View Full Version : How clear is the trail marked?
davidb308
01-14-2010, 20:42
Im planning on leaving for a thru hike soon and i was wondering how clear the trail is marked. Do i need a GPS?
No GPS needed, you'll have no issue following the trail.
ShelterLeopard
01-14-2010, 20:44
It is very well marked- I recommend maps (for emergencies, fun, and just in case of a couple less well marked areas.) But, in my opinion, GPS is totally superflous.
Well marked- well mostly yes. The areas where there's poor trail club leadership will be VERY apparent to you as you stroll through.
You'll snivel at first then take it all in stride.
Jim Adams
01-14-2010, 20:50
If you get lost...go back home!!!!!!!
The trail down south is soooo used, it is like a highway, very easy to read. By the time you get to a section with poor markings (if there is such a thing) you will be so trail savy that you won't realize that it is poorly marked.
geek
Phreak said it all. AT is probably the best marked "wilderness" trail in the world.
Lone Wolf
01-14-2010, 20:53
Im planning on leaving for a thru hike soon and i was wondering how clear the trail is marked. Do i need a GPS?
no. it's over-blazed on most of the trail
Kerosene
01-14-2010, 20:56
Well blazed and typically pretty obvious which direction you need to go. Bring a map for back-up and emergency bail-outs.
It's well marked everywhere except where it isn't. ;-)
johnnybgood
01-14-2010, 21:02
Im planning on leaving for a thru hike soon and i was wondering how clear the trail is marked. Do i need a GPS?
Not unless you're hiking in a snow. Some blazes are on rocks .
bigmac_in
01-14-2010, 21:55
You DO NO need GPS on the AT. If you can find your way down a highway, you can find your way on the AT.
Why isn't this in the humor forum? :rolleyes::D
One could build a small house and paint it white with all the trail signage and white blaze paint on the AT.
To be perfectly serious, the trail is well marked but it is possible to go astray. After a few weeks of hiking, you'll get used to looking for blazes without thinking too hard about it. But at first you may come across a few trouble spots. It helps to have a map, and to go at a leisurely enough pace that, if you haven't seen a blaze for a while, you can go back to the last point at which you saw one without fretting about being out and after dark, etc.
Good luck with your hike!
Chicken Feathers
01-14-2010, 22:31
Im planning on leaving for a thru hike soon and i was wondering how clear the trail is marked. Do i need a GPS?there are blazes every 150' unless trail is obvious then it is not blazed. If you walk 15 minutes or less and don't see a white blaze you are probably on the wrong trail. What is a GPS Government Provided Services
Pacific Tortuga
01-14-2010, 22:37
The Trail is very well marked. There may be times you don't see the blaze and you start second guessing youself.
Turn around, you'll most likely see a blaze in the other direction and know, it's all good.
Don't need no stinkin GPS.
The Trail is very well marked. There may be times you don't see the blaze and you start second guessing youself.
Turn around, you'll most likely see a blaze in the other direction and know, it's all good.
Don't need no stinkin GPS.
Ditto! You learn to look behind you often.
But in New Hampshire ya can count the blazes on your fingers and toes. But seriously NH aint over blazed like the rest of the trail
garlic08
01-15-2010, 00:40
There are over 80,000 blazes, northbound only. Do the math.
There are over 80,000 blazes, northbound only. Do the math.
The math is. . .
At 80,000 blazes one-way on a 2,179 mile trail, it works out to a blaze every 143 feet (approximately).
As a side note, the 80,000 number I saw published in "The AT Guide" by David 'Awol' Miller, which I just received in the mail a few days ago.
johnnybgood
01-15-2010, 00:54
There are over 80,000 blazes, northbound only. Do the math.
So the bottom line David is there's blazes coming outa the yin yang all the up the trail until New Hampshire .
