Blazing

[Jack Tarlin]

There's been a lively discussion in Glencliff this afternoon.

What are the worst blazed/marked/signed sections of the Trail, i.e. which ones gave you the most trouble and which could use the most improvement?

This thread is NOT about maintainers, our obvious debt to them, our moral obligation to volunteer or giveback to the Trail, etc. It's simply an open question: Which sections of the Trail gave you trouble because of the way they were marked, and which, in your improvement, could use some work?

[Jack Tarlin]

Last sentence above, obviously, should read "Which sections, in your opinion, could use some work or improvement." Thank you.

[juma]

central virginia is a little light south trent's store.

new york above 17a and all those white with red dot blazing mixed in.

the north half of Mt. Washington after you get into the woods again - one 20 year old blaze and sign with the AT arrow scratched out.

those irritated the most....

juma

[Pedaling Fool]

I don't remember specifics, but I remember being lost a lot in SW Virginia...then again I've lost the trail in SNP...actually I've gotten lost in every state.

[BrianLe]

Talk AMC into allowing white blazes in the whites --- for thru-hikers that have been trained over months by then to be uncomfortable when not seeing blazes, it's just --- uncomfortable to go for long distances without seeing blazes. Not a huge deal, just something that popped into my head.

At the north end of where the Long Trail and the AT converge/diverge, the FIRST sign a NOBO hiker sees that's on the AT should mention the bloody AT, or have a white blaze or something. I walked for quite a ways on the LT (trained by then over a hundred miles that the AT and LT are the same thing ...) before figuring it out and turning around. The sign that actually says anything about the AT was quite a few feet down the trail and of course in the shade.

Repaint any light/pale blue blazes to be a bolder shade of blue. Pale blue blazes, in the shade, can be tough to distinguish from faded white blazes.

Walk the bloody trail and look for ambiguities. At any trail split it's annoying to have to guess and walk quite a ways to finally see a confirming white blaze (or eventually ... not see one ...) --- put these in sight at the point of the junction. And never, ever put a white blaze on a tree that's between two trails at a junction --- this is just mindless ("well, indeed, one of these two is the AT, thanks a lot ..."). It's just a matter of seeing things from the perspective of someone coming up to it fresh, at any junction. Unfortuantely I didn't take notes on the various places I encountered examples of all of the above this year.

The above aside, of course the AT is a remarkably well-marked trail. It's the inherent goodness of it that tends to lead to high expectations, which in turn make the quite infrequent issues stand out, so please take my comments in that context.

[kayak karl]

SOBO out of Mahoosuc Notch. i little wierd for 3 miles. i didn't get lost but three others did. i CAUGHT up. i learned to look back. NOBO is better blazed IMO

[The Old Fhart]

BrianLe-“Talk AMC into allowing white blazes in the whites ---…”

You can talk to the AMC all you want but the AMC has no authority to blaze trails in the Whites. If you pay attention to the trail signs you will see that the trail above tree line is under the authority of the U.S. Forest Service and the USFS is the trail maintainer, not the AMC. Unfortunately with their meager budget the USFS haven’t been able to maintain the trails the way they would like.

[Scooby99]

2 years ago I found the Smokies in the winter to be very hard to follow in 2-3 feet of snow, went many miles without seeing blazes, ended up digging down to look at rocks to find blazes on some bald sections.

[Hikerhead]

You can talk to the AMC all you want but the AMC has no authority to blaze trails in the Whites. If you pay attention to the trail signs you will see that the trail above tree line is under the authority of the U.S. Forest Service and the USFS is the trail maintainer, not the AMC. Unfortunately with their meager budget the USFS haven’t been able to maintain the trails the way they would like.

I didn't have any trouble going across Washington. I remember the juntions as being marked well and I just followed those large rock piles with the white rock on top. I did have problems in the bottom before Pinkam but it was dark. I thought I was on the trail beside a creek when I hit my head on a bridge,Wow! I'm back on the trail. That part is a wilderness area and blazes are not allowed. Pushed my way into the firs and set up my hammock...the next day in the day light it wasn't any problem at all, just followed the trail that looked the most worn.

[Memphis Tim]

I seem to remember having a little bit of trouble in central PA, especially with the markings for the side-trails leading to some of the shelters.

[Migrating Bird]

Some of the open ledges in ME gave me a little trouble SOBO if I remember correctly Baldplate was one, same with Moxie Bald, you have to walk around the rock ledges to see where the trail re-enters the trees. Ditto what Kayak Karl said about SOBO after Mahoosuc Notch. The Whites are entirely different - carins with white rocks, yellow rocks and specific trail names, the only thing that would help short of white blazes for AT hikers is on the trail junction signs in parenthesis put the AT symbol. The history and tradition of trail names is more important than white blazes in the Whites IMHO. Another thing to consider is that the trails which the AT follows through the Whites are used year round. Consider the fact that in certain weather conditions above timberline white does not show up at all especially in snow -1/4" on July 1st this year on Washington. I loved the Whites between trail junctions the trails are easy enough to follow. I could see that for some who don't carry maps the lack of white blazes in the Whites could be a serious (safety issue) problem. Just my opinion, thanks

[Kerosene]

Well, unlike Hikerhead (who hiked with me in Sept. 2006) I thought that the blazing north of Osgood Tentsite was abysmal (but then again, I was hiking at least twice as fast as he was). Fortunately, I had heard that it was sparse, and I had carefully scanned the map and re-read the guidebook, so I found the turns fairly easily. Even so, it's unnerving when you haven't seen a blaze in a mile (there was only one on the Old Jackson Road, and that was on a downed tree!) and you know that there are a lot of other trails in the area.

