View Full Version : Who Blazed What???
Chance09
06-23-2008, 18:55
Is there a list of anywhere of people who helped to blaze sections of the A.T.? My grandma told me once that my grandpa blazed about 90 miles of the A.T. in VA. My grandpa did "a lot of things" and you could never tell which ones my grandma made up or were actually true. Sadly neither of them are with us anymore and haven't been for a while.
I was thinking that it would be cool, if indeed it is true, to know which section it is as i walk it next spring. This is assuming the trail hasn't been moved from it of course.
Thanks in advance for any help.
fiddlehead
06-23-2008, 19:02
That'd be up to each individual club that maintains that section.
Why don't you start with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (i think that's their proper name) and ask someone there to look up his name to see if he was a member.
If not, from there, ask the ATC for lists of clubs maintaining VA and keep doing the same until you find out which club he was a member of.
I mention Potomac because i think they are the biggest.
mountain squid
06-23-2008, 19:50
Since I've been maintaining with TEHCC (http://www.tehcc.org/), many blazes have been painted. Frequently, hikers get to paint a new blaze on a newly opened section. I've never seen anyone recording who painted what blaze.
Those that have been part of the club for years might be able to recall the sections they themselves have painted, if they've done so. They seem to have good memories of who maintained what sections, as well. If your Grandfather maintained a section, someone should have a record of that somewhere, but whether or not he painted a blaze on any particular section...
Fiddlehead's suggestion of contacting the Clubs is probably your best bet.
Good Luck with your research.
See you on the trail,
mt squid
Do you know if he was in the CCC? If he was there might be some some records that way.
Footslogger
06-23-2008, 21:53
I got lost and blazed a good 3 - 5 miles of unofficial AT in 2003 ...
'Slogger
Since paint doesn't last forever, blazing is a process, not an event.
Since paint doesn't last forever, blazing is a process, not an event.
Not to mention trees grow, fall down, trails get moved...
That said, I walked a tiny stretch of trail near RPH shelter (heading up the hill just east of the Taconic) the weekend before last, and I have never seen such geometrically-perfect blazes in my life.
Cabin Fever
06-24-2008, 07:50
I think blazing in this thread refers to laying out trail, not the 2"x6" blazes on trees.
I agree with the notion to check with the trail clubs. For instance, the TEHCC might not have a documented record for who layed out each mile, but by asking the 'experienced' members, it could be figured out.
I think blazing in this thread refers to laying out trail, not the 2"x6" blazes on trees.
Interesting point. But do you think that blazing (in that sense) can be attributed or traced back to one individual? I honestly don't know the answer, but I'd be skeptical. The trail route... maybe. The actual clearing/cutting/trailmaking -- that takes many hands and strong backs.
Interesting point. But do you think that blazing (in that sense) can be attributed or traced back to one individual? I honestly don't know the answer, but I'd be skeptical. The trail route... maybe. The actual clearing/cutting/trailmaking -- that takes many hands and strong backs.
That's my experience. Eight of us scouted the route from Whitecap to Gulf Hagas Mountain in Maine. Another dozen refined and cut the route. I then maintained with the help of others a portion of the route for 25 years, all of us painting and refreshing blazes as needed.
Weary
Chance09
06-24-2008, 11:30
I think blazing in this thread refers to laying out trail, not the 2"x6" blazes on trees.
Yes, that is exactly what i meant, the laying out of the trail
or the original route the trail takes, not just painting the blazes on the trees. Thanks for the advice, it'll give me something to look into.
LIhikers
06-27-2008, 08:08
That said, I walked a tiny stretch of trail near RPH shelter (heading up the hill just east of the Taconic) the weekend before last, and I have never seen such geometrically-perfect blazes in my life.
When I took the class offered by NY/NJ T.C. for new A.T. boundry monitors we used that area as a training ground. It was mentioned that the maintainer there uses a stencil to make the blazes.
Cookerhiker
06-27-2008, 08:38
That'd be up to each individual club that maintains that section.
Why don't you start with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (i think that's their proper name) and ask someone there to look up his name to see if he was a member.
If not, from there, ask the ATC for lists of clubs maintaining VA and keep doing the same until you find out which club he was a member of.
I mention Potomac because i think they are the biggest.
As a proud PATCer, I have to state that while we might be the best:sun, we're not the biggest. If you measure by membership numbers, AMC of course dwarfs us and I believe GMC, NY/NJ Trail Conference, and possibly some others are larger. If you measure by AT miles, we have 240 miles (Rockfish Gap to Pine Grove Furnace) - less than the Maine AT Club and probably the AMC. The AMC maintains portions in NH, MA, CT, and PA through its different chapters and I haven't added them all up.
Regarding total miles encompassing other trails, PATC's share amounts to about 1,200 including the 400-mile Tuscarora Trail.
It's possible in the early days that PATC crews blazed more outside the current territory given our proximity to the ATC HQ and Myron Avery's influence in both organizations. I read somewhere that Avery treated the PATC as an extension of the ATC.
Cookerhiker
06-27-2008, 08:41
When I took the class offered by NY/NJ T.C. for new A.T. boundry monitors we used that area as a training ground. It was mentioned that the maintainer there uses a stencil to make the blazes.
I fashoned a stencil by cutting the 2x6 rectangle out of the bottom of an aluminum foil pie plate and using duct tape to smooth the sharp edges. Not perfect but servicable.
I fashoned a stencil by cutting the 2x6 rectangle out of the bottom of an aluminum foil pie plate and using duct tape to smooth the sharp edges. Not perfect but servicable.
A dollar bill is close enough to 2x6 to work as a blaze pattern. I think it important that blazes be neat and uniform. That way I find they blend into the background and are less intrusive.
It's large, misshaped blazes placed too close together that I find most offensive.
Weary