View Full Version : When were you happiest to see a White Blaze?
wilconow
10-02-2003, 12:04
Yesterday I took off work to work on finishing the entire AT in maryland (I know, I know, I'm a newbie and this is my first goal).
I did the area from High Rock to the mason-dixon line (through Pen-Mar Park). There is an area right after High Rock that is extremely rocky and downhill. As noted in the PATC book, its important to follow the blazes carefully as the trail is not always obvious.
Needless to say , I found myself in a lot of brush and no blaze to find. After a while of falling a couple times I got really frustrated. This was the second time I lost the trail here. It doesn't sound that hard to stay on the trail.
Anyway I backtracked and somehow found the trail again. Apparently it veered right a lot. It sure was a good idea to go back - the direction I was originally heading in seemed would've taken me way off the trail in a deep forest. Now I understand what they mean when they say how important it is not go too far off the trail, even if you think you'll find it eventually.
So the white blaze I found when I backtracked was the happiest Ive ever been to see one!
May 1 of 2002, when I saw the first blaze at Springer.
The saddest has to be May 28, when I saw my last blaze in Damascus.
I did that section this year and boy I had a hard time finding the White Blazes! I was running late and wanted to be back at Pen Mar by dark. climbing down the rocks with out seeing the blazes was frustrating. It took me alot longer NOBO than I had done going SOBO. I was running out of water which added to the problem.
The White Blazes should be marked like our roads- white on the right. this way you dont have to think about going the right direction.
Kerosene
10-02-2003, 22:04
I was walking alone over Moose Mountain outside of Hanover when the fairly good blazing just stopped cold. I kept walking, and walking, and walking without seeing another blaze. Okay, I think to myself, this is stupid, there's no way that I could have missed the main trail. So I kept walking a little more (now yelling that this is really stupid) and finally saw a faded out blaze at least a quarter mile and 6 minutes from the last one. There was no way to really get lost, but there could have been an intersecting trail that I didn't know about and if I was going to get in 19 miles I couldn't be backtracking a lot. Someday I'll write up my taxonomy on white blaze painters.
wilconow
10-02-2003, 22:10
crash, yeah i was thinking about sending an email to the PATC, suggesting they blaze better there. it seems to be done much better going south
Originally posted by Crash
I did that section this year and boy I had a hard time finding the White Blazes! I was running late and wanted to be back at Pen Mar by dark. climbing down the rocks with out seeing the blazes was frustrating. It took me alot longer NOBO than I had done going SOBO. I was running out of water which added to the problem.
The White Blazes should be marked like our roads- white on the right. this way you dont have to think about going the right direction.
Hikerhead
10-02-2003, 22:55
Hiking across Peters Mtn/Va.
I last saw Hammock Hanger at Rice Field, after hiking all day it was about 10 o'clock at night and I still 4 miles to go. I'm at the northen end of Peters and not a blaze in site. I knew the trail took a right down off the mtn and I didn't want to miss it. With my flash light and headlamp I looked and looked. Walked a ways and looked around, walked back and looked around...nothing. I finally found some logs that have been cut and I had to go from one cut log to the next for about a mile till the blazes picked up again right before dropping off the mtn.
I was truely glad to see a good white blaze again and even more so to see Hammock Hanger down at the shelter...at around midnight.
Blue Jay
10-03-2003, 07:59
Are you aware that you can buy white paint almost everywhere. Quit bitching and do something.
wilconow
10-03-2003, 10:59
Originally posted by Blue Jay
Are you aware that you can buy white paint almost everywhere. Quit bitching and do something.
i dont know, the PATC probably doesnt want a dumbass like me blazing trees ;)
max patch
10-03-2003, 11:56
Originally posted by Blue Jay
Are you aware that you can buy white paint almost everywhere. Quit bitching and do something.
Inappropriate quote that should be deleted by moderator. To ensure consistency, the ATC has specific guidelines on how blazes should be applied. Don't take matters into your own hands; instead contact the appropriate Trail Club with your complaints.
smokymtnsteve
10-03-2003, 12:04
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Originally posted by Blue Jay
Are you aware that you can buy white paint almost everywhere. Quit bitching and do something.
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then they would be everywhere..and no telling where you'd end up....
squawk, squawk, squawk:banana
when i escaped the wraths of Yupi-scum Kent, Connecticut. Only 5 hours in that town and i wanted to shove a fork thru my head or blow up an SUV. Never was i so content to see those white blazes on the wooden posts with all the pretty cows in the pastures and then up up up the ridge..
A-Train
Originally posted by max patch
Inappropriate quote that should be deleted by moderator.
This isn't trailplace or whatever Wingfoot's organization is called.
Blue Jay
10-03-2003, 12:30
OK, Max, I suppose you refuse to pick up litter or move a tree off the trail, because it is inappropriate. In all states, volunteers maintain the AT. Not a paid army of engineers, measuring exactly the distance from the ground. Get real, how could you have hiked 2000 miles and still think there are strict standards. Your lazy attitude is inappropriate. If you see a clear problem, you fix it, not pretend you don't see it.
Kerosene
10-03-2003, 12:39
I can't say that I would approve of "freelance blaze painters" trying to improve the blazing, but I frequently pause to put a few branches across a misleading path, reposition an out-of-position stone with blaze, or even draw an arrow with rocks if I think it will help the hiker after me.
I don't paint white balzes but I do pickup the litter, move trees to the side, cleanup campsites.
but WhiteBlaze.net is always a welcome sight (site)!!!!!!!
smokymtnsteve
10-03-2003, 13:08
Originally posted by A-Train
when i escaped the wraths of Yupi-scum Kent, Connecticut. Only 5 hours in that town and i wanted to shove a fork thru my head or blow up an SUV. Never was i so content to see those white blazes on the wooden posts with all the pretty cows in the pastures and then up up up the ridge..
A-Train
:banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana
chknfngrs
10-03-2003, 13:40
pretty much every time I see a white blaze is the happiest time. I don't get out nearly enough, so anytime I'm out there I'm trucking along doing anything I can to forget about the city.