On the same section hike, it was fortunate that I knew it would be tricky at the top of Moosilaukee in the fog (turn sharp left along the foundation of the old summit building). I also found it annoying that all blazes disappeared for the mile north of Mt. Guyot.

In May 2005 I lost the trail for a bit just north of Helveys Mill Shelter, where it drops out to a road to cross I-77. There was a clear trail continuing straight ahead into a small field across the road, so I just kept walking for a quarter-mile before it disappeared. I think they've relocated that section by now.

IMHO, it's not the frequency of the blazing but the consistency. I wouldn't mind fewer blazes as long as they're consistently spaced, with consistent treatment of intersections and turns. You can never be quite sure if you're on the AT until you actually see a blaze (unless of course you've walked a section a half-dozen times!). Looking behind me has helped on occasion.

[couscous]

I thought that the blazing north of Osgood Tentsite was abysmal...

Seems that due to a routing error, most of the white blazes destined for NH ended up in NY.

[Tin Man]

Seems that due to a routing error, most of the white blazes destined for NH ended up in NY.

I think you are onto something there.

[John B]

central virginia is a little light south trent's store.

...
juma

I agree. It was a long, rocky ridgeline south of Trent's and I remember there being few blazes. Nothing serious, but for a novice like me, it was a bit disconcerting in a few places.

[Hikerhead]

Well, unlike Hikerhead (who hiked with me in Sept. 2006) I thought that the blazing north of Osgood Tentsite was abysmal (but then again, I was hiking at least twice as fast as he was). Fortunately, I had heard that it was sparse, and I had carefully scanned the map and re-read the guidebook, so I found the turns fairly easily. Even so, it's unnerving when you haven't seen a blaze in a mile (there was only one on the Old Jackson Road, and that was on a downed tree!) and you know that there are a lot of other trails in the area.

On the same section hike, it was fortunate that I knew it would be tricky at the top of Moosilaukee in the fog (turn sharp left along the foundation of the old summit building). I also found it annoying that all blazes disappeared for the mile north of Mt. Guyot.

In May 2005 I lost the trail for a bit just north of Helveys Mill Shelter, where it drops out to a road to cross I-77. There was a clear trail continuing straight ahead into a small field across the road, so I just kept walking for a quarter-mile before it disappeared. I think they've relocated that section by now.

IMHO, it's not the frequency of the blazing but the consistency. I wouldn't mind fewer blazes as long as they're consistently spaced, with consistent treatment of intersections and turns. You can never be quite sure if you're on the AT until you actually see a blaze (unless of course you've walked a section a half-dozen times!). Looking behind me has helped on occasion.

With that big head bouncing up and down on those short little legs, I'm amazed that you could see ANY blazing. And you cut yourself short, I think you're THREE times faster than me, not that I really give a shark.

[SmokyMtn Hiker]

The problems I have had are the sections maintained by the TEHC, Spivey Gap to Damascus. There is a intersection just north of Hwy 19E where I think there was a relo and it is what I called the six way intersection because of all the ATV trails going in ever which way. There was no blazing or any indication in which way to go and I ended up on what a nice man at a house told me was the old AT, he was very nice and got me back on the trail which was almost a mile away. There is other places along where they maintain that could be blazed better in my opinion.

[Alligator]

You can talk to the AMC all you want but the AMC has no authority to blaze trails in the Whites. If you pay attention to the trail signs you will see that the trail above tree line is under the authority of the U.S. Forest Service and the USFS is the trail maintainer, not the AMC. Unfortunately with their meager budget the USFS haven’t been able to maintain the trails the way they would like.

This was split off to a new thread here.

[berkshirebirder]

At any trail split it's annoying to have to guess and walk quite a ways to finally see a confirming white blaze (or eventually ... not see one ...) --- put these in sight at the point of the junction. --brianle

Terrific thread, Jack.

I'd second brianle's comment about having a confirming blaze within sight at trail splits. This is something that should be instituted on trails everywhere, IMO.

[JAK]

There's been a lively discussion in Glencliff this afternoon.

What are the worst blazed/marked/signed sections of the Trail, i.e. which ones gave you the most trouble and which could use the most improvement?

This thread is NOT about maintainers, our obvious debt to them, our moral obligation to volunteer or giveback to the Trail, etc. It's simply an open question: Which sections of the Trail gave you trouble because of the way they were marked, and which, in your improvement, could use some work?

That's just like you Jack, to open a thread that would actually require someone to hike the trail.