Cairn building is a surprisingly meditative experience that can bring you closer with the earth and community. Making a traditional rock stack or a traditional cairn is a great way to focus on balance and permanence.
Cairns have been used by many cultures throughout history for a variety of purposes. They may have served to indicate a route to follow, to indicate the location of food, or to warn about 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”. her latest blog They are typically built in the shape of a hill. The size of these man-made hills can vary from small rock carvings to large, man-made hills. Some of them are similar to kistvaens (ephemeral earthworks) and dolmens (ephemeral stoneworks).
Cairns serve many purposes, and are particularly useful to hikers. Cairns can be used by hikers to return to the trailhead at the end of a long day of hiking or to help them find their way in remote wilderness areas.
A well-placed Cairn can help save lives, and guide a hiker group that is lost or having trouble finding their trail. Some people claim that cairns do not belong in the environment and violate Leave No Trace principles.