View Full Version : History of the Pebble
the_iceman
02-10-2007, 23:45
Does anyone know the origin of carrying a pebble from Springer to Katadhin? I read a post by WF that says it was an old tradition and that he revived it back when he used to hike.
Anyone know when it started?
4eyedbuzzard
02-11-2007, 00:08
Don't know the origin offhand, but if WF "revived" it(1985?) it wasn't "lost" for all that long as I heard about in the 70's.
freefall
02-11-2007, 07:41
If you think about it,
Doesn't this "tradition" fly in the face of the LNT ethic?:-?
Visitors have been leaving stones brought from around the world in a pile near the site of Thoreau's Walden Pond cabin. For over 100 years, I think.
Perhaps someone picked up on idea?
.
Does anyone know the origin of carrying a pebble from Springer to Katadhin? I read a post by WF that says it was an old tradition and that he revived it back when he used to hike.
Anyone know when it started?
It would be interesting to hear the views of the pebble's AT origin. There is a similar pebble tale on the Camino de Santiago in Spain that involves carrying pebbles from home and depositing them near El Acebo on a huge pile left by countless pilgrims from the past at the base of the Cruz de Ferro (cross of iron).
One version of the practice is that it imparts good luck upon the pebble depositer doing so. Another version is that if one symbolically wraps all of one's (or someone else's) pain up inside the pebble(s) deposited, that, once carried and deposited there, helps them to dissolve away. I carried two from Florida and deposited them atop that pile, buried at the base of that very old iron cross.
i have heard that it was a continuation of an ancient practice to carry that pebble which apparently has been done along the Camino for over a thousand years. So, perhaps carrying symbolic pebbles on long treks is part of a practice long hidden in our very psyche, originating from some long-forgotten practice of our forebears. I wonder....?
I seem to have a peculiar habit of spotting interesting looking rocks along the way on my walks, picking them up for closer examination, carrying them along until I decide that the weight is just ot worth it. But for some few of those picked up along the way I seem to keep, and I have a little box of those collected rocks in my bureau drawer now.
Lone Wolf
02-11-2007, 09:17
If you think about it,
Doesn't this "tradition" fly in the face of the LNT ethic?:-?
you should see all the s**t under the sign on katahdin
the_iceman
02-11-2007, 09:30
If you think about it,
Doesn't this "tradition" fly in the face of the LNT ethic?:-?
Yes, it does unless we had an equal number of Sobo's who agreed to take our peebles back to Springer :D
But I guess having a fire, taking a dump, or even tenting violates that rule. Hell step in the wrong place in the Whites and you can do 100 years of damage.
Buddhist monks say a pray every morning for the innocent insect or microscopic lives they take during the day unknowingly.
Lone Wolf
02-11-2007, 09:32
Hell step in the wrong place in the Whites and you can do 100 years of damage.
just a blip in geologic time
FanaticFringer
02-11-2007, 09:41
I would not carry a pebble. Too many extra grams to lug around.:D
4eyedbuzzard
02-11-2007, 09:59
The first time I took my eldest son and daughter on an overnight they were 6 and 4 years old respectively. We hiked about 3 miles on the AT in NJ. All the way to the shelter they kept finding rocks(not pebbles) they wanted to keep. I estimate about 2 pounds a mile based upon what came out of their packs at the shelter. Left to their own devices with enough friends they could transport all of Springer to ME and raise Katahdin another 3000 feet. At that age hiking is a biological and geological expedition. They eventually figured out that one small stone was enough to carry.:cool:
I've often wondered if there is a "tale of a pebble" out their. One that was carried to Katahdin and then returned unknowingly to Springer.:-?
the_iceman
02-11-2007, 11:00
I have often put rocks in peoples packs just to see if they would notice. Most people spot it right off, maybe becasue they know me. :D
I have had people carry them a few miles then I felt guilty. :rolleyes:
Before one trip we were all "camped out" at my house and I had told a few people about it. Well they went to town on the newbie's pack with my free weights. Luckily they over did it and he noticed when he could hardly pick up his pack leaving the house.
TJ aka Teej
02-11-2007, 11:57
Carrying a pebble from Springer to Katahdin was talked about in the Philosopher's Guide way back in the 80s.
Rocking someone's pack is probably an older tradition - but not as old as a nobo hauling out a dozen baseball sized rocks at the lean-to, and explaining to the stunned sobo that you're "collecting" them from each state you pass through :D
TJ aka Teej
02-11-2007, 12:01
you should see all the s**t under the sign on katahdin
And all the stuff stuck into the cairn...
just a blip in geologic time
:D i aint carrying no rocks:cool: neo
my little group of guys that go backpacking together have a "Rock of Shame". Whenever someone does something stupid, the rock gets passed to them. In the last 2 years, no one has ever had to be assigned the rock, as soon as someone does something, they get that look on their face and say "pass the rock". it probably weighs a pound.
If you think about it,
Doesn't this "tradition" fly in the face of the LNT ethic?:-?
There's a cairn on the summit of "almost" mile-high Katahdin. The top of the cairn is a mile above sea level. Adding a pebble compensates for any erosion of the cairn that may occur. Plus it's sort of fun to link physically the two summits. I carried a pebble from Springer, but it somehow disappeared enroute, which means, I guess, that I'll have to walk the trail again.
Weary
I tried the "lost pebble excuse" for a reason to do another thru. Long story, short, the wife wouldn't buy it. She did let me go that year anyway. Got any good excuses for a hike this year I can throw at her?
Boat Drinks
02-13-2007, 15:12
I read a post by WF that says it was an old tradition and that he revived it back when he used to hike.
He also invented the internet, he and Al.....:D
REBELYELL
02-13-2007, 16:04
Oldcoot tell her Springer called and wants her pebble back.
atraildreamer
02-14-2007, 14:17
When I got married in 1980, I took my wife to the top of Mt. Washington, NH, on the stage (Cherokee 4WD w/440 CI engines). :rolleyes: The driver told us that many people who drove their cars to the top often picked up a rock to take home as a souvenir of the mountain. The joke was that the rocks they took had been trucked up the mountain by the State of New Hampshire to use as fill to level off the parking lot. :D
Rebelyell, I like it! Good idea!, I ran it past her and she reminded me I'm commited to a northbound this year, so picking up the pebble where I left it last fall and taking it back would be out of the question this year. But she gave me the go ahead to use it for a reason to get that pebble back when I get to "K" this year and return it next spring if I want. 30 years later and I know why I'm still with her.