What's Ducks?
It was somewhat of an irritating slow plodding upwards. In the past, I've worn tennis shoes, and have cut up my ankles by stepping on loose rocks. Sometimes previous hikers left "cairns" or "ducks" * which were small piles of rocks to mark the way. Unfortunately, some of the most benevolent hikers who built them also mistakenly believed that they knew the shortest or easiest way to go. |
The picture above and to the right demonstrate how we found our way. The sides to our left and right of the valley were sloped inward, and it was just a matter of navigating to the shallowest part of the pass.
Jack and Gary had a little more faith in their fellow hikers:
"Only sign we have now to know which way we're going, is ducks." (Gary Snyder)
"What's ducks?"
"See those boulders over there?"
"See those boulders over there! Why God man, I see five miles of boulders leading up to that mountain."
"See the little pile of rocks on that near boulder there by the pine? That's a duck, put up by other climbers, maybe that's one I put up myself in 'fifty-four I'm not sure. We just go from boulder to boulder from now on keeping a sharp eye for ducks then we get a general idea how to raggle along. Although of course we know which way we're going, that big cliff face up there is where our plateau is."
"Plateau? My God you mean that ain't the top of the mountain?"Jack Kerouac, Dharma Bums
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