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View Full Version : How's the blazing? Signs? Ever lost?



rafe
03-04-2008, 08:05
Elsewhere, threads discuss the need for maps.

I'm curious here what folks think of the blazing on the trail. OK as it is? Over-blazed? Under-blazed? How's the consistency of the blazing? How are the signs? Have you ever lost the trail due to poor blazing or signs?

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My own answer: blazing is mostly OK, occasionally either over- or under-blazed. Not very consistent. I've lost the trail numerous times, mostly at places where the trail crosses roads, parks, clearings, etc. Road walks make me nervous -- I'm afraid that I'll miss the turnoff where the trail ducks back into the woods. It's happened more than once.

Sly
03-04-2008, 08:08
Over-blazed.

Peaks
03-04-2008, 08:29
In general, over blazed, except where it is underblazed.

woodsy
03-04-2008, 08:40
Definitely under blazed in areas of these parts right now, or is it blazes
under?:rolleyes:
Dead reckoning style navigation ability is a plus,:D
By the seat of your pants otherwise:eek:
Speaking only of winter conditions during months of heavy snow of course when only people like me are out there.

rafe
03-04-2008, 09:06
In general, over blazed, except where it is underblazed.

I hear ya. ;)

Almost There
03-04-2008, 09:43
I've lost blazes a couple times, usually in bad weather where there are no trees and exposed rock.

warraghiyagey
03-04-2008, 11:59
Blaze consistency varies by section. I've never found the trail to be over or under blazed. I've also never found the need for maps. Never taken them, won't this year either.:)

Papa Bear
03-04-2008, 12:33
Some specific places where blazing was difficult to follow:

> In the rocky area of Penna where there is really no discernable treadway. If you lose a blaze there you can really have a hard time. You don't realize how important the treadway is to keeping on the path.

> same thing towards the north end of the 100MW where you travel through miles of swampy bogs. No treadway, just roots everywhere.

> place in MD on the ridge where a boundary line crossed the trails and the white blotches of the line got me confused with the AT blazes. A few hundred yards of increasingly unlikely trail till I realized what had happened and turned around.

> Some roadwalks where the blazes on the telephone poles are very infrequent. The one in Vermont around Thundering Falls where the AT crosses the Ottaquichee comes to mind, but a relo last year has eliminated that.

In all cases, taking some care and never going too far past the last blaze will keep you on track. Also it's a good practice if you can't see a blaze, to turn around and see if you can spot one facing the opposite direction of travel.

Rain Man
03-04-2008, 13:20
Blazing is erratic and inconsistent. Some stretches there are multiple blazes within yards of each other. Other stretches, there are no blazes for what seems like a mile.

Plus, some places there are double blazes even though the turn is plain as day (and there may be no fork anyway), while at other places there might be no blaze or only a single blaze where the turn is NOT plain at all (and/or there are multiple trails splitting up).

I remember counting the trails coming together one place (might have been Glassmine Gap, NC). There were five paths, without a single blaze telling me which to take.

Another time, at the end of the bridge in Hot Springs, NC, there was a single blaze on a telephone pole, apparently saying "this is the way, keep going straight." However, the trail did NOT continue along the sidewalk/road, but in fact jumped a guard rail and went down a bank under the bridge. I think that blazing has since been fixed.

One more problem with blazing is that what might be visible on a sunny dry afternoon might not be so visible at dusk or in the rain and fog or when snow covers things or presses down limbs and leaves. And of course deep leaves in the fall or over-grown grass and weeds in the summer easily can camouflage the trail itself, making blazes important where they are not needed other times of the year.

And I agree, road crossings, parking lots, parks, clearings, and the like are sometimes the worst places to find where the trail went. Still, I got back alive! LOL

Anyway, having said all that, the trail is usually obvious enough to follow or to know when you've gotten off of it and need to double-back. Volunteers put a lot of work into blazing, and I thank them for it.

Rain:sunMan

.

Appalachian Tater
03-04-2008, 13:26
Generally well-blazed, but when it is over- or under-blazed, it really goes all-out!

wilconow
03-04-2008, 13:50
Overall, I think the blazing is very good



> place in MD on the ridge where a boundary line crossed the trails and the white blotches of the line got me confused with the AT blazes. A few hundred yards of increasingly unlikely trail till I realized what had happened and turned around.



