"i" blazes along the CT

[Wuff]

Just a quick question I couldn't find an answer to. Throughout my CT thru-hike this summer I saw what looked like "i"s carved into the trees as blazes, in fact they were much more prevalent than the official CT blazes. Anyone know what the point of these are?

[Mags]

In general, these "I" blazes are old school blazes found through out the american west (and maybe on rare occasions back East?). In fact, the original understanding of a blaze was an axe cut on a tree to mark the trail.

From the USFS:

http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpu...806/page13.htm

The classic reassurance marker is a blaze cut on a tree. The standard Forest Service blaze should always be used to differentiate it from the freeform blazes and antler rubbings that appear on nonsystem trails (figure 87). Cut blazes carefully because a mistake can't be repaired. If a blaze is consistently buried by snow during part of the use season, the blaze can be cut higher on the tree, but not so high that it becomes difficult to locate from the tread. Cut blazes may, on rare occasions, need to be freshened—recut them carefully.

Naturally, these blazes aren't as popular on newer trails for obvious reasons. But you still see them a fair amount.



Portions of the CT use older trails that havr been around quite a while (La Garita Stock Driveway for example)
http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/riogr...29066&actid=50

[wornoutboots]

I noticed several of theses along the JMT last month as well