Yowiehunters Forum

Hi All,

Is seem to remember reading something about small stacks of rocks relating to yowies.

I saw one on the tourist drive out the back of Coonabarabran last year - about 6-8 inches high on a big boulder on the side of the road.

is this right, or does it relate to bushwalking or similar, like a marker for other walkers.

Hey jaslh

welcome to the forums

Cant say I know of rock stacks relating to yowie's I don't think its common but it may happen

You say you found a rock stack out near Coonabarabran where about's was it, the pilliga?

The following file is of a rock stack taken off Tablelands road in the Blue Mountains.

This is a recent picture from Buck while on expedition with his Brothers in the Blue Mountains. It was taken near the water storage behind Clearview Rd. SAB



DMH

That's just what it looked like. It was along the tourist drive you can follow out of Coonabarabran heading south.

It runs kind pf parallel to the Newell Highway for about 60 ks from memory, then meets up with the Newell later on - as I mentioned stacked up on a 5 foot high boulder on the side of the road about 30ks into the tourist drive.

I looked up buskwalking forums etc (and even geocaching) to see if it meant anything to them but couldn't find anything.

gday all
these type of rock formations are called cairns, the explorers used them alot to mark a path for their return or to mark a place where they had buried some supplies or food. this was used frequently in places like the arctic and antarctic.
could be a less obvious way for someone to mark the direction to a certain leafy crop that one wants to hide in the bush.
if they are used by yowies maybe some close inspection should be done close to this area to see if food has been deposited near by, or if it is a mark for a well used yowie path maybe it would be a great place to set up a tree cam. either way it must be of some importance for someone or something to go to the effort of balancing those rocks...........or bordem

I am a bit iffy on rock stacks as I have made lots over the years with friends when walking to mark or let other campers know there is more people near by ect, or out of sheer boredom

Not saying they couldn't be made by yowies but more often than not it's just other humans

You mean like this...



When one of these appears in a spot where there are distinct markers and yowie reports, chances are...

As I said it could be
But there is also people that do this, heck, even on a art site I use to go on there is some buggar in france who does huge ones and posts them up (and I mean huge, above his height)...for some reason that's his thing...freaking rock stacks as art...

It is just as possible as a human to do it(and sure as heck not impossible) as it could be a yowie stacking them.
But if there is reports of yowies in the area then heck, why not add that as a possibility it's one of theirs!

But also in the original post it was said next to a road which makes me more think human frollicks.

Just on a side note as a newbie here I do believe but I am also for believing in what could just be someone ass'ing around too

Granted, Kirsty, people are prone to doing 'unusual' things at times. Stacking piles of rocks is by no means out of the question.

However, in hairy hominid literature, it is a passtime occasionally attributed to the hairy folk. Here's some excerpts I've found...


Bigfoot Stacking rocks
: YEAR: 1989, SEASON: Summer, DATE: At twilight apx. 8:30 pm in late July
STATE: Massachusetts, COUNTY: Berkshire County
LOCATION DETAILS: October Mountain State forest, Lenoxdale Massachusetts, USA
OBSERVED: It was in the middle of summer (apx late July, 1989) when I was hiking a well established trail on October mountain. I was approaching the top of the mountain (apx 1200 feet above sea level) when I observed a slight glimps of a moving object about 100 yards ahead of me. October mountain is a heavily wooded area and it was very difficult to see clearly because of all the low brush and scrub.

The animal was very tall (cannot accurately approximate the size) and slightly stooped. Its body was massive and covered completely with reddish hair. I noticed that the head was also very unusual in shape and size. The head was rather pointed and covered with hair or fur. The face was dark in color and had less hair than the top of the head. The neck seemed to be non-existant. At that moment it turned toward me and I was absolutely shocked, it looked very human. At this point I was so frightened, that I took measures to hide myself.

After getting over my initial chill I continued to study the animal. It was still in the small clearing and seemed very occupied. It was moving stones and small peices of wood and grubbing for either roots or insects, it was simply to far away for me to see exactly what it was eating. I could see its large arm moving to its mouth every so often. What really took me by surprize was that it was stacking rocks after moving them. One on top of another. This is when I thought perhaps this animal was infact a human, why would it stack rocks in this way?