Just north of the MD/PA line, I remember a road crossing on PA-16 (for Marylander's -- this is what 140/Reisterstown Rd turns into) where the blotches were very easy to confuse with the white blazes. I think the blotches were easier to spot from the road than the AT blazes. This is a few years ago, hopefully they cleared that up a bit



> Some roadwalks where the blazes on the telephone poles are very infrequent. The one in Vermont around Thundering Falls where the AT crosses the Ottaquichee comes to mind, but a relo last year has eliminated that.


I did this in July last year and the relo was not in effect yet. I do remember that the blazes were very infrequent and I was afraid I was walking this curvy road for no reason. However I did have the NH/VT atc guidebook pages to confirm.

Along those lines, in West Hartford VT there were a couple of turns that I don't how I would've known what to do if I didn't have the guide to refer to. I can understand how residents may not want blazes and/or signs all over the place. Though that may cut down on people walking around and trying to figure out where they are.

Jack Tarlin
03-04-2008, 14:30
Generally, it's OK, tho over the years, I have found Vermont to be underblazed, especially at many road crossings where one arrives at the road and has no idea whatsoever where the Trail continues on the other side. Some double-blazes on trees and guardrails would be a big help here.

Blissful
03-04-2008, 14:44
Generally well-blazed, but when it is over- or under-blazed, it really goes all-out!


Agreed.

hobojoe
03-04-2008, 14:48
The trail is fine, it is the hikers who are over-blazed.

maxNcathy
03-04-2008, 14:52
Beware of Cowrock Mountain..trail looks to go right..but it goes left over flat rock about 100 feet..no white blaze on rock heading left ..I went right and down the mountain to a dead end.

I scratched some arrows in the rock with my poles to help others as I was pissed with poor signage.

maxNcathy
03-04-2008, 14:55
Every tenth blaze should have an N or a S with it to help those who are prone to heading the WRONG WAY.

max patch
03-04-2008, 15:41
Every tenth blaze should have an N or a S with it to help those who are prone to heading the WRONG WAY.

You're joking, right?

jesse
03-04-2008, 15:45
[quote=maxNcathy;558329]Beware of Cowrock Mountain..trail looks to go right..but it goes left over flar rock about 100 feet..no white blaze on rock heading left ..


I lost the trail there also. Fortunately, I went left searching, and finely found a white blaze.

Tennessee Viking
03-04-2008, 16:05
Then general blazing strategy is to blaze sparingly but adequately. Usually to place one at turns, just over a rise, or just out of sight of the last blaze in the opposite direction.

Tennessee Viking
03-04-2008, 16:07
I have seen forest trails blazed every 5 feet. One such example is Rattlesnake Ridge Trail on Unaka.

Pedaling Fool
03-04-2008, 16:45
I have seen forest trails blazed every 5 feet. One such example is Rattlesnake Ridge Trail on Unaka.
Is it just me or is it easy to get off the trail on top of Unaka mountain? From what I remember of this wooded summit it all looks the same and the AT does not provided much distinction, other than the blazes.

hobojoe
03-04-2008, 17:02
Is it just me or is it easy to get off the trail on top of Unaka mountain? From what I remember of this wooded summit it all looks the same and the AT does not provided much distinction, other than the blazes.
Maybe but it'd be pretty hard to get realy lost up there. You might get eaten by the mountain lion.

Feral Bill
03-04-2008, 17:42
The trails out west are generally unblazed. Seems to work. Most were built for horses, though.

dessertrat
03-04-2008, 17:47
It's over-blazed where I have no trouble following it, and under-blazed in the places I've gotten lost.

Seriously, it could use better blazing at some road crossings, intersections, where it goes through some state parks, going over rock faces, etc., generally, and fewer blazes on those "long green tunnel" areas where only a moron would not know trail from trees.

Christopher Robin
03-04-2008, 17:48
White Mt. NH. at the bootem of the Libiterty trail going South at the bike trail needs a sign or a blaze to point Thur-hikers in the right direction.

rafe
03-04-2008, 17:55
White Mt. NH. at the bootem of the Libiterty trail going South at the bike trail needs a sign or a blaze to point Thur-hikers in the right direction.

Damn straight. My wife and I tried following the AT back up a ways toward Lonesome Lake hut from Rte. 93 -- and apparently, never found the AT. I'd been on it several times before; it looked wrong from the get-go. This is typical -- signage goes to hell just when you need it the most, ie. at major road crossings and the like.

