[pct-l] Trail Markings

[wandering_bob at comcast.net (Bob Bankhead)]

I guess it boils down to this: do you want a guided tour, a total wilderness 
bushwack, or something inbetween?

IMO, no one belongs out in the woods without a compass, up-to-date topo 
map(s) of the area, and the skills to use them properly. A GPS is a handy 
tool if you know how to use it AND the map together, but is it wise to trust 
your life to something that runs on batteries? Maps also can be a life-saver 
if a situation forces you to bail out quickly (where's the nearest road and 
where does it go?)

It is your responsibility, not the government's, to keep track of where you 
are relative to where you want to be or have just been. Yes, the PCT is 
pretty easy to follow in most places - after the snow has gone. However, 
there are many spots where it does get overgrown by grass or brush, crosses 
large areas of flat rock, gets physically ravaged by the forces of nature, 
or criss-crossed with stock trails and ORV tracks that weren't there when 
the map or guidebook were prepared. Not every junction is signed - some 
deliberately, others thanks to vandals who remove, deface, alter, or 
otherwise damage the signs. I have noticed recently that Bubba and his 
beer-swilling shotgunning friends seem to love the new brown fiberglass slat 
signs in use by many NFS districts. Oh, and then there are those spots 
where, for whatever reason, you make a deliberate detour - either a scenic 
alternate trail, a peak to be bagged, a "brief" search for that elusive 
easier stream crossing, spring, campsite, viewpoint, etc.

Those beloved PCT trail markers nailed to trailside trees are becoming more 
scarce - thanks in part to souvenier hunters. Many's the time I have 
wandered long down the trail, glancing at my map and/or guidebook trail 
description and praying that this was indeed the PCT and not some wannabe 
onto which I had ventured by having foolishly missed the sign at the last 
(and often very obscure) trail junction because I was watching the trail at 
my feet whilst hiking uphill with my head down. Great was my relief upon 
sighting that green and white marker confirming that all was well.

If you want a guided tour, that's fine; sign up for one, or stick to the 
many trails in your local park or forest preserve.
For slightly less signage: take the AT and learn to love white blazes
Even less signage: take the PCT
And even less: take the CDT


Wandering Bob