2001 or 2020?

[mcgaskins]

Maybe... sometimes I enjoy the fun things humans do. I always wonder why we find it nostalgic when we see some cultures that engraved into rocks 100 of years ago, and all of a sudden it's disgraceful to come across a tree with a heart with a S+T. I'm not making a argument here, what I'm saying is that sometimes things like this can be fun, or become something completely differently than what was attended. Did this hurt anything, did it cause damage to something, yada yada yada. I enjoy fun things like this because, well, it shakes things up. This was a fun thread. I wonder now how often these things will keep popping up.

Hundreds or thousands of years ago civilizations didn't have many mediums for telling their stories, so petroglyphs and similar forms of storytelling were in many cases quite literally the only way we've been able to learn about their history. The artifacts are an irreplaceable and priceless treasure usually left behind on non-living things like rocks, but carving/damaging/defacing trees today seems pretty unnecessary when people can easily "tell their story" in myriad other ways that don't do any damage to living things (which may also lessen access for future generations). The monolith was only public knowledge for less than a week and had already attracted a ton of curiosity seekers who were causing damage to the environment. The monolith is/was cool, but due to social media and everyone looking for something to do when they're bored during covid, the collateral damage and strain on local resources isn't worth it in my opinion.

 

[3rdGen4R]

Hundreds or thousands of years ago civilizations didn't have many mediums for telling their stories, so petroglyphs and similar forms of storytelling were in many cases quite literally the only way we've been able to learn about their history. The artifacts are an irreplaceable and priceless treasure usually left behind on non-living things like rocks, but carving/damaging/defacing trees today seems pretty unnecessary when people can easily "tell their story" in myriad other ways that don't do any damage to living things (which may also lessen access for future generations). The monolith was only public knowledge for less than a week and had already attracted a ton of curiosity seekers who were causing damage to the environment. The monolith is/was cool, but due to social media and everyone looking for something to do when they're bored during covid, the collateral damage and strain on local resources isn't worth it in my opinion.

I think you missed my point.

 

[Hulk]

Pretty cool photo, taken minutes before the monolith was removed.

 

[Mendocino]

Hundreds or thousands of years ago civilizations didn't have many mediums for telling their stories, so petroglyphs and similar forms of storytelling were in many cases quite literally the only way we've been able to learn about their history. The artifacts are an irreplaceable and priceless treasure usually left behind on non-living things like rocks, but carving/damaging/defacing trees today seems pretty unnecessary when people can easily "tell their story" in myriad other ways that don't do any damage to living things (which may also lessen access for future generations). The monolith was only public knowledge for less than a week and had already attracted a ton of curiosity seekers who were causing damage to the environment. The monolith is/was cool, but due to social media and everyone looking for something to do when they're bored during covid, the collateral damage and strain on local resources isn't worth it in my opinion.

I was at the monolith site on Sunday. Claims that there was material damage to the resource from site seers is grossly overstated. I saw two routes to the monolith site, one up a water course, and one on contour. There were footprints, but not a lot else. In comparison to the gratuitous damage the side by sides have done to Hurrah Pass and other local areas in the last year, the foot prints near the monolith site we not significant IMO.

 

[AlpineAccess]

Maybe... sometimes I enjoy the fun things humans do. I always wonder why we find it nostalgic when we see some cultures that engraved into rocks 100 of years ago, and all of a sudden it's disgraceful to come across a tree with a heart with a S+T. I'm not making a argument here, what I'm saying is that sometimes things like this can be fun, or become something completely differently than what was attended. Did this hurt anything, did it cause damage to something, yada yada yada. I enjoy fun things like this because, well, it shakes things up. This was a fun thread. I wonder now how often these things will keep popping up.

I didn't say any of what you did, I just said it's good to see its gone. It was a cool idea, gave people something to think about, and was mysterious. It was interesting because no one knew what it was, why it was put there, or where it was. Better left with a shred of mystery around it.

I think we are agreeing in that it is disgraceful to carve up a tree on public land, or graffiti, or litter, or leave it in worse condition than you found it. When people cause harm to public land they rob everyone else from the experience of seeing it as it was before.

 

[mcgaskins]

I think you missed my point.

Care to elaborate more? My point is there is a difference in culturally and anthropologically significant artifacts made on rocks vs carving initials into living trees - "leave no trace" comes to mind. I'm genuinely curious to hear your opinion.

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

It moved to Romania

Another Mysterious Monolith Suddenly Appears — This Time In Romania

Not long after a metal object appeared without explanation in the Utah desert, it disappeared. Now, locals in Piatra Neamt say they have found a similar monolith, and answers remain just as scarce.

www.npr.org

 

[mcgaskins]

I was at the monolith site on Sunday. Claims that there was material damage to the resource from site seers is grossly overstated. I saw two routes to the monolith site, one up a water course, and one on contour. There were footprints, but not a lot else. In comparison to the gratuitous damage the side by sides have done to Hurrah Pass and other local areas in the last year, the foot prints near the monolith site we not significant IMO.

I wasn't there, but lots of social media accounts like the one linked previously said things like:

"We stayed the night and the next day hiked to a hill top overlooking the area where we saw at least 70 different cars (and a plane) in and out. Cars parking everywhere in the delicate desert landscape. Nobody following a path or each other. We could literally see people trying to approach it from every direction to try and reach it, permanently altering the untouched landscape."

Considering the monolith was not even public knowledge a week ago and hundreds of people descended on it within days of the coordinates being shown online, I would say there was a very good chance the site and surrounding areas would have been overrun with people not respecting the environment. Once a treasure hits instagram, it doesn't stay pristine for long.

