Pas des Trucadors

Near Ses Illetes Beach in Baleares, Spain, a lovely seaside trail extends along a narrow peninsula, windswept and seasprayed, flanked on either side with rocky cliffs that tumble down to secluded beaches below. Mostly popular with backpackers and travelers embracing the bohemian lifestyle, Pas des Trucadors is a rock-solid example that sometimes the most hidden places really are the best.

It’s no wonder then, that the cliffs in this hushed locale are scattered with man-made rock formations -- little towers of flat stones stacked together by visitors, compelled either by whimsical curiosity or a legitimate interest in the various mysticisms that endorse such fast works of natural art.

Thought to be a highly meditative experience, the stacking of stones in otherwise remote or natural locations is popular throughout the world from Arizona to Croatia. It’s not uncommon to see these diminutive pseudo-sculptures at places of rustic beauty, often standing singularly and quixotically along trails in the Grand Canyon or along the Sierra Madre.

But in places of particular seclusion, where one is built, others are sure to follow, as the culture that surrounds the place inspires other visitors to do the same, until eventually there is a veritable forest of handmade towers standing silently, marking a place of peace and tranquility, but only to those who know the signs.