WalkingStick75
03-04-2008, 17:58
Only time I was ever "confused" never lost :) was at a road crossing, go figure.

Kerosene
03-04-2008, 19:33
I'm most concerned about seeing frequent blazes on sections where there are is the potential for a lot of intersecting paths, such as near the summit of popular mountains, areas close to neighborhoods, or along roadways. I'd probably get less peeved if the blazing was consistent and I knew what to expect, but it's very disconcerting to see the blazing stop altogether when you're trying to get to a campsite before dark.

I can't wait for Minnesota Smith to weigh in on this topic.

Check out my white blaze painter typology (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18307) from a few years ago! ;)

fiddlehead
03-04-2008, 23:34
Was worried about losing trail in snow when i did my SOBO winter hike (2001/2002)
Turned out it was not a problem. Rarely lost the trail. My biggest problem was getting turned around.

The PCT was much tougher as there are no blazes but we still could usually figure out where the trail was (even under snow) but looking around and figuring out the part that didn't seem natural (no vegetation, cut blowdowns)

Once you are out there a while and get familiar with the way everything looks, it's not hard to figure out when you are no on the trail. I was just up on the AT around 501 when we had the first decent snowstorm of the year in Dec. and had no problem figuring out what was trail and what was not. The AT is well blazed.

I believe it only gets overblazed when you have some overzealous, non-experienced blaze painter in charge of where he wants to put them. It is probably best to just paint over exsisting blazes and not add new ones anymore.

WILLIAM HAYES
03-04-2008, 23:43
Southbound greyson highlands after fat mans squeeze needs better blazing got turned around twice in snowy conditions there otherwise from springer northbound to atkins I found the blazes to be good
Hillbilly

tlbj6142
03-05-2008, 10:07
During a section hike in Maine, I lost the trail a few times. Moss covered rocks in every direction. I typically just picked the path that looked the most annoying and difficult. I was right 3 out of 4 times.

dessertrat
03-05-2008, 10:08
During a section hike in Maine, I lost the trail a few times. Moss covered rocks in every direction. I typically just picked the path that looked the most annoying and difficult. I was right 3 out of 4 times.

Check. If you can go up instead of down, that's almost always the trail in Maine.

rafe
03-05-2008, 10:15
I recall my nephew's reaction to Maine. We were hiking north from Flagstaff Lake toward Pierce Pond shelter, just a few miles from the lake... nephew opined that the whole state was tilted. ;)

Alligator
03-05-2008, 10:28
Southbound greyson highlands after fat mans squeeze needs better blazing got turned around twice in snowy conditions there otherwise from springer northbound to atkins I found the blazes to be good
HillbillyYes, we had problems around there:o and it was snowing too. We had intersected the AT and gone the wrong way. But coming back to the intersection, we had trouble finding the trail southbound. I think there was a turn around a big boulder we couldn't find.

tlbj6142
03-05-2008, 10:31
Check. If you can go up instead of down, that's almost always the trail in Maine.In several places, it was more like..."If you can go up rather than around, that's the trail." Sometimes I think the trail was routed to up and over rock piles just for the hell of it.

dessertrat
03-05-2008, 11:29
In several places, it was more like..."If you can go up rather than around, that's the trail." Sometimes I think the trail was routed to up and over rock piles just for the hell of it.

I believe Walter Green blazed a lot of it. Maybe he was showing off how fit he was, or maybe he was just trying to reach the top of whatever hill he was heading toward, and so kept going up, only to find he was on a false peak time after time.

In all fairness, blazing that trail could not have been easy. In fact, it was most likely incredibly difficult. We should complain less and give so much hard work more credit.

ki0eh
03-05-2008, 11:54
Only time I was ever "confused" never lost :) was at a road crossing, go figure.

Imagine yourself the painter: you park the car, head into the woods, then come back. Next section painter does the same thing.

That's why the A.T. Fieldbook for maintainers specifically mentions keeping the blazes going through road areas, as a reminder guarding against human nature. Even the volunteers are human!

Plus, the utility poles get replaced from time to time; and I've had to get around where the utility hung a gizmo on the pole right on top of the existing blaze, too...

Grampie
03-05-2008, 12:01
Every tenth blaze should have an N or a S with it to help those who are prone to heading the WRONG WAY.