WILLIAM HAYES
01-15-2010, 02:36
leave the GPS at home trail going north bound is well marked going south bound in certain sections it is not as well marked
If you don't see a blaze look for other signs - like blowdowns that have been cleared with a saw, water breaks and other signs of trail maintenance.
daddytwosticks
01-15-2010, 08:32
Some of the newer re-routes may not be blazed as frequently as the rest of the trail. On a fall setion hike from Springer to Woody this past October, I witnessed this along the re-route between Sassafrass (?) and Gooch Mtn shelter. The trail was not "worn down" like the rest of the trail plus the newly fallen leaves made it visually harder to follow the footpath. I considered it just part of the experience. Just enough "unknown" to make a normallly mellow and pleasant hike more interesting Good luck. :)
The trail is not marked in clear, it's marked in white blazes. And no you won't have problems following. Maps are still if you need to find a bail out point or such. There is one high-water route in ME that was not marked well but located after careful thought.
stumpknocker
01-15-2010, 10:14
There are over 80,000 blazes, northbound only. Do the math.
So that is how you keep your mind busy.
I do difficult mathematical problems...............5x6=?, 8x4=?, 8x5=? :)
Just a comment about maps. Highly recommended. Always a possibility that they will be needed, Case in point:
Early summer of '06, hiking in PA during the floods. Several two or three mile sections of the trail were closed, totally impassible by the flooding. Some was under 5+ feet of water. Maps were pretty much required to pick a route around these areas. At least they were needed if you didn't want to wander aimlessly.
Again I say, there are times where you will probably wonder if you're in the right place. Some of the most confusing areas, to me, are through parks are places with lots of trails. Harriman State Park was terrible, IMO.
Some people are also more talented than others at creating navigational misadventures where the way should be very clear. They obliviously walk past clearly marked intersections (especially common when two people are talking instead of looking around them). People have been known to get up from a break and head back in the direction they came from, instead of continuing forward.
It's all part of the fun.
Two Speed
01-15-2010, 11:48
Based on my limited experience* I'd say you're probably going to get lost once or twice, with or without a GPS, given that there's over 2,100 miles to cover. I suggest covering this contingency by having a hiking partner. That way you'll have someone to blame.
I sincerely doubt a GPS is a good idea. The idea of feeding one of those creatures batteries for 5 - 6 months makes my wallet cringe in fear.
However, if you feel the need and your wallet isn't as wimpy as mine give it hell.
* Have hiked all of the AT between Springer to Trout's Grocery just south of Pearisburg, VA and the 100 Mile (non)Wilderness.
Hell, with people now always asking about PDAs, Smartphones, MP3 players, GPS, etc...I think I'm going to put a roving battery kiosk that follows the main herd of AT hikers. I'd make a killing selling batteries! :banana
Harriman State Park was terrible, IMO.
Harriman? Really? I always thought Harriman was pretty straightforward, but then maybe I've just been lucky there. And to be fair, there are dozens of other trails that intersect with and cross the AT in Harriman, so I can see how that could get very confusing.
For me it was the White Mountains. Lots of different trails there, the AT follows some of them and doesn't follow others, and at least back in the late '90's the AT wasn't blazed through there... so you just had to pay really close attention at every trail junction.
GeneralLee10
01-15-2010, 11:53
Hell, with people now always asking about PDAs, Smartphones, MP3 players, GPS, etc...I think I'm going to put a roving battery kiosk that follows the main herd of AT hikers. I'd make a killing selling batteries! :banana
Good Idea Mags:)
Two Speed
01-15-2010, 11:57
Hell, with people now always asking about PDAs, Smartphones, MP3 players, GPS, etc...I think I'm going to put a roving battery kiosk that follows the main herd of AT hikers. I'd make a killing selling batteries! :banana
Good Idea Mags:)MmmmmIdunno. All of those batteries are gonna weigh a ton. Now, if you could find a way to slip a coupla spares into your partners pack . . . yeah, that could work.
GeneralLee10
01-15-2010, 12:04
MmmmmIdunno. All of those batteries are gonna weigh a ton. Now, if you could find a way to slip a coupla spares into your partners pack . . . yeah, that could work.
Teamwork....:D
Two Speed
01-15-2010, 12:08
Uh huh. And you still have someone to blame if you get lost. Teamwork AND multi-use!
MmmmmIdunno. All of those batteries are gonna weigh a ton. Now, if you could find a way to slip a coupla spares into your partners pack . . . yeah, that could work.
I'll get an old cargo van, deck it out to sleep in and meet people at road crossings. Think about it! It will be Mags Roving Battery Shack And Charging Station O' Fun. If I could hook up a satellite internet connection, I'll REALLY make a killing with the average thru-hiker today....
