Copied with permission from the April/May and June/July 1998 issues of the North Star

Part 1- from the April/May issue

As a hiker and backpacker, threads hold your gear together, repair an article of clothing or a rip in your tent and in general find many uses along the trail. Most serious long-distance hikers don't leave home without a small repainr kit- including a needle and thread. Threads are of utmost importance.

But in this case the referece to thread doesn't have much relationship to that long, skinny piece of cotton, nylon, or polyester. It does have everything to do with that long skinny thing we call the North Country Trail. In the last couple of years, the term "thread of continuity" has become a frequently used expression.

"Threading" its way across the landscape, the North Country National Scenic Trail links outstanding scenic, natural, recreational historic, and cultural areas in seven northern states. As a "partnership park," the North Country NST should meet local needs an blend with the character of the landscape. But, it also needs to exhibit continuity in character, quality, and visual appeal sufficient to distinguish itself as a national scenic trail and offer an experience of higher caliber to its users. In other words, it needs to exhibit a "thread of continuity."

Without getting into a discussion about all the elements such as trail gradients, dryness, bridge standards, and other factors that lead to a trail of higher caliber, let's focus on the "thread of continuity" factor that is perhaps most easily achieved. That factor is the blazing and signing that should be in place along the trail.

While it is true that long-distance hikers (those who are planning to cover more than a couple of days of hiking at any one time) are the exception rather than the rule, long distance hikers are especially dependent on uniform blazes and signs to get through the maze of trails and roads that must be traversed. Long-distance hikers do not have the time or the patience to search for a poorly marked or non-marked trail. If the trail cannot be found in a reasonable amount of searching, they merely abandon it for the nearest road and pick the trail up at some later location. On a national scenic trail, the deserve better. Likewise, even the individual or family who is out for only an afternoon deserves a well marked trail. If their trail experience leaves them confused or perhaps even wondering if they are still on the trail, they may never return- even to other parts of the North Country Trail because they associate the name with their one bad experience.

On a long-distance national scenic trail, like the North Country NST, not only is it important that the trail be well blazed and signed, BUT it is equelly important that the trail exhibit the "thread of continuity." In other words, with only a couple of exceptions, the markings should look similar along the trail from New York to North Dakota. What a hiker sees in one location, they should reasonably expect to see in another location.

In 1982, when the Comprehensive Management and Use Plan was published, uniformity in marking was not emphasized. At that time, it was felt that "if the official North Country Trail emblem was mainteained along the certified segments, there should be no confusion over the route of the trail despite various types and colors of supplemental markings." (blazes) The National Park Service no longer feels this way. Today, we feel that the "thread of continuity" exhibited by fairly uniform markings is extremely important. Because of that, there is an entire chapter in North Country Trail- A Handbook for Trail Design, Construction, and Maintenance (published in 1996) that is devoted to signing and blazing. See Chapter 7. Beginning about the time that this handbook was distributed, wh have taken every opportunity to speak a consistent message about uniformity and have worked with sign suppliers to develop a series of new signs that provide better information to trail users. All of these signs (decals) are available for viewing in a recent amendment to the handbook that many trail workers should have received. If you'd like to see it, ask your local chapter or affiliate trail coordinator to show you their copy.

In the September 1997 issue of the BTA Trailblazer, Jim Sprague (BTA and NCTA Ohio State Trails Coordinator) wrote an excellent article about trail blazing. If you can get your hands on that issue, I heartily recommend it to you. Actually Jim's article is what inspired me to tackle this subject. Of course, there is always the inspiration from our favorite editor whose lobbying for an article never ends. Next issue, I will borrow heavily from the words of Jim Sprague and focus on blaze standards.

In the last issue of the North Star , I tried to convey how important a degree or "thread of continuity" was to a long distance trail like the North Country Trail. You may recall the statement: "On a long-distance national scenic trail, like the North Country NST, not only is it important that the trail be well-blazed and signed, BUT it is equally important that the trail exhibit a 'thread of continuity." In other words, with only a couple of exceptions, the markings should look similar along the trail- from New York to North Dakota. What a hiker sees in one location, they should reasonably expect to see in another location."

