Cairn A Day 14

A trip to Concord, Massachusetts, produced this darned nifty photo. A friend of mine was accompanying a colleague’s junior year English classes on a Thoreau/Transcendentalist – themed field trip to Walden Pond and adjacent sites. One such site is on conservation land in Concord where the Walden Woods Project (Ed Begley Jr. and Don Henley are biggies in the group) has made some trails with artistically and strategically placed Thoreau quotes in sculptural granite. (WWP also offers tours of Thoreauvian sights. For the tour of Henry’s cabin at Walden Pond they write “Leave behind a stone from your hometown at the Cairn, a site to honor the memory of Henry David Thoreau.) There’s also a contemplation circle made of big granite blocks inscribed with quotes from a variety of folks from Thoreau to Emerson, to MLK, to JFK and a dozen or so others. The cairn was arranged on top of one of those blocks.

 

Cairn A Day 13

A beautiful photo of a fine looking cairn near the Pacific Crest Trail. This shot was sent to me by another family friend. He took it just south of Snoqualmie Pass, noting that it marked a side trail to the top of an unnamed peak. I think the color and contrast between the rock (granite stained with some iron oxidation) and green foliage is rather pleasing. Fall in the Pacific Northwest has been quite spectacular with lovely light, dreamy clear skies, and pleasant temperatures. Yay!