Based on cursory Internet reading, most hikers today want batteries for:
SPOT/PLB
GPS
MP3 Player
Cell Phone/Smart Phone/PDA
Camera
...and regular internet access.
I see a gold mine here!
Hmm...to hell with my job interview Monday. :-?
Me thinks Mags may be being a bit sarcastic here...
Two Speed
01-15-2010, 12:21
I'll get an old cargo van, deck it out to sleep in and meet people at road crossings . . . Hmm...to hell with my job interview Monday. :-?Got a beat up pick up we could put a camper top on. Hell, if we aren't careful we could wind up hiking a little, too. Maybe a concierge service, fresh batteries delivered at your camp for a small fee.
GeneralLee10
01-15-2010, 12:30
Every kind of cell phone charger. Heck what about food items too. You could also have a little shower set up. Man this is sounding better and better. Heck mite be able to start a whole fleet of Vans/RV's
Me thinks Mags may be being a bit sarcastic here...
Sarcasm about the idea (maybe...I think someone really could make some good scratch with my idea. But, the **** storm it would create would be another story!) ...but not what in people seem to want to carry on one of the most well marked and accessible "wilderness" trails in the world.
My list of electronic items really does seem to the standard kit for many hikers for better or worse.
That's a LOT of batteries. :eek:
All sarcasm aside, seems that many outdoor organizations are mandating a GPS, PLB/SPOT and cell phones as "must have" equipment.
I already wrote an essay about this topic (http://www.pmags.com/joomla/index.php/Outdoor-Writings/The-Changing-Culture-of-Connectivity.html), but the end result is that perhaps tha while my Mags Cargo Van o' Fun was suggested in a sarcastic manner, the idea that more and more hikers see a need for these devices means that hiking (and outdoor pursuits in general) will contain more electronics in the kit. Which means more batteries. (And the desire for connectivity is a very big theme every thru-hiker season).
OTOH, one of the side shoots of our recent escapades in the Middle East is the military investing much R&D money into batteries. (http://www.darpa.mil/spotlight_April2009.html) The average soldier now carries enough electronic toys to make the people at ThinkGeek wet their pants. Just like GPS-units trickled down into the inexpensive and reliable consumer grade GPS units we love...perhaps this initial research will mean some better batteries for the electronic-clad Wilderness Warriors on the AT. Alas, it means Mags Cargo Van o' Fun will have a short life. :D
Got a beat up pick up we could put a camper top on. Hell, if we aren't careful we could wind up hiking a little, too. Maybe a concierge service, fresh batteries delivered at your camp for a small fee.
A small pick up with a camper shell you say ???!?! Hmm..that sounds familiar.
http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=19754&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=e918a8acd06ab3448fddeeae31087237
Because I am one of those odd hikers who advocate fitness in non-thru hiker season (Odd. I like spending time outdoors in addition to long hikes), I could carry in the batteries for the struggling hikers in the first month of their hikes. (They'll have read the advice on WB about how it is important to shave 2 oz on a sleeping bag..but being 30lbs+ overweight to start a hike is not a big deal. ;) )
Every kind of cell phone charger. Heck what about food items too. You could also have a little shower set up. Man this is sounding better and better. Heck mite be able to start a whole fleet of Vans/RV's
Eliminate the hard ships of hiking! :) I like it..I like it....
GeneralLee10
01-15-2010, 12:32
Got a beat up pick up we could put a camper top on. Hell, if we aren't careful we could wind up hiking a little, too. Maybe a concierge service, fresh batteries delivered at your camp for a small fee.
Yes! now your making even more money. I have a truck can get an old side-in camper. We can start a new thing here, I have some money to invest now too.
GeneralLee10
01-15-2010, 12:41
You start a Club called Hikers on Wheels. They have a prepaid account with this club. Kinda like a membership then when they get to a road crossing that one of the Vans are at. The person shops for what it is they need. Then you just deduct the money from person membership funds/account. So batteries mite not be a big item in the long run but FOOD will always.