:eek:You got to be kidding. Anyone who is out hiking the AT and doesn't know if he is hiking north or south needs more help than painting an S or N on a tree.

earlyriser26
03-05-2008, 12:02
Overbalzed, until you need one. Then you can walk a quarter mile without finding one.

max patch
03-05-2008, 12:03
Years ago - when the location wasn't as obvious as it is now - the tree with the blaze to long creek falls fell down with the blaze facing the ground. More than one person missed the turn until it was reblazed.

hammock engineer
03-05-2008, 13:23
As a southbounder I am voting for way underblazed. Maintaineers, please put equal blazing in both directions. I got pretty good torwards the end with guessing the path to go.

There were tons of time the trail crossed a road or trail. Where the southbounder comes out there is a huge sign and lots of marking to find the trail. Not so for where the southbounder needs to go.

rafe
03-05-2008, 13:23
:eek:You got to be kidding. Anyone who is out hiking the AT and doesn't know if he is hiking north or south needs more help than painting an S or N on a tree.

It can get very confusing in viewless sections on a cloudy day.

katagious
03-05-2008, 19:55
In several places, it was more like..."If you can go up rather than around, that's the trail." Sometimes I think the trail was routed to up and over rock piles just for the hell of it.

Well...up here...it don't start out that way...the rocks grow ya know...and them rocks give birth to more rocks and those baby rocks grow up given birth to sum more...before ya knows it...ya gotcha a path over a pile of em...ayuh...that's the way it is.

Rain Man
03-05-2008, 22:51
It can get very confusing in viewless sections on a cloudy day.

Not to mention, you ain't always going North when you are hiking NOBO! The trail makes such big swoops and loops, I bet it mostly goes East, West, and South while going North! LOL

Rain:sunMan

.

Appalachian Tater
03-05-2008, 23:38
As a southbounder I am voting for way underblazed. Maintaineers, please put equal blazing in both directions. I got pretty good torwards the end with guessing the path to go.

There were tons of time the trail crossed a road or trail. Where the southbounder comes out there is a huge sign and lots of marking to find the trail. Not so for where the southbounder needs to go.There is general consensus among everyone except maintainers that there is a NOBO bias in the number of blazes. Didn't you just get used to looking for blazes after you passed them?

rafe
03-06-2008, 00:03
Seems to me, there's good reason to be generous with blazes near junctions and where the trail is less obvious -- eg., clearings, road crossings, rock jumbles. When the trail is a tunnel, blazing isn't as important.

Inconsistency (of blazing) is a pain. When I go from a region of over-blazing to one of under-blazing, I'm often nervous until I get used to the new pattern. Many's the time I've backtracked to "the last good blaze" only to confirm that I really was on the trail.

Interesting point about the nobo-sobo differences. I hadn't thought about that, but it makes sense and matches my experience.

fiddlehead
03-06-2008, 00:17
Don't remember getting any more lost SOBO than NOBO
You can always turn around and check behind you if you think they don't blaze enough SOBO.
Don't need more!

Sly
03-06-2008, 00:43
Ideally every other blaze should be north with the others being south. No more than two blazes should be be at junctions in any one direction with the second just up the trail from the first. Otherwise, one blaze in sight or within 5-10 minutes walking is fine. I do like slightly offset directional blazes but only in acute, obscure turns.

Big no no, blazes on either side of one tree or rock. It's waste unless it's in a field or meadow.

mudhead
03-06-2008, 09:43
Suprised no one has mentioned looking down at the goat trail.

Guess that won't work on asphalt.

Bearpaw
03-06-2008, 09:48
Blazing is erratic and inconsistent. Some stretches there are multiple blazes within yards of each other. Other stretches, there are no blazes for what seems like a mile.

Plus, some places there are double blazes even though the turn is plain as day (and there may be no fork anyway), while at other places there might be no blaze or only a single blaze where the turn is NOT plain at all (and/or there are multiple trails splitting up).

I remember counting the trails coming together one place (might have been Glassmine Gap, NC). There were five paths, without a single blaze telling me which to take.

Another time, at the end of the bridge in Hot Springs, NC, there was a single blaze on a telephone pole, apparently saying "this is the way, keep going straight." However, the trail did NOT continue along the sidewalk/road, but in fact jumped a guard rail and went down a bank under the bridge. I think that blazing has since been fixed.

One more problem with blazing is that what might be visible on a sunny dry afternoon might not be so visible at dusk or in the rain and fog or when snow covers things or presses down limbs and leaves. And of course deep leaves in the fall or over-grown grass and weeds in the summer easily can camouflage the trail itself, making blazes important where they are not needed other times of the year.