Rock piles
In 1974, I teamed up with Jack Sullivan, who had worked intermittently with other Sasquatch investigators since the summer of 1969, and who was knowledgeable on other investigations in the Northwest. Through Sullivan, I was able to meet the logger who had reportedly witnessed the Sasquatches piling rocks. I conversed with this logger on several occasions, and always found him sincere, interesting, and not anxious to create publicity. (Sullivan and I interviewed several other witnesses during an 8-year period, and we conducted about two-dozen field trips. However, our part-time commitment meant we were always short on time to expand on these activities.)
On June 23, 1978, I located a different arrangement of rock piles in a canyon. This work also was old and covered with lichens and moss. However, the rocks were quite large (5 to 100+ pounds), had been piled in heaps, and were associated with trenches. There were 22 rock piles of various sizes (36 feet high). Some of these rocks were too large for a human to handle.

reports the finding of "piles of rocks." The scattered piles could be as few as 3- 4 little rocks stacked to 1 foot high, up to 6-8 big rocks. There usually wasn't a source apparent for the rocks; there were no pits; they didn't look freshly stacked, and may be as much as a mile apart.

Two noteworthy facets of sasquatch behavior have been observed repeatedly. They seem to be rather "orderly", stacking rocks in cairns during searching (Fig. 16) and not tearing human food caches or backpacks apart randomly in the manner of bears. Secondly, they have a tendency to leave "gifts" in the same location in which food was deposited for them. These can range from little piles of stones, a dog skull, handfuls of evergreen shoots, to small live animals, like a goat kid, several live kittens, a turtle, all taken from elsewhere, either as a "gift" or possibly as shared "food".

Interesting reports there Joe and is worth a thought for sure

But if I was in an area where a lot of people could access then I would have to err on the side of human foolery unless it was something that could defy me and my friends moving the same (and I am not a short or frail woman), that would have me thinking....

I must admit the twisted up branches that are up high in photos I have seen since reading got my interest though!

I'm with Kirsty on this'un. I talked with an old bloke who was involved in early surveying in the land west of blue mountains, NSW, Wollemi area. they would mark their survey points, and potential fence lines with rock piles, or mark tree trunks with axes. For this reason, i am dubious to pass them off as yowie built.
Another assumption that a lot of investigators come up with is the 'assuming' sounds of a biped. for years i have hunted and often heard stomping coming through the bush. often stopping near me, where i would freeze and be poised to take a safe shot. BUT, even though the sound was a stomp, stomp, stomp, like a big person coming through bush, the culprit IS always a roo, or wallaby. I only mention this as so many people who hear and never see, assume it WAS on two legs, but they dont see to prove it. therefore, dont know for sure. in these cases we should not assume as it is not an accurate observation. roos can 'stomp' at many and varied rates, fast and slow.

hillbilly wrote: roos can 'stomp' at many and varied rates, fast and slow.

Yes! We use to get them in our back yard all the time and you could hear the thumping past my window and they do really boom down on the ground at varied rates.
So I get that theory well and truly and it's something I will be keeping in mind the first time I go on an expedition.

Indeed here's more examples for you,
Having been in a position to study national parks and various locations once a month for the past 18 years has allowed me to observe these wonderful and ever changing stone formations at length,
the stacked groups that i record are usually 45-55 meters from the next and can repeat for the full length of the creeks no matter how long or short they may be.
I have witnessed these many many km's from anthing deep into the wilderness and then only two feet from a popular flood way crossing, makes no difference at all and yet they come and go every two months or so in either place year after year.

just curious has anyone destroyed a rock stack to see if is rebuilt again?? As i would ashume that it is a territorial thing and if they do get rebuilt would that be prime spot to set up a camera ??
if it has not been tried anyone willing ?

cheers

Stainmaster wrote:just curious has anyone destroyed a rock stack to see if is rebuilt again?? As i would ashume that it is a territorial thing and if they do get rebuilt would that be prime spot to set up a camera ??
if it has not been tried anyone willing ?

cheers

I've read one to be knocked over only to be rebuilt within 24 hours after. I think its some kind of territory thing? I don't know why people would bother making them kilometres into the bush for bushwalking. *shrugs*

this is why im thinking that if a yowie has made them that they would keep check on them all the time like a nightly patrol thing and if so a hidden camera some where nearby would hopefully catch something, as a test next time anyone finds a rock stack knock it over and then go back and check to see if it rebuilt and how long it takes to get rebuilt, if this is happening this is where the camera comes in :-)

Stainmaster wrote:this is why im thinking that if a yowie has made them that they would keep check on them all the time like a nightly patrol thing and if so a hidden camera some where nearby would hopefully catch something, as a test next time anyone finds a rock stack knock it over and then go back and check to see if it rebuilt and how long it takes to get rebuilt, if this is happening this is where the camera comes in :-)

A motion sensor activated camera would be good in that situation. Although after the intial flash, i'd assume our friend would probably find the camera and tear it to pieces. :|

[ quote "Stainmaster" ] just curious has anyone destroyed a rock stack to see if it is rebuilt again?? As i would ashume that it is a territorial thing and if they do get rebuilt..]