Two Speed
01-15-2010, 12:45
You start a Club called Hikers on Wheels . . . So batteries mite not be a big item in the long run but FOOD will always.Mags, I'm seeing a business plan coming together here. We need to do a conference call. I'll have my people set it up and we'll do lunch soon.
fredmugs
01-15-2010, 12:45
Here's a different question: Do you think you could actually hike the trail with no blazes and a GPS? Assuming of course you had GPS coordinates.
How many times have you hiked in the fall where the trail is covered in leaves and you are basically blazing it. Or humping up a steep mountain when you look up, spot the blaze, put you head down for awhile, and then hope to see the next blaze?
Here's a different question: Do you think you could actually hike the trail with no blazes and a GPS? Assuming of course you had GPS coordinates.
How many times have you hiked in the fall where the trail is covered in leaves and you are basically blazing it. Or humping up a steep mountain when you look up, spot the blaze, put you head down for awhile, and then hope to see the next blaze?
I made my own trail hiking from blaze to blaze last month in NY when it snowed. No trail to be seen - a big THANKS to whoever blazes that are because if they hadn't been in sight of each other I'd be sunk.
How many times have you hiked in the fall where the trail is covered in leaves and you are basically blazing it. Or humping up a steep mountain when you look up, spot the blaze, put you head down for awhile, and then hope to see the next blaze?
It's called the CDT. And people have done it with a map, compass and no GPS. :D
A GPS is a good tool. But, I find it is sometimes easier to use a simple map and compass combo vs. futzing around with electronics. And on the AT? Definitely don't have any use for a GPS other than perhaps as a form of playing with it. YMMV.
saimyoji
01-15-2010, 13:49
You start a Club called Hikers on Wheels. They have a prepaid account with this club. Kinda like a membership then when they get to a road crossing that one of the Vans are at. The person shops for what it is they need. Then you just deduct the money from person membership funds/account. So batteries mite not be a big item in the long run but FOOD will always.
you could address the food issue by harvesting (hunting, gathering) the land, then selling the meat/veggies to the hikers. with the vans/rvs you'd have no problem getting a good harvest, getting the kills to a processor and then back to the trailhead. of course there'd be some capital involved, hunting, fishing licenses, gear, processing fees, etc....
Desert Reprobate
01-15-2010, 14:13
Just keep the sun on your right in the morning and on your left in the afternoon. If you hit Canada, you've gone too far.
Mags, I'm seeing a business plan coming together here. We need to do a conference call. I'll have my people set it up and we'll do lunch soon.
Cool beans.
I like the idea posted, too, of harvesting. In the Fall, we could sell "Fresh Maine Blueberry" shakes. Won't be too bad. Just make up a bunch of cheap ice cream shakes, throw in some blue food coloring and a blueberry or two just to give a fig leaf of legitimacy. Cheap calories combined with some feel-good nature crap. I smell $$$$.
Let's do it!
Wrangler88
01-15-2010, 14:57
The only time I ever had a hard time finding which way the trail went next is when I came upon a super flooded area of the trail in Maine this summer. It was equal to the trail running through a pond or small swamp. I just couldn't see the trail. So I was having to scan all around looking for sign of a trail or a blaze (all while trying not to go knee deep in water and mud.) This happened a couple times. I found the trail though. It wasn't bad. I think it took me about fifteen minutes to find where the trail came out of the water once though. I think all of this was due more to the flooded trail than the trail not being marked well.
David@whiteblaze
01-15-2010, 15:01
There are over 80,000 blazes, northbound only. Do the math.
That's 160,000 2X6 Blazes (approximately) making a combined surface area of 1,920,000 Sq. Inches or 11,707 sq. Feet (approximately)
One could build a small house and paint it white with all the trail signage and white blaze paint on the AT.
That's a 34 by 34 by 10 sq. Foot house... so, yeah that's a small house...
Hell, with people now always asking about PDAs, Smartphones, MP3 players, GPS, etc...I think I'm going to put a roving battery kiosk that follows the main herd of AT hikers. I'd make a killing selling batteries! :banana
But what about the batteries for the kiosk?
superman
01-15-2010, 15:03
When I was an RTO I talked more than a few FNGs to carry an extra battery for my PRC 25. I needed them to carry my extra battery so I could carry my Jane Fonda fan club magazines. Batteries are so light these days that you could carry a box of them and not notice the weight.:)
David@whiteblaze
01-15-2010, 15:15
When I was an RTO I talked more than a few FNGs to carry an extra battery for my PRC 25. I needed them to carry my extra battery so I could carry my Jane Fonda fan club magazines. Batteries are so light these days that you could carry a box of them and not notice the weight.:)
can you repeat that w/o acronyms?
max patch
01-15-2010, 15:25
MAGS -- This would be a good place for you to post a link to your picture of a hiking trail that was a jumble of trees without a blaze in sight.
