Caps Ridge

[hikeritz]

I climbed Mt. Jefferson yesterday on the Caps Ridge trail. As I was finishing up I realized I hadn't seen the usual "Alpine Zone" and "Turn back now, you'll die" signs near treeline. Did I miss them? I assumed those signs were standard issue on all trails in the Whites that go above treeline. Yellow paint blazes were also few & far between (or badly faded), so perhaps it's a maintenance issue. I did spot "Forest Protection Area" signs (entering/leaving) 0.25 miles from the parking lot.

 

[sierra]

I climbed Mt. Jefferson yesterday on the Caps Ridge trail. As I was finishing up I realized I hadn't seen the usual "Alpine Zone" and "Turn back now, you'll die" signs near treeline. Did I miss them? I assumed those signs were standard issue on all trails in the Whites that go above treeline. Yellow paint blazes were also few & far between (or badly faded), so perhaps it's a maintenance issue. I did spot "Forest Protection Area" signs (entering/leaving) 0.25 miles from the parking lot.

Those signs are not on every trail that enters the alpine zone, in fact most trails do not have them. As far as blazes go, that's a trail maintenance issue and this seems to be the norm in many areas. I've been repeatedly commenting in netrailconditions that trails need to be re-blazed. The Caps Ridge maintainer is a member here, maybe he will comment on it.

 

[DayTrip]

I climbed Mt. Jefferson yesterday on the Caps Ridge trail. As I was finishing up I realized I hadn't seen the usual "Alpine Zone" and "Turn back now, you'll die" signs near treeline. Did I miss them? I assumed those signs were standard issue on all trails in the Whites that go above treeline. Yellow paint blazes were also few & far between (or badly faded), so perhaps it's a maintenance issue. I did spot "Forest Protection Area" signs (entering/leaving) 0.25 miles from the parking lot.

Unless it fell off it used to be engulfed by some scrub just before breaking tree line. I just went down that way a few weeks ago but I didn't really notice if it was there. The blazes on that trail have been faded for a long time. Route is pretty straightforward though so and there are a lot of cairns so not sure what value they provided anyway.