View Full Version : Blazes in every color of the rainbow
SorFinger
02-13-2004, 18:15
In reading the posts about white blazing vs. blue blazing (and no, I DON'T want to get into that discussion here), I saw mentions of several other colors of blazes. I'm curious what they all are. Anyone want to help me out? I've got the white blazes marking the "official" AT and the blue is for side trails and alternate routes. Yellow blazing would be referring to driving to a different point, I think???? (someone correct me) What about all the other colors?
The Old Fhart
02-13-2004, 19:27
Yellow blazing generally refers to thumbing around a section of the A.T. instead of hiking. The name comes from the yellow lines on the highway. There actually are some side trails marked with yellow blazes but that isn't what yellow blazing refers to. Calling a thru hiker a "yellow blazer" is usually accusing them of cheating. Keep in mind that not everyone is out to hike the whole trail. I personally don't care as long as they are up front about it. One guy I hiked with was a civil war buff and would stop at all the battlefields. To continue hiking with us, he'd hitch ahead and meet us up the trail. We appreciated his company and it it was great to see him all showered with clean clothes waiting for us at the end of a hard section.
Aqua Blazing: substituting a river for a stretch the AT, usually the Shenandoah between Waynesboro and Harpers Ferry.
Brown Blaze: Trail to the Privy. Also sometimes refers to stain in underwear.
Yellow Blaze: Substituting a car ride for a section of the AT.
Jester2000
02-13-2004, 21:13
Red Blazing: Hanging out with citizens of Billville
Pink Blazing: Chasing a woman up the trail
Green Blazing: Winning the Masters
theres often been a discepincy (sp?) between the real meaning of Yellow Blazing. Maybe someone can clear it up. Some say it is when you accept rides to get further up the trail and skip sections. Others suggested that it was when someone would hike on a road instead of the trail, but not recieve vehicle assistance, such as walking the blue ridge parkway, which a couple people did. What do you all think ? They both yellow blazin?
Lone Wolf
02-13-2004, 21:39
For the 18 years I've been on the trail, yellow-blazing simply means hitching or being driven ahead to skip trail.
SorFinger
02-22-2004, 01:42
I just heard of skyblazing the other day, although I doubt it's as common as any of the other types of blazing. Supposedly, it means to take a ski lift up a mountain instaid of walking up it. I imagine this could be difficult to accomplish with a full pack, though.
Kerosene
02-22-2004, 14:06
You just sling your pack onto the lift seat next to you. Nowadays, many of these are quad lifts anyway, so (if they're running) there should be lots of room next to you. Just make sure that you hold on tight to your pack with one hand and your poles with your other!
Moon Monster
02-22-2004, 14:22
I would call walking the Parkway blue blazing. To me, brown blazing is leaving the trail to dig a cathole when no privy is around. Also to me, red blazing is taking a fall and skinning a knee or some such where blood flows.
hikerltwt
02-22-2004, 14:34
On the At Green Blazing definately does not mean winning the masters! Long live the Appalachian Trail Saftey Inspectors!
Kerosene
02-22-2004, 15:38
Black Blazing: Following an old routine of the AT (white blazes painted over with black)
Black Blazing: Following an old routine of the AT (white blazes painted over with black)
Another term for that is Faded Blazing.
TJ aka Teej
02-22-2004, 22:15
Red Blazing: Hanging out with citizens of Billville
Use #10,001 for duct tape :D
TJ aka Teej
02-22-2004, 22:25
I just heard of skyblazing the other day, although I doubt it's as common as any of the other types of blazing. Supposedly, it means to take a ski lift up a mountain instaid of walking up it. I imagine this could be difficult to accomplish with a full pack, though.
The Wildcat ski lift runs all summer, and gets a fair share of northbound AT hikers who skip Mt Washington. They head down the Tuckerman trails to the AMC Pinkhan Notch camp, then hitch a few miles north.
I just heard of skyblazing the other day, although I doubt it's as common as any of the other types of blazing. Supposedly, it means to take a ski lift up a mountain instaid of walking up it. I imagine this could be difficult to accomplish with a full pack, though.
i knew a couple that flew into the hundred mile wilderness. and we called that skyblazing. taking a lift up was called gondolablazing.