Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Human (vs) Nature

I am not a fan of rock stacking. This is my controversial opinion of the day. I'm sure it will incense... someone. Perhaps it will set off such a series of arguments that result in an increase of my number of Twitter followers, my ultimate goal. To avoid confusion I am referring to the act by which humans, usually in some outdoorsy location like near a beach or a hiking trail, take some number of rocks and stack them on top of each other to make a vertical column, pyramid, or some other artistic shape.

I'll take a quick moment to differentiate this from cairn stacking (which can look exactly the same) but serves the purpose of signaling where a path is located, which is perfectly acceptable. Cairn stacking is minimally destructive to the natural environment and can even bring a net decrease in environmental destruction by keeping people on the trail while allowing them an opportunity to experience a natural environment. Also, some cultures will stack rocks on the outskirts of town to signify the beginning of a journey and the intent to return, and since those cultures are much older than I am, I'm not going to tell them it's wrong.

Who built it better, nature or man? (Near Ama Dablam, Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal)  -Photo By Ariel Gardiner