Last issue, I also mentioned the excellent article that Jim Sprague had written about blazing and promised to borrow many of his thoughts to write in more detail about one aspect of the thread of continuity-blazing. Throughout the rest of this article, parts of many sentences are exact quotes from Jim- because I couldn't say it any better.

Beginning in 1996 with the publication of North Country Trail - A Handbook for Trail Design, Construction, and Maintenance we began to openly advocate for more uniform blazing up and down the length of the trail. For complete details on the North Country Trail blazing policy, see Chapter 7 in the handbook, if you have one.

We are all familiar with the excellent reputation of the Appalachian Trail (the AT)- which like the North Country Trail is another in the family of national scenic trails. The AT is marked with white blazes from Maine to Georgia. If a uniform blaze is good for the AT, why shouldn't a uniform blaze also be good for the North Country Trail? In Ohio, the route of the North Country Trail coincides with the route of the Buckeye Trail for much of the distance. One of the Buckeye Trail slogans is "Follow the Blue Blazes." Again, if uniform blazes are good for the Buckeye Trail, shouldn't they also be good for the North Country Trail?

For the North Country Trail the preferred blaze is a 2" x 6" vertical rectangle. Except where the North Country Trail follows the route of the Finger Lakes Trail, in New York, the official color is a specific shade of blue. More about the specific color later.

Along the trail, where major changes in direction are encountered, the normal way to indicate them is through the use of two blazes- one placed two inches above the other and offset in the direction of the turn. A tree in the foreground would have a typical trail blaze while a tree in the background shows a double blaze indicating a major turn to the left. Offsetting the upper blaze to the right would indicate a right turn. Offset blazes should not be over-used to the point that they become meaningless. Use them only for major, abrupt changes in direction- such as are often found at intersections with other trails or roads.

Now doesn't that sound simple enough? So what's the concern you might ask? Well, in the words of Jim Sprague whien talking about some portions of the trail in Ohio: "It is obvious as I travel around the state that there are almost as many ideas of what a blaze should be as there are maintainers. I see ovals, circles, arrows, overgrown blobs- you name it, all are out there. And the colors- well they are blue of a wide spectrum." Now compound Jim's observation by seven states. During my travels around the seven states, I observe the same wide variation in shapes that Jim observed- plus more. In many places, I also see 4" x 7" diamond-shaped blazes. And the blaze colors used along the entire North Country Trail are enought to blow a poor hiker's mind. In addition to various shades of blue ranging from light sky blue, to medium blue, to dark navy blue that looks almost black, we can also find white, yellow, orange, red green, and you name it.

Why have we chosen to use 2" x 6" blazes? One reason is because this is the size that is most often used on other national scenice trails and other long-distance trails. This is the size used on the Appalachian Trail for instance. It is the size that was already in use on the Finger Lakes Trail and the Buckeye Trail- both major components of our trail. Therefore it made sense to adopt it as the preferred standard for the North Country Trail. Another reason is that we think the 2" x 6" blaze is more visually attractive in the woods than is the larger 4" x 7" diamonds. And, last but certainly not least, the rectangular shape is much easier to paint than is a diamond shape.

Blazes are generally of two basic types- painted or nail-up. While either is acceptable, we think that painted blazes have many advantages. They are less subject to vandalism and removal, less expensive, generally long-lasting, and easy to apply. In some areas land managers will not allow nails to be driven in trees so paint is the only option. In other areas plastic is preferred because the trail route may not be permanant and the plastic is somewhat easier to remove and change to the new location.

When painted blazes are used, the corners should be square and crisp. Not only does a nice crisp blaze demonstrate craftsmanship but it also stands out in the woods. "There are no natural objects in the woods that have square corners." Another major reason for a neat, crisp blaze is that it is not easily mistaken for a timber sale boundary or property boundary- those marks are usually applied with a paint gun and turn out to be more of the blob shape.

Now for the subject of color. We have chosen to use a medium blue color that stands out nicely in the woods. The particular paint we recommend is Nelson Boundary Paint. It doesn't have a fancy name. It is just "blue." Nelson Boundary Paint was selected for three primary reasons. First, as mentioned above, it stands out well in the woods and, it just happens to nicely complement the blue background of the trail emblem. Second, when considered as a whole, blue is the predominant color being used by the various agencies and groups maintaining parