Re[2]: [at-l] Trail Maintenance: Blazing

[daveh@psknet.com (Dave Hicks)]

This discussion brings to mind a couple of incidents I had a few years back.

I was hiking the AT in central PA along a old logging road.  I looked up and
saw a white blaze that had been painted out with a coat of brown over a coat
of black.  Looking up and down the trail there was no white blaze in sight.

As a trail maintainer, my reaction was, "Oh boy, I missed a turn" -- as the
only time I paint out a white blaze is on a relo or to move one to a better
location, which would be visible at taht point.

So, I walk back the way I had come, now observing painted out blaze after
blaze.  All were well done -- so well painted out there was little question
why I had missed them before.  After about a quarter of a mile I come across
a very nice new white blaze w/o having seen a sign of a turn off.

After a good deal of confusion on my part, I decided from the map to hike
the suspected "relo" until it hooked up again.  After about a half mile and
a good number of painted out blazes there was another white blaze.  A bit
farther the trail came to a well marked turn and continued on.

Later I talked to a club member.  He said that they were retrofitting the
blazing to correct over-blazing on clearly established trailway segments.
So, it turned out I was a victim of my knowledge of maintaining practice.

The other incident was the reverse and not on the AT itself but on a side
trail -- yellow blazed (actual blaze color, not code for the highway).

This was a trail for which I was responsible.  From time to time I came out
to find "work" done that no one in the club, or USFS knew anything about.
There were waterbars added (many in the wrong place and some trying to route
water uphill).  Limbs were loped off (most leaving sharp stubs rather than
clean cut at the trunk).  Then one day I came out to find nearly every tree
along the route with the ugliest yellow paint splashes (I won't degrade the
term "blaze" by associating with this mess).  Officially, I never found out
who was doing it and the USFS management never acknowledged that they had.
However, it stopped and a "worker" at the USFS told me it was a group (which
I won't name) who thought they were doing good.  I told the USFS management
that, given their energy and effort, I would love to have them join us and
provide them the training and supervision need to do a proper job, but it
never happened.

Chainsaw


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob C." <ellen@clinic.net>
To: <at-l@backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2002 7:55 PM
Subject: Re[2]: [at-l] Trail Maintenance: Blazing


> "...If you're on a path one does one need to see a blaze upon blaze?"
>
>  No. But it happens. The solution? MOre volunteers.
>
>  Trail overseers should be having to choose among competing people who
want to
>  volunteer -- not begging them to volunteer.
>
>  Weary
>
>
>
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