Reprinted from the A.T. "The Register", August 1996. Editor's notes added to adapt to NCT standards.

How many times have you painted or repainted the blazes on a section of the Trail and, on walking over it again, found those sections where you could see more than one blaze (sometimes 2,3, or horrors, up to 6) from the same point. Or walked over someone else's section and seen the same thing and wondered what was wrong with the maintainer? Then, there is the other side of the coin. You're walking along and all of a sudden notice you haven't seen a blaze in quite a while. You begin to wonder if you have lost the Trail, and a touch of tension sneaks into your tummy. Both of these are common on the A.T. [Appalachian Trail] and might be reduced by using a technique my wife came up with that was new to me. Some of you may already use it, but, like I said, it was new to me, so thought it worth sharing. She paints blazes not as she goes forward on the Trail, but as she looks backward to the last blaze she painted. The standard in Trail Design, Construction, and Maintenance is clearly stated on page 14 [editors note: this is page 60 of the NCT handbook] "Do not overblaze. No more than one blaze should be visible at one time in either direction. A greater number may create an unsightly distraction." After painting a blaze, my wife continues down the Trail, regularly looking backward until the last blaze she painted is no longer visible. Then, she looks for a tree or other suitable object to put the next blaze on. In between, she actually removes old blazes that no longer fit into this approach to marking the A.T. What she winds up with is a lot fewer blazes, with only one being visible at a time from any point on the A.T. and the section in compliance with the standard for A.T. maintenance. Actually, you often will have to take a few steps beyond a blaze before you see the next one, but that is preferable to proliferation. [editors note: in areas where deep snow may obscure the treadway and snowshoe and ski use is possible, it is preferable to be able to see the next blaze immediately.] This method has one drawback, but it is easily corrected. With such a bare minimum of blazes, if you lose one or two in a sequence to blowdowns or whatever, you may wind up with a section where the hiker may wonder if he has wandered. That's the breaks. (Then again, think of the excitement and relief you have provided for the hiker to experience when he relocates the A.T.) We will carry a spray can of white paint and a 2" x 6" template from now on when we do our spring walk-thru, to fill in the blanks. [editors note: sprayed blazes are not promoted on the NCT] If necessary we come back and repaint on another trip. Since I have often over blazed by looking ahead to the next tree I would blaze, this approach, so simple and direct, has made this task more enjoyable. We actually remove a lot more old blazes than we establish new ones. With fewer blazes to maintain or paint, we take a bit more time to make each one look like we put it on with a template (we don't).