JoJo's Photobox: Rock stacks

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Friday - March 27, 2009

Rock stacks

Remember my road runner photo? I wrote about the stacks (piles?) of rocks I spied along Highway 9 as I drove toward home. They really caught my eye. I stopped when I saw the 2nd or 3rd stack and took photos. Then, I took more photos. Then, I noticed that there were a lot of 'em. And, once I spotted the road runner, I stopped.

In my unending...nay, valiant!...attempt to get my summer vacation photos online, I came across that set of photos. And, decided there was really no point in posting photos of rocks stacked on top of each other. My thinking was that nobody would really care. I mentioned as much to Katie and she demurred, saying that she wanted to see some. So, here you go...photos of stacks of rocks.

The first one's a bit short and squat:

[Rock stack]

A couple of taller stacks:

[Rock stack]

This one's rather complex:

[Rock stack]

Here's one that made me laugh:

[Rock stack]

UPDATE (March 29). I kept trying to remember what that reminded me of. As I was talking to Katie on the phone yesterday, I remembered: it looks a bit like the Lombardi Trophy, doncha think?

A couple of flat rocks on an old fence post:

[Rock stack]

And, last...but not least:

[Rock stack]

The questions: what? and, why? I guess they were used as markers of some sort back in the day. But, now there are so many of them that they don't really seem to be anything more than decorative. I suspect a number of them were stacked by "kids" in the not too distant past. They're driving along and see the stacks and can't help themselves. "Let's make our own!!" Doncha think? I can't see that there's really any way to tell how long they've been stacked. Oh well. If you have a problem with me posting photos of stacks of rocks, feel free to take the matter up with Katie.

UPDATE #2 (later on March 29). Katie informs me that archaeologists call these rock cairns. Not stacks or piles. You can read all about cairns at Wikipedia.

Posted by Joanna at 11:42 PM