What are the rules for painting white blazes?

[moldy]

As I headed north this spring I notice that when I got to central Virginia where the Natural Bridge Club owns the trail that the white blazes became few and far between. They make it hard to stay on the trail in anything but the very best weather. Are they doing this on purpose? What are the rules that the clubs get from the ATC?

[d.o.c]

i think they and me might think its to much whiteblazes for treadway as noticeable as it is.

[d.o.c]

but i dont think there are rules to it. for its usualy painted by random folks ive done a few just befor you walk into the natural bridge section near the wilson creek..

[Cookerhiker]

From the PATC Handbook for trail maintainers:

Blazing
Objective:To mark the route often enough to guide hikers without becoming a visual intrusion.
General standards:
Use 2-inch by 6-inch vertical rectangles.
Place blazes at eye level at prominent locations.
Outside SNP on the AT only - use double blazes (one above the other, top one offset in the proper direction) to indicate sharp turns and at other places where a hiker should be alert to an abrupt change. Do not, however, use double blazes to mark normal switchbacks. For trails in SNP and all side trails – use the in-line double blaze when necessary.
Blazes must be visible across intersections with streams, roads or other trails.
Where two blazes of different colors must mark the same trail, place the blazes side-by-side.
Avoid over blazing. However, you must realize that inexperienced hikers may need continued assurance that they are on the trail.
Blaze more frequently where the trail tread is indistinct or where informal trails may confuse hikers.
If at all possible, do not blaze rocks.
Unless warranted by special conditions, no more than one blaze should be visible at any point. The idea is not to mark the trail to hike it from blaze to blaze, but to use blazes as reasonably spaced guides that offer periodic visual reassurance. Stand at a blaze, pick a prominent spot ahead or note where the trail disappears from view. Walk to that point and pick the NEXT good spot; place the blaze there. Space them at a constant frequency.
Appalachian Trail standards:
Use white enamel paint. (Provided by PATC.)
Re-blaze every other year--more often to keep blazes visible or to replace missing or enlarged blazes. Remove excess or unnecessary blazes.
Metal, diamond-shaped AT markers may be used only on the AT at trailheads where a National Park Service sign is not present, but should not be used in SNP.

[mweinstone]

the general rule is that alot of time and energy and carefull forthaught go into the vollenteer work performed by trail maintaining clubs to blaze our trail in ways that may change over time, be objected to or agreed with , but are allways the responsibility of the entire oversite community of organizers and maintainers and volenteers . never may an individual take it apon his or her self to blaze even a single despretly needed one. an individual hiker not attatched to any formal blaze related work project has no authority to do any work on our trail without approval beyond trashing and bramble removal .

[Cookerhiker]

More from the same document:

Techniques:
Pick prominent, large, living trees. Dark colored bark provides a better contrast.
Choose trees that will remain prominent during periods of full foliage. Clip away protruding branches or foliage when necessary.
On rough, thickly barked trees, carefully scrape an area larger than the blaze (approximately 3-inches by 8-inches vertically) on the bark. Smooth the bark; do not remove all bark or break through the bark. Do not scrape smooth, thinly barked trees; rub away dirt or lichen.
When reblazing, scrape sides of blazes that may have widened with tree growth. Scrape away old paint flakes and dirt and repaint.
Paint a neat 2-inch by 6-inch vertical rectangle. Avoid runs; do not apply too much paint. After the paint dries, a scraper can be used to straighten the rectangles' edges.
Blaze walking in one direction at a time. Hike and blaze from one end of your section and walk back, blazing in the other direction. (The perspective will be completely different.)
Obliterate blazes by painting over them with brown, green, or gray paint that closely matches the bark if the blaze cannot be completely scraped away without damage to the tree. Use a sponge blotting method to simulate lichen. Blot beyond the blaze edge to blend in to the bark. Brown and grey can be blended, both are latex to wear off as they weather. The olive green is enamel for hard to cover areas. The PATC Tool Room provides these paints.

[sheepdog]

The universal rule about blazes is.
1. No one will be happy; there will either be too many or too few.
2. any question; refer to rule 1.

[Lostone]

So is it inappropriate for anyone but the Trail maintainer assigned to that section to do it???