And I agree, road crossings, parking lots, parks, clearings, and the like are sometimes the worst places to find where the trail went. Still, I got back alive! LOL

Anyway, having said all that, the trail is usually obvious enough to follow or to know when you've gotten off of it and need to double-back. Volunteers put a lot of work into blazing, and I thank them for it.

Rain:sunMan

.


What Rain Man said!

Awol2003
03-06-2008, 10:23
More time hiking is a bonus. Be thankful for underblazing - sometimes it encourages you to find trails you never would've explored otherwise, or to try a bit of SOBO hiking while you are on a NOBO hike!

Appalachian Tater
03-06-2008, 10:52
Suprised no one has mentioned looking down at the goat trail.

Guess that won't work on asphalt.Sometimes that doesn't work because there is more than one goat trail or you cross a road but the goat trail doesn't. No goat trail on very rocky terrain, either.

mudhead
03-06-2008, 16:13
No goat trail on very rocky terrain, either.

Mountain goat trail. Even granite shows traffic, once you get used to looking at it.

I'm not painting blazes, so I'm not complaining!

johnnyblisters
03-06-2008, 16:21
The trail is fine, it is the hikers who are over-blazed.

Now what's wrong with that??? :rolleyes:

GGS2
03-06-2008, 17:10
I'm guessing that the main problem with blazes is that the blazers KNOW the trail, and have trouble looking at it with naive eyes. They know their sections so well, they just thread the path at high speed, going wherever they need to, without even registering that there may be confusion for someone who is new to the section, and may not have a map, or know how to use it. I know that's how it is with me, on a well known trail. I don't even notice the blazes any more. But on a new section, I come to a fork, or a road section or anywhere that the trail is confusing, and I'm lost. Have to go hunting for the next blaze, or figure out what might be the trail on the basis of topography or direction. Not always useful, and I HATE backtracking.

It's the same on back roads in a car. Ever wonder how people used to get across country before maps were common? Just think of a dust bowl farmer in his truck with the whole family on back, trying to get through some place in the mid-west where the roads don't go East-West. They'd have been beholden to every passer by for directions, and wrong about as often as they were right. That's what it feels like on a badly blazed section of unfamiliar trail.

Appalachian Tater
03-06-2008, 17:25
I'm not painting blazes, so I'm not complaining!Yes, this would be a good point to pause and thank maintainers. Thank you, maintainers!

1/4 moon
03-09-2008, 02:27
> Some roadwalks where the blazes on the telephone poles are very infrequent. The one in Vermont around Thundering Falls where the AT crosses the Ottaquichee comes to mind, but a relo last year has eliminated that.


Overall, I think the blazing is very good

I did this in July last year and the relo was not in effect yet. I do remember that the blazes were very infrequent and I was afraid I was walking this curvy road for no reason. However I did have the NH/VT atc guidebook pages to confirm.




I remember this one as well, it was 1am when I passed thru that area and man was I confused to say the least. but for the most part the blazing is pretty decent

hammock engineer
03-09-2008, 13:02
There is general consensus among everyone except maintainers that there is a NOBO bias in the number of blazes. Didn't you just get used to looking for blazes after you passed them?


Ahh yes. Back blazing was my friend.

I would agree with what you are saying. I mentioned it to a couple maintainers and they seemed to disagree. When I did slackpacking north, there seemed to be a lot better markings.

I have to admit though, it was fun getting off on the wrong side trail then getting out the map and finding a way back to the AT without backtracking.

BigCat
03-09-2008, 13:09
I do like slightly offset directional blazes but only in acute, obscure turns.

Yeah, they are really helpful and I was surprised (and irritated) the the use of them varied greatly.

JAK
03-09-2008, 14:06
I've never thought about complaining about the blazing on the Fundy Footpath. I've gotten lost and turned around a few times, but always figured it was my fault. It is supposed to be done to the same standard as the AT. At least I know who to blame now. :D

emerald
03-09-2008, 14:53
It's important for AT hikers to understand Pennsylvania Game Commission marks State Game Lands boundaries with white paint too. Although these markings are not neatly-painted 2x6 inch blazes, it's not uncommon for hikers to follow an SGL boundary rather than the AT.

Where multiple treadways exist, it can be easy to wonder off onto the wrong trail.

