I have always had a problem with stacked rocks or cairns as they are better known as. Cairns are human stacked rocks or mounds of stones used globally since prehistoric times.Traditionally they act as landmarks, burial sites or trail markers. This meaning is fine with me but when I see these stacked rocks and that is not the intention and it is done as a form of expression in our natural world that is where I have the problem. Unauthorized stacking leads to the disruption of wildlife habitat, accelerates erosion, and misleads hikers.

During COVID I frequented my favorite walking spot along the Musconetcong River where I witnessed such stacking of rocks to create a pool for swimming. It was beautifully crafted and had a very nice curve as it stretched across the river. As soon as I saw it my heart sank. All that river stone was shifted disrupting all the macroinvertebrates that call those rocks home and use them for feeding where they can thrive creating a clean healthy river. Benthic macroinvertebrates are small bottom dwelling aquatic animals without a backbone that are big enough to see with the naked eye. They include dragonfly larvae, snails, worms, beetles, and crayfish just to name a few. Because they live in sediment and can not easily escape pollution, they are critical to the aquatic food web and serve as excellent indicators of river and lake health. So during a 4 week period I would remove the stacked rocks and place them back in the river. The following week I would check on the area and the stacked rocks would be back in place which I would then dismantle. This went on for a few weeks until one day I met a little boy who asked me why I was taking down the rock wall. I explained to him that it was not good for the river and that it was disrupting the habitat below for the critters that lived amongst the rocks. He said oh…ok. After that conversation the rock wall was never seen again. It was that moment that I came to the realization that people do not understand the long-term consequences of their actions and all it takes sometimes is a little education to curb those behaviors.

All this being said I still frequently walk at that same park. There is a section of woods that separates Alumni Field Park and River Front Park. In those woods I occasionally spot colorfully painted rocks tucked along the trail. Some have inspiring notes painted on them. Some have little designs on them. Some are just painted solid colors. During the winter ornaments are randomly hung on trees around the wooded paths or ever figures tucked in the nooks of trees. At first I took slight offense to these marring my experience in nature. When out in nature I like to feel like I am experiencing the space as untouched by people- no litter, no unnatural tethers of the human world. Obviously I know the trails I walk or the boat launch I use have been engineered by people but when on the water or trail I do not want to see any trappings of humans on my path. That breaks the façade I have m=in my mind of being “alone”in nature. But over time walking daily in this park I have grown to really enjoy spotting these little Easter Eggs scattered in the park. When I see a new one tucked in the hollow of a tree it makes me smile. Or I see one with the painted sun it does add to my experience. I have seen on a few occasions a parent with their small children paper bag in hand full of painted rocks the kids have made gleefully hiding them as they walk along the wooded paths. Because the park is in town and gets a lot of use for me in this instance these little cairns and markers are ok with me. They do what they are intended and that is to brighten your day as you walk the trails. Often the rocks will simply disappear as quickly as they appeared. Folks may find them so inspirational that they may grab them as their own personal totem and I think that’s ok too. I feel it all falls in that pay it forward mentality. Someone could be walking in the park because they are having a bad day or feeling at their lowest and they come upon a painted rock that says SHINE on it. That could make all the difference to that individual and can lead to a life altering moment. You just never know how someone will react to a positive message and that is how I see these little easter eggs that are left around the park.