 

[bassguyry]

I wasn't there, but lots of social media accounts like the one linked previously said things like:

"We stayed the night and the next day hiked to a hill top overlooking the area where we saw at least 70 different cars (and a plane) in and out. Cars parking everywhere in the delicate desert landscape. Nobody following a path or each other. We could literally see people trying to approach it from every direction to try and reach it, permanently altering the untouched landscape."

Considering the monolith was not even public knowledge a week ago and hundreds of people descended on it within days of the coordinates being shown online, I would say there was a very good chance the site and surrounding areas would have been overrun with people not respecting the environment. Once a treasure hits instagram, it doesn't stay pristine for long.

I'd agree with this. As a group, we're all good about following "leave no trace" and "tread lightly" principles, but the larger public definitely is not (as evidenced by Jeff's reference to Hurrah Pass). While I think the monolith is incredibly cool, it would attract even more uninformed/uneducated individuals than your typical mountain trail, IMO.

I guess just envision tons of people visiting the site, who also think it's perfectly acceptable to leave plastic bags of dog crap on the side of a hiking trail, the thought of which turns my stomach. I'm glad the monolith was there, and I'm also glad it's gone.

 

[Mendocino]

I wasn't there, but lots of social media accounts like the one linked previously said things like:

"We stayed the night and the next day hiked to a hill top overlooking the area where we saw at least 70 different cars (and a plane) in and out. Cars parking everywhere in the delicate desert landscape. Nobody following a path or each other. We could literally see people trying to approach it from every direction to try and reach it, permanently altering the untouched landscape."

Considering the monolith was not even public knowledge a week ago and hundreds of people descended on it within days of the coordinates being shown online, I would say there was a very good chance the site and surrounding areas would have been overrun with people not respecting the environment. Once a treasure hits instagram, it doesn't stay pristine for long.

View attachment 90938

LOL. You're using IG as a reference.

 

[mcgaskins]

LOL. You're using IG as a reference.

Jeff - are you really suggesting the hundreds of photos and videos numerous people have been posting to Instagram and other social media sites are not real? I'm not exactly what you're trying to say, but the reality is this site had already been heavily visited just days after the site was made public. Like you said, even you made the trek from Colorado to go check it out and had posted in the staging area seeing if a group wanted to go with you. You weren't alone or wrong in wanting to see it - heck I sent it to my buddies to see if they wanted to go on an impromptu trip to go check it out.

The real issue is there were many others with the exact same idea, and I would wager a majority of them don't care as much as we do about Stay the Trail, Leave No Trace, etc. That type of spike in careless and reckless visitation to a sensitive area will definitely lead to environmental and safety issues. Social media has made stuff like this monolith a modern day treasure hunt with the treasure being pics and stories to post online further exacerbating the issue because others will want to do it too. We've all seen it first hand, and it is an existential threat to our access to public lands.

Btw if anyone doubts the Instagram stuff is real, just google "Utah monolith removed" for lots of stories like this.

Photographers captured removal of the mysterious Utah monolith. Here's why it vanished.

More clues are surfacing in the case of the Utah monolith that vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared.

www.usatoday.com

 

[L43dean]

I thought it was the new Rivian.

 

[3rdGen4R]

Look! I’m enjoying this! I’m not here to debate it. But there is a third!

Mysterious Monolith Update: Third Monolith Appears Atop California Mountain

A third unexplained gigantic metal monolith has been placed atop a mountain in California.

www.vice.com

 

[bassguyry]

Southwest wins. Hilarious.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I was at the monolith site on Sunday. Claims that there was material damage to the resource from site seers is grossly overstated. I saw two routes to the monolith site, one up a water course, and one on contour. There were footprints, but not a lot else. In comparison to the gratuitous damage the side by sides have done to Hurrah Pass and other local areas in the last year, the foot prints near the monolith site we not significant IMO.

Notwithstanding that your point is valid, the installation of the monolith itself didn't adhere to good practice since the site was cleared of debris and vegetation when it was placed. It wasn't necessarily extensive and really not much compared to some indifference by the prospectors who dozed the road and explored the area in the first place.

Indeed, while I don't agree with the extremist environmentalist position that we should feel guilty just for existing and having a footprint as we go through life I also can't see a reason to wantonly leave a wake either. Just because the SxSs and UTVs are qualitatively worse doesn't justify relatively lesser impacts. In this case it strikes me as kind of arrogant to place this thing. Just because it's artistic or obviously inspirational (does Doing it for the 'Gram! count as inspiration?) doesn't mean it was worth the cost.

 

[3rdGen4R]

So awesome!

 

[Hulk]

Dave, I have stared at both of those photos trying to see what is different. What are you seeing in those photos that I am not?

 

[DaveInDenver]

Dave, I have stared at both of those photos trying to see what is different. What are you seeing in those photos that I am not?

Like I say, it's not a great deal of landscaping and it can only be supposed from fairly low resolution overheads.

The last before was dated September 2016 but was actually imaged I think a year or two before that. So the possibility exists that a significant rain cleared it but that's not really a likely case since the wash uphill of it seems unchanged.

It's just obvious that in February 2017 the box is casting a shadow on what looks like more or less bare sandstone. Perhaps some sand has started to accumulate in the 3 years hence but the initial damage seems pretty clear.

I haven't seen the supposed damage left from cutting a mounting footer into the rock, if there is any.

 

[Hulk]

So the monolith has been there since 2017 but was only recently discovered?

 

[DaveInDenver]

So the monolith has been there since 2017 but was only recently discovered?

Correct, apparently placed sometime between October 2016 and February 2017.