Blazes

[Hassilov]

What's your method for blazing trails? I've relied on orange flagging tape for initial blazing, sometimes even an old fashioned cut, but nothing beats a white rectangle.

It seems to be a popular choice for maintained trails. Whoever thought up the 2" x 6" size was a genius. It's a good, legible size and because it's the size of paper money, everyone has a handy template for making blazes that are recognizable wherever you go . White is very easy to pick out in dense foliage. Straight lines even more so. It pays to use an angled brush and painting it neat. A machete or long blade works very well at scraping down the bark prior to painting – just hold it like a draw knife.

One of mine:

 

[Mentor]

When I am blazing new snowshoeing trails in the woods (on private property), I use orange surveying tape. This makes it easy for me to return to a good trail, and to remove markers on trails that I no longer use.

When I decide to make a trail more-or-less permanent, I replace the orange tape with a 2" x 6" white blaze, painted on a piece of wood and affixed to a tree. This looks neater, and is still easy to remove if I decide to stop using the trail.

I spend a lot of time on the Bruce Trail, which has its own system of blazes for trails, side trails, loops, etc.

All the best,

- Mike

 

[Big Mike]

In deference to the AT (which is marked White Blazes), most of Connecticut’s main trail systems are marked with Blue Blazes, though Red, Yellow and White are often employed on secondary trails.

When I’m working on laying out the course of a new trail I use different color cotton yarns from my wife’s scrap pile to mark routes I take on different days, then I switch to survey tape as a start to develop the final path.

The yarn is just enough to remind me where I’ve been, and disappears after a short period of time leaving no impact.

Rocks piled three high is another method I use when there’s plenty of loose rock lying around.





Big Mike

”Scaring the tree huggers.”

Forest & Stream