The status of blazing?

[Ken MacGray]

7 years ago on Oct 22 a friend and I hiked the Tripyramids, going up Pine Bend and down Sabbaday Brook. Half the descent was done in the dark, and the blazing was just horrible. Once we rounded The Fool Killer it got so bad, with no blazes or cairns visible at any of the brook crossings, that we just bushwhacked back to the Kanc, going in a generally northerly direction and keeping close enough to the brook to hear it. When trails in more open hardwood forests get covered ankle deep with newly-fallen leaves, following the trail itself is a lot harder. Blazes should be visible from each other in both directions, at a consistent height if on trees, and in colors and shapes not seen in nature. An irregular splash of white paint on a tree can be hard to distinguish from lichen by headlamp.

Trails in designated wilderness areas don't have blazes. This is intentional.

 

[NH2112]

Most of that route is in designated Wilderness.

Pine Bend was blazed just fine and I know that’s designated wilderness, because we had a group size limit of 10 in a later hike.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Pine Bend was blazed just fine and I know that’s designated wilderness, because we had a group size limit of 10 in a later hike.

All the way to the summit of N Tri? The first 2 miles of PB are outside Wilderness.

 

[DayTrip]

Trails in designated wilderness areas don't have blazes. This is intentional.

I can think of several wilderness area trails with blazes. Not sure if they are just old and pre date the standards or were unauthorized. The exception to be sure but they're out there. I'm sure that has confused more than a few inexperienced hikers wondering where the blazes went and why they're not consistent.

 

[DayTrip]

All the way to the summit of N Tri? The first 2 miles of PB are outside Wilderness.

It's been quite awhile but isn't there a giant wilderness sign at the border right before the steep climb along the river? I'm pretty sure I recall blazes in that part of the climb, which is after the sign and definitely in the wilderness area.

 

[JoshandBaron]

I can think of several wilderness area trails with blazes. Not sure if they are just old and pre date the standards or were unauthorized. The exception to be sure but they're out there. I'm sure that has confused more than a few inexperienced hikers wondering where the blazes went and why they're not consistent.

The Wild River was declared and Sandwich Range expanded in 2006, so more defined blazes in some of those areas can still be found. They last a long time. I still find blazes on trails that were abandoned in the 70s.

 

[DayTrip]

The Wild River was declared and Sandwich Range expanded in 2006, so more defined blazes in some of those areas can still be found. They last a long time. I still find blazes on trails that were abandoned in the 70s.

I figured. I remember last year being in a wilderness area and seeing fresh yellow blazes ("fresh" being a relative term - maybe 1 or 2 years old). I'm thinking it was the Great Gulf but I forget. Took me by surprise.

 

[Ken MacGray]

I can think of several wilderness area trails with blazes. Not sure if they are just old and pre date the standards or were unauthorized. The exception to be sure but they're out there. I'm sure that has confused more than a few inexperienced hikers wondering where the blazes went and why they're not consistent.

As far as I know, any blazes seen in wilderness areas pre-date those areas' designation.

 

[TEO]

All I know is that the Adams Slide Trail needs to be re-blazed. There's one section where it seems just about everbody loses the trail.

 

[TEO]

[snip] So, you'll hear hikers refer to the Shorey Shortcut or the Orebed Brook Trail, but never the Van Hoevenberg Trail, which is the most popular trail up Marcy. [/snip]

In my circles, including the Adk. 46er Trail Crew, people definitely use "Van Hoevenberg Trail" or an abbreviation.

 

[sierra]

7 years ago on Oct 22 a friend and I hiked the Tripyramids, going up Pine Bend and down Sabbaday Brook. Half the descent was done in the dark, and the blazing was just horrible. Once we rounded The Fool Killer it got so bad, with no blazes or cairns visible at any of the brook crossings, that we just bushwhacked back to the Kanc, going in a generally northerly direction and keeping close enough to the brook to hear it. When trails in more open hardwood forests get covered ankle deep with newly-fallen leaves, following the trail itself is a lot harder. Blazes should be visible from each other in both directions, at a consistent height if on trees, and in colors and shapes not seen in nature. An irregular splash of white paint on a tree can be hard to distinguish from lichen by headlamp.

I love Sabbaday Brook trail and have done it in the Fall, it can make you stop and think, but it's a fairly easy route to follow. You should have got out by daylight, you cant blame the trail for poor planning. As much as I like and approve of good blazing, I support the Wilderness standard 100%.

 

[JoshandBaron]

All I know is that the Adams Slide Trail needs to be re-blazed. There's one section where it seems just about everbody loses the trail.

Haha. That was one of the trails I was talking about that I still see blazes on. And cairns above treeline.