Ah..yes. Wagontounge Mtn on the CDT in New Mexico:
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs037.snc3/12435_199544790020_563440020_4369180_6461416_n.jpg
Blazings, maps , GPS nor prayers are too helpful here.... :sun
can you repeat that w/o acronyms?
Google military acronyms for a hint. :)
FNG = a less polite version of Fantastic New Guy for example. ;)
stumpknocker
01-15-2010, 21:27
Ah..yes. Wagontounge Mtn on the CDT in New Mexico:
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs037.snc3/12435_199544790020_563440020_4369180_6461416_n.jpg
Blazings, maps , GPS nor prayers are too helpful here.... :sun
Google military acronyms for a hint. :)
FNG = a less polite version of Fantastic New Guy for example. ;)
The great thing for me when I was temporarily misplaced on Wagontongue was the elk horn I found while wandering around somewhere up there last year. :)
Take a GPS for town. I don't know why, but I can find my way fine for 3-5 days in the woods, but get to town and not know where I need to be.
LimpsAlong
01-24-2010, 10:08
Northbound, right after Long Creek Falls, I think where the BMT crosses the AT It was quite some time before I saw a blaze. Thought I took the wrong fork so I backtracked about 1/4 mile to the intersection. I had taken the correct fork but the blazes after Long Creek Falls were not there for a while.
Fairly steep section there for an old man to do twice!
JustaTouron
01-24-2010, 10:43
If you can find your way down a highway, you can find your way on the AT.
Do you have any idea how many people have a GPS in their car........
earlyriser26
01-24-2010, 14:16
Once you have hiked for a while you will not even notice the blazes. Only time it can become an isuue is in winter after a new snow. It can also be bad in the fall when the leaves are down and you are in low / no light conditions.
Lemni Skate
01-24-2010, 14:53
I've wandered off by accident a couple of times. Usually when my head was down trying to dodge mud puddles that I missed a turn off the trail. I've rarely gone more than 300-400 yards without realizing the mistake.
More often I've been on the trail when I thought I wasn't.
P.S. Most of my hiking has been in northern third of VA and WV and MD.
Chicken Feathers
01-25-2010, 11:32
Northbound, right after Long Creek Falls, I think where the BMT crosses the AT It was quite some time before I saw a blaze. Thought I took the wrong fork so I backtracked about 1/4 mile to the intersection. I had taken the correct fork but the blazes after Long Creek Falls were not there for a while.
Fairly steep section there for an old man to do twice! The trail at Long creek Falls is marked well now if you can follow sign from sign just go straight. ATC says there are 55000 blazes on the trail they were counted by Blaze who thru hikes
Appalachian Tater
01-25-2010, 21:57
By the time you get to places where the trail isn't marked well, you'll have enough experience for it not to be a problem. You probably will go off trail by accident if you're not paying attention a few times but you just backtrack. As someone said, more often you will think you are off the trail but won't be. Almost every time there is not a blaze in front of you, there is one behind you if you turn around.
garlic08
01-26-2010, 01:36
ATC says there are 55000 blazes on the trail they were counted by Blaze who thru hikes
The ATC site says there are 165,000 blazes, actually: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.mqLTIYOwGlF/b.4805401/k.8865/About_the_Trail.htm
Blaze counted just over 82,000 of them going NOBO in 2002. He wore out three of those little clicker things.
fredmugs
01-26-2010, 11:41
Once you have hiked for a while you will not even notice the blazes. Only time it can become an isuue is in winter after a new snow. It can also be bad in the fall when the leaves are down and you are in low / no light conditions.
You forgot about the parts where you're hiking along a perfectly good trail but some club a-hole decided to send you up a rock scramble and then right back down onto the perfectly good trail.