UKC

They're everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Why!?

I went for a wander over Glaramara via Thornythwaite Fell and back via Styhead Pass the other day, and there are cairns everywhere. Including on obvious, well-trodden paths that you'd struggle to misidentify even in the worst of bad weather. They add absolutely nothing to navigation, why do people build them?

</confusion>

In reply to tehmarks:


except when you really would appreciate seeing them.......

In reply to tehmarks:

It's a big problem everywhere.

There seems to be a superstition amongst "weekend warrior" hillwalkers that it's a noble tradition of the hills to add a stone to every cairn you pass, and this has been reinforced by certain TV hillwalkers doing it.

In part I suppose it could be thought that the cairns mark the paths when there's snow on the ground, but it's unlikely any of the people adding stones ever trailbreak paths through unbroken snow cover.

It's such an issue that in some places the National Park Authorities are having to consider costly cairn removal schemes.

In reply to tehmarks:

Ah this old chestnut again.

It's definitely going to feature on 'The Best of UKC' alongside such classics as 'Three Pebble Slab: The heros E0? ', 'How many more sleeps till kinder?' and 'Cyclists; Why can't they belay?'.

In reply to tehmarks:
I have a feeling of déjà vu reading this

Oh look -

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=667545

In reply to Ron Rees Davies:


I suppose when I was doing a lot of hillwalking I was a "weekend warrior", because I was in school during the week. But the tradition was certainly well established 35 years ago.


Wowzer - such fantastic snobbery. But yes I certainly did that, though the times I was most grateful for cairns was in thick fog/driving rain, or as we called it, normal weather !


Really ? Which national parks ? Because as far as i am aware they are all too cash-strapped to do anything of that nature.

In reply to tehmarks:

Apologies all, I didn't see the other thread. I did consider upholding the tradition in a way and removing a stone from every cairn that I passed, but it seemed mean-spirited. I mean someone must find them useful, else why would they be there? Particularly the mother of all cairns on an island in the middle of Styhead Gill; I can see how disastrous it'd be if that cairn ceased to exist. I mean what would people do then? Look at their map and follow the gill!?

In reply to Chris the Tall:


Well, SNPA last year on Cadair Idris for a start....
https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2016/02/03/national-park-bosses-plead-wit...

In reply to tehmarks:

They're all over our moorlands too. If I've time to spare I'll demolish them. Our park has also issued a warning in that people are now constructing cairns but adding bits of archeological material picked up from elsewhere such as Tumulii.

Now and again, I'll build a cairn to deliberately move people off the track.