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ednotmilkman
03-13-2014, 01:49
After the group of 6 to 8 of us finished our 3 to 5 day hike on the GA Pinhoti last month, I need to make one comment about the GA sections that needs to be made.

"They", meaning the people in charge of maintaining the GA sections, must have bought a lifetime supply of diamond shaped, turkey track, white plastic trail signs to blaze the trail with. The problem is that those little signs are too easy to be stolen, vandalized, knocked off by bear, squirrel, wind or other unknown act of God or man, and the lifetime supply must be exhausted, or else they can't nail new ones back on fast enough.

This is a very bad way to blaze a trail compared to painting blazes on like we do in Alabama now. There were several spots at trail and road junctions where there were no plastic signs anywhere around. And no other way to tell where the trail was except to look closely for the mountain bike tracks in the nearest "soft spot". Hikers that do not pay attention to their surroundings carefully will miss turns, as we had happen even in our larger group. I would have wasted a lot of time myself in one spot where I saw no signs after the logging road split into two options, except that I had Mr. Parkay's gps track loaded in my handheld gps. You can also figure the correct way with map and compass, but only after you walk 100 yards or so to be sure of which option is going the correct heading from where you think you are on the map.

So it will be nice to get a reply from someone familiar with the maintenance of the GA Pinhoti to see if they are consdering buying some paint that would last longer than the plastic diamond signs.

Edwin

Hill Ape
03-13-2014, 01:54
ask sgt rock, thats 1st sgt, i wouldn't sound so annoyed

ednotmilkman
03-13-2014, 02:00
the other thing that is tricky about using maps; Mr. Parkay made a great set of topo maps available that you can print from the PTA website. The problem is that his maps are over 5 years old and there is one long section that he walked east from John's Mountain on the bicycle routeon the road and not the hiking path. So if you follow his track instead of the cue sheet you completely miss Keown Falls and the great campsite at Pilchers Pond. You can see the trail going to Keown Falls if you look closely (with young or assisted eyes) but Pilchers Pond is completely off the map.

I would offer to add my corrected map of this section except the PTA website has no way to contact anybody who can update the site.

ednotmilkman
03-13-2014, 02:01
I thought it was "solo" who was the dog in the manger ?

Hill Ape
03-13-2014, 02:07
lol, ok i shouldn't have made the joke. i never do pull off humor. but i'm almost positive he would be the go to guy here. that is one cool reference, had to look it up

Hill Ape
03-13-2014, 02:09
allusion, thats what that is, knew there was a word for it

10-K
03-13-2014, 07:52
Best way to get them is via the GA Pinhoti Facebook page. Richard Moon is the guy in charge. It's a work in progress and I'm sure they know everything you want to say - it's just going to take time to get it right and they're doing it as fast as they can. In that way it's just like the Sheltowee Trace Trail.

The difference between the AL Pinhoti and the GA Pinhoti is just incredible - they're 2 different trails that share a name. The long road walk from Cave Spring to Simm Mountain Trail and the other one from Dalton to People's Lake Rd. were something. I also used Mr. Parkay's maps and GPS track which helped a lot on the GA Pinhoti because of the way it's really a patchwork of forest roads, trail, streets, etc. connected together to make a trail. It's not a trail-trail - it's a combobulation of "stuff".

But... in a way I kinda liked it.

speaker
03-13-2014, 23:25
the other thing that is tricky about using maps; Mr. Parkay made a great set of topo maps available that you can print from the PTA website. The problem is that his maps are over 5 years old and there is one long section that he walked east from John's Mountain on the bicycle routeon the road and not the hiking path. So if you follow his track instead of the cue sheet you completely miss Keown Falls and the great campsite at Pilchers Pond. You can see the trail going to Keown Falls if you look closely (with young or assisted eyes) but Pilchers Pond is completely off the map.

I would offer to add my corrected map of this section except the PTA website has no way to contact anybody who can update the site.

This was a big motivating factor of why I have been trying to set up a wiki style guidebook, since there were things I wanted to update in various guidebooks I've used. I ended up missing the Keown Falls during my thru hike as well, partially due to outdated maps and partially due to hiking sobo. With a wiki system, future users will be able to correct any mistakes, and update the guidebook as the trail changes over the years.

Just for the reference, I already have an updated map, guidebook and gpx tracks for that section, at http://www.trailguidewiki.com/wiki/Pinhoti-S23, and http://www.trailguidewiki.com/wiki/Pinhoti-S23/gpx, along with several other updates that are more up to date than Solo's original guidebook. If your information is more up to date, feel free to contribute, or drop me a line about it.

I had actually met with Rick and the other GA maintainers, and made a few comments about blazing issues during my thru hike. If I remember correctly, they primarily choose the plastic tags for two reasons: 1, they are easier for mtn bikers to see, at faster speeds (whether or not faster is better is a different debate, but since the trail is maintained largely by the biking community, its up to them), and 2, a lot of the land isn't actually 'theirs' and they have no rights to it. The plastic tags were seen as a non-permanent way to mark the route, and if a land owner disliked it, they were easy to remove, as compared to painting directly on the trees.

Compared with the AL Pinhoti, which is single use (foot traffic only), largely on federal land (National Forest), and the trail is a National Recreation Trail(I think only the AL side, not both, but I could easily be wrong on that). Different scenarios, different circumstances, different blazing. My personal preference would be for paint blazing, and a lot more frequent blazing, but I'm not the one out there doing that work, so I don't think I get a say in the matter.

Two Speed
03-14-2014, 08:54
. . . except that I had Mr. Parkay's gps track loaded in my handheld gps. You can also figure the correct way with map and compass, but only after you walk 100 yards or so to be sure of which option is going the correct heading from where you think you are on the map. . . If you found a problem with Mr. Parkay's maps shoot him an e-mail describing what you found. Not sure if he's still maintaining those maps, been several years since I hiked the Georgia section but my experience was he was extremely receptive to input.

10-K's characterization of the Georgia Pinhoti as a combobulation . . . I would have used much stronger language than that.

ednotmilkman
03-15-2014, 01:24
I agree with 10-K about liking a little combobulation, just to keep it interesting and to keep me on my toes. I enjoyed the road walk section between The Narrows picnic area and Ruff Crk / Strawberry Mtn, although it begins to make my feet ache after a while. Not sure I'd be able to enjoy 30 miles of it from Dalton to Chatsworth.

I don't intend to check facebook GA Pinhoti site, but Speaker, I hope you have passed word of your wiki type trail guide to the GA facebook page. thanks for your work; I forget about checking on your site before we went on our trip.

ednotmilkman
03-15-2014, 01:46
Glad you had a chat with Rick Moon and others, Speaker. He shuttled the 3 day group of our hikers to the TH in his limo but I only saw him for a few minutes as I was already camped at the TH.

2, a lot of the land isn't actually 'theirs' and they have no rights to it. The plastic tags were seen as a non-permanent way to mark the route, and if a land owner disliked it, they were easy to remove, as compared to painting directly on the trees.

I might agree that the plastic signs are easier for bike riders to see, but why not use day glow orange or lime green paint as the official color if that was a problem

#2 makes no sense to me? I would think any private landowner would rather have paint on the bark of his trees vs. nails in his trees??

speaker
03-19-2014, 21:52
#2 makes no sense to me? I would think any private landowner would rather have paint on the bark of his trees vs. nails in his trees??


I'm not arguing that it makes sense, just relaying their thought process as to what they have found works for them. And I could be completely wrong, that's just what I remember from several years ago talking to them.