Hi guys,
do you mind if I cut in here ?
I'm going to answer that this way ... if, while heading out of your driveway to go to work one morning you noticed your letter box has been knocked over, chances are, you would be out the front after work fixing it,.....Why wouldn't you just leave it ?.. because the object that you now have laying on it’s side has lost it's significance and purpose, leaving it on it's side or broken will affect the reason it was put up in the first place.

My impression is they are not built as monuments, nor as territorial markers. As such, they do not require guarding or maintenance.

The rocks appear to be carefully chosen with each stack exhibiting a sense of balance. To me, they are expressions of creativity - works of art in a short term exhibition.

I have come across the rock stacks throughout the northern territory, i also had to question whethter these were man made or " other " as Hillbilly was explaining, when i investigated the area north of Alice Springs ( Hasst range ) very impressive isolated and rugged, i saw these rock stacks but wondered were they done by Aboriginal people or white fellas?, this area was also close to the " Yamba Station incident".
As for the thump thumpimg of footsteps, i for one am very sceptical of thumps in the scrub ( and believe me i spend a lot of time in the top end scrub, roos and wallabies can create a myriad of different types of foot fall sounds and they can sound loud and big.
So although i am " A TRUE BELIEVER " as far as deciding what sound is what i feel that you have to be sceptical of an sound until you are 100% convinced.

cheers all you mad yowie types
ps good luck Tony

I have a few questions for those that have found them

How far out into the bush are we talking with these rock stacks? how isolated is the area? I mean if there out in the middle of nowhere you could rule out people as the cause? Still having said that I know people do venture into some weird isolated areas.

I think, and it’s my personal opinion that the majority rock stacks found are probably man made. I once found a beautiful rock stack at Sherbrooke Forest here in Victoria it was about a metre high certainly not Yowie country. So I guess I’m just a bit wary whether or not they are made by Yowies or not.

Like I say if there popping up in the middle of nowhere (being very isolated little to no human visitation) I might be persuaded to think they are yowie related but at this stage I’ll have to think they are mostly man made.

Remember, no matter how isolated it is if YOU are there then that means others could, would, can and have been there besides yourself

Remember, no matter how isolated it is if YOU are there then that means others could, would, can and have been there besides yourself

lol Kirsty

Simple but true

Chewy wrote:

Remember, no matter how isolated it is if YOU are there then that means others could, would, can and have been there besides yourself

lol Kirsty

Simple but true

But who's to say what else is there thats hiding? I've read reports of people tracking them and they just disappear. They know the forest alot better than you do.

I never said people always come back alive did I?
I just said, if you can get out to see these rock stacks then it's not as isolated as one would think, Meaning then it is very possible they are just human fiddlings.

I can't point my finger at anyone and say "Hey, I say it's humans stuffing around and my word is FACT" we all know it aint
I am only stating my personal opinion on where these are found that if your finding them, then it's fair to say there has been other humans around too. Peoples can be naughty and go onto private property's and what ever else, you just don't know who has been there before yourself.

There could be other things hiding and I don't doubt it, I wouldn't be here if I thought otherwise but I am always open to the possibility of a simple explanation too

So are these rock stacks an indicator of a yowie's presence at a location? Maybe. Found in an area with an absence of other yowie indicators, I'd say probably man-made. Found in an area along with distinctive stick markers, and a yowie sighting or two, I'd say possibly yowie-made - and worth a photo!

Indicators of their age can be put down to animals at the location, environmental and weather factors, and presence of lichen or other shrubbery on the rocks. For example, if kangaroos and wallabies are prevalent at the location, it could mean it hasn't been there that long because it hasn't been knocked down.

[quote="Chewy"]I have a few questions for those that have found them

How far out into the bush are we talking with these rock stacks? how isolated is the area? ]


Sorry Chewy! I should have mentioned that when I write " deep into the wilderness" I mean that I have cut my own way into the area to get there.

Hey Pixie

Thanks for that

I would be interested to know if they are indeed made by yowies. Have you by any chance found any other evidence in the same area to suggest they are made by them, Footprints? Broken branches? Etc

Cheers

hey guys i dont claim to no the faintest thing about dusting for prints, but thought i would put it out there.
what if someone were to collect some of the rocks from the least suspicious cairn and take them to someone who could dust em, that way we could see the size of the prints to see if they are too large for human hands.
jsut a thought.

Hey lil foot

I’m not sure if this would work wouldn’t the weather destroy any valuable evidence making it hard to obtain a print? Maybe if you discovered them fresh it may work. But still I think getting prints of a rock may be difficult. I would probably be inclined to leave as they are and not destroy them in any way.