Posted by Jock on October 20, 2008 at 19:10:36 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: TARBOARD IS GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN! posted by Adam Quinan on October 18, 2008 at 13:53:17:
Another use of cairns on top of mountains is that they can help you get down.
I remember at the tender age of 16 suffering from a severe bout of unrequited love and deciding that the cure would be to explore the remains of the Tralee and Dingle Railway and climb Mount Brandon in County Kerry. Going up from the South was easy - straight up a gently sloping field for about 4½ hours. The views were amazing until I reached thick cloud near the top.
The problem then was to descend. Unfortunately, I had arranged for my parents to pick me up by car from the East of the mountain - a near vertical drop with a tiny zig zag path down its side. With the help of a decent map, and the cairn to work out my position on the edge of the drop, I managed to guestimate the start of the path. A few sheep waymarked its progress down the cliff. I must admit a few anxious moments until I broke through the cloud about 100 yards down. Fortunately none of the sheep were cragfast!