rock sculptures to huge man-made stone hills. Some are comparable to kistvaens or dolmens, but built out of stone instead of ephemeral Earthworks.
Cairns are used by many people, but they are most commonly used by hikers. Cairns are used to guide hikers from the trailhead to their starting point after a long and tiring day of hiking. They can also be used to help them http://cairnspotter.com/category/uncategorized/ find a way through remote wilderness areas.
A well placed cairn could save lives and guide a group hikers who get lost or are having difficulty finding the trail. Some people, however, argue that cairns don’t belong in nature and violate the Leave No Trace principle.