I would move downed branches or limbs and that sort of maintenance, just leave the blazing to the "appropriate authorities". Who knows the section you just blazed may be scheduled to be moved????????

[d.o.c]

nope that section isnt goin anywhere any time soon..

[Ox97GaMe]

general rule of thumb is to have a blaze approx every 800 ft. But that is not consistent. In the Smokies, where the trails are pretty easy to follow even in inclement weather, we try to make sure that any trail junctions are marked will, with limited number of blazes between.

I think every hiking club has different preferences. and it is also somewhat to the discretion of the individual section maintainer. My section doesnt have a lot of blazes, and there havent been any reports of hikers getting lost in that area. If it becomes an issue, then I will take up some paint and add some more. Until then, I have plenty to do cutting out blow downs, trimming weeds, and cleaning out the waterbars. Occassionally, I even have time to work on treadway repairs.

[ATsawyer]

A section of trail appearing underblazed during peak summer growth may seem overblazed after autumn leaf drop. The trail section so easy to follow when the ground is clear disappears entirely in deep snow. It's a judgement call by the overseers who've hiked their sections year-round.

[weary]

ATC adopts the guidelines at the biennial conferences. The offset blaze used by PATC was debated at numerous conferences before being finally adopted (at the 1995 conference in Virginia, if I remember rightly.)

Even that was a compromise. Each maintaining club must consistently follow the offset blaze to mark the direction of a turn in the trail on all its blazes, or adhere to the traditional double blaze, one over the other, to alert hikers that a turn is coming up. Maine, being a conservative and logical state, stuck with the traditional configuration.

[Cosmo]

Lostone--

It is good for the maintainer to feel some sort of "ownership" of his or her section. They are out there because it is important to them to do their part for this amazing trail.

Although every maintainer has a slightly different approach, amazingly most of the trail is quite consistently blazed. I would say that it is inappropriate for anyone but the maintainer to blaze a section of the trail--frankly, if one has time to haul a bucket of paint and a brush into the woods, she or he should just step up and become a regular volunteer.

Regarding downed branches and limbs, if they are just laying there, it would be helpful to move them out of the way. If it requires a saw to remove I would recommend leaving it there (see above about becoming a volunteer). Also, it's possible that a work project could already be in the works to come out and cut the larger downed branches and trees. Frankly, nothing is quite as frustrating as hauling your gear up the mountain to a reported problem only to find out someone else has already taken care of things.

Finally, it's truly helpful if you report any problems like poor blazing, downed trees, etc to the trail club ASAP. Please, try and be as specific as possible about their location--hiker reports are notorious for being vague, unclear, or just plain wrong about the location of trail problems--not surprising, when you consider that for some, this may be the first or only time they will travel a given section of trail.

Cosmo

So is it inappropriate for anyone but the Trail maintainer assigned to that section to do it???

I would move downed branches or limbs and that sort of maintenance, just leave the blazing to the "appropriate authorities". Who knows the section you just blazed may be scheduled to be moved????????

[ki0eh]

In SATC not even the maintainer is supposed to paint blazes, we have only 1 person in the club who does that (and very well, I might add).

I believe that such items as the Garvey blaze (top offset in the direction of the turn) are still optional by club depending on its management plan.

[10-K]

I can't tell you how many times I've thought, "I'm going to report that." and then promptly forgot all about it as I hiked on and new trail erased the memory.

[d.o.c]

I can't tell you how many times I've thought, "I'm going to report that." and then promptly forgot all about it as I hiked on and new trail erased the memory.

same here....

[Kerosene]

I can't tell you how many times I've thought, "I'm going to report that." and then promptly forgot all about it as I hiked on and new trail erased the memory.

It's also known as "old age".

[Pedaling Fool]

What are the rules that the clubs get from the ATC?

Doesn't really matter; everyone makes their own rules.

[SassyWindsor]

When I thru hiked several years back, I, personally, did not see anything wrong with blaze or sign placement. I would would suggest that if one falls off it would be OK to put it back up, otherwise, leave it to the trail maintenance clubs who live for that kind of thing.

[Spokes]

Sounds like we need a YouTube video on the subject.