Night-hiking especially after the leaves have dropped in the fall can give one an altogether different perception of what constitutes adequate blazing.

When in doubt, stop and think! You may need to carefully retrace your steps and find the last blaze. Sometimes, it's possible to look back to from where you've just come and see a blaze intended for a hiker travelling in the opposite direction, thus confirming you're still on the AT.

ki0eh
03-09-2008, 21:50
Yeah, they are really helpful and I was surprised (and irritated) the the use of them varied greatly.

My understanding is the offset double "Garvey" blaze was made optional when it came out and each of the 30 clubs had to decide whether to adopt it for its section or not. The choice was then incorporated in the local management plan for each club, and the maintainers' Fieldbook (2nd ed., p. 35) cautions maintainers to use offset double blazes only when the whole club section does.

The Cumberland Valley club, for one, did NOT adopt the offset double as standard. (And some think that's where it's most needed!)

GGS2
03-09-2008, 22:06
Thanks for that history. Up here the offset double style is pretty universal, and I've only come across a few over-under blazes, usually on a skinny pole or tree. When I do, it kind of breaks the rhythm. I have to stop, look around and locate the next blaze before continuing. Not that that is particularly bad. The offset just lets me locate the turn faster. Most often I know where to expect it, by the general trail layout and trail master's style, but the extra hint is sometimes welcome.

Darryl G
03-10-2008, 22:26
As a southbounder I am voting for way underblazed. Maintaineers, please put equal blazing in both directions. I got pretty good torwards the end with guessing the path to go.

There were tons of time the trail crossed a road or trail. Where the southbounder comes out there is a huge sign and lots of marking to find the trail. Not so for where the southbounder needs to go.

Duh...just hike backwards. :)

jhick
03-11-2008, 08:58
It's important for AT hikers to understand Pennsylvania Game Commission marks State Game Lands boundaries with white paint too. Although these markings are not neatly-painted 2x6 inch blazes, it's not uncommon for hikers to follow an SGL boundary rather than the AT.

Ah...yes. Did that for a short distance. I first noticed that there was a lot more blazes and then that trail was not very worn.

emerald
03-11-2008, 13:40
As a southbounder I am voting for way underblazed. Maintaineers, please put equal blazing in both directions.

You a Mountaineers fan whose zeal has carried over into his posting? I thought southbounders don't require the pampering heaped upon northbounder-weenies.;)

Blissful
03-11-2008, 22:17
Ah...yes. Did that for a short distance. I first noticed that there was a lot more blazes and then that trail was not very worn.


Another vote for maps. (!)

Undershaft
03-13-2008, 20:47
I recall the blazes being rather few and far between in the Mahoosucs. Nearly every blaze in CT had faded to the point of being hard to see. Some spots in NY had more white blazes than the whole state of MA. Roadwalks were the only place I ever got "lost" due to underblazing.

Moe
04-18-2008, 21:40
I have found that blazing ever 4 or so miles works out best. Keeps a nice, sustained high, while keep you busy so you do not ravage through your pack and eat all of your food.

That is just me though.

zdavies
04-21-2008, 22:53
Not a thru-hiker yet, but on the short bit I've done the blazes worked great in guiding me. Only place where I had trouble was in between Springer and the second shelter [hawk mtn, I think] - there were quite a few places where the blazes had been hatcheted off the trees. I stopped at one point and turned back, having heard that GATC had just completed some substantial trail relocation, thinking I'd got off wrong somewhere. Saw blazes going south though, so turned back around and all was well.

ki0eh
04-22-2008, 10:27
here were quite a few places where the blazes had been hatcheted off the trees. ... Saw blazes going south though, so turned back around and all was well.

Someone was overcompensating for the supposed NOBO bias? ;)

fredmugs
05-06-2008, 10:39
First time I hiked in PA I did not have a map and when I was travelling SOBO into Port Clinton and hit Hwy 61 I had no clue which way to go. After turning left and seeing the sign for the interstate I knew that wasn't right and turned around and went the other way. Even after I made it to the post office it was not marked very well travelling towards the train depot and once I got to the train depot there was nothing intuitively obvious of where the trail headed back into the woods. Fortunately there was a guy mowing the grass who pointed me in the right direction.

I now always carry a map - just in case.

Green Bean
05-06-2008, 11:22
Ive been lost plenty of times on the AT but thats all part of the experience for me ~GB