In a river in Pisgah National Forest, scientists have repeatedly found protected Eastern hellbender salamanders crushed under the piles of rocks that tourists build midstream. Rock piling in streams silts the water, disrupts critical habitat, and can kill rare wildlife. Destruction of wildlife and habitats A complex balanced structure on a riverside in Winona, Minnesota national parks because these acts may harm the flora and fauna dependent on them. "Disturbing or collecting natural features (plants, rocks, etc.) is prohibited" in U.S. Leave No Trace recommends that rock balancers dismantle their piles and return the stones to their original locations when they're finished. One draw of the outdoors is a perception of solitude, and many people see rock piles as an aesthetic intrusion on the landscape, and an unwelcome reminder that even in the wilderness, they're surrounded by the presence of other people. Hobbyists stacking rocks in the wilderness risk confusing such messages. Some parks use deliberate arrangements of rocks as navigational guides to hikers, with the Gorham Mountain trail at Acadia National Park using markers of a flat rock on two "legs" with another rock on top pointing in the direction of the trail, for the benefit of those who have lost their way. Rocks piled as a trail marker in Chena Hot Springs, Alaska Historic England have said that stone piling near a scheduled monument would be illegal if judged to have been at risk of damaging the site, and on the Isle of Skye more than 100 locals organized to dismantle rock stacks left there by tourists. National Park Service and by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Rock stacking in national parks has been called vandalism by the U.S. The number of rock piles created in this manner in natural areas has recently begun to worry conservationists because they can expose the soil to erosion and aesthetically intrude upon the natural landscape. Rock balancing is also undertaken competitively, with events and festivals including the Balanced Art World International festival in Ottawa, Canada, and the European Stone-Stacking Championships in Scotland. Some compare the impermanence of the structures to zen buddhism. Motivations īalancing rocks is seen by those who perform it as a meditative and creative activity, with artists saying that the process of physically handling and balancing the stones provides them with mental health benefits. Michael Grab has said that in his experience balanced stones may stand for "months" if undisturbed, and that he knocks his rock piles over himself, once he has photographed and documented them. Chitoku starts his sculptures by selecting a stone to be placed at the top, and building up to it. He considers the shapes and colors of the rocks used, and their effect on the sculpture's contours. Japanese rock balancer Ishihana-Chitoku is interested in rock balancing sculptures in terms of their overall silhouettes. He tests the stability of his finished sculptures by splashing them with water, judging that if they survive that process, they are worthy to be photographed. Grab describes the physical process of balancing rocks as "basically looking for points where they lock on one another", saying that three points of contact are required between stones, with the placed rock's center of mass having to be between those points for it to balance. People often assume that Grab has composed his structures using glue or support rods, or photoshopped the final result. Professional rock-balancing artist Michael Grab, who can spend hours or minutes on a piece of rock balancing, says that his aim when stacking the stones is "to make it look as impossible as possible", and that the larger the size of the top rock, the more improbable the structure looks. Balanced rocks vary from simple stacks of two or three stones, to arrangements of round or sharp stones balancing in precarious and seemingly improbable ways. Process A simple stack of rocks in Sausset-les-Pins, Bouches-du-Rhône, Franceĭuring the 2010s, rock balancing became popular around the world, popularised through images of the rocks being shared on social media. Rock piling in protected wilderness has been considered vandalism by some park services. Rock balancing (also stone balancing, or stacking) is a form of recreation or artistic expression in which rocks are piled in balanced stacks, often in a precarious manner.Ĭonservationists and park services have expressed concerns that the arrangements of rocks can disrupt animal habitats, accelerate soil erosion, and misdirect hikers in areas that use cairns as navigation waypoints. A number of rocks balanced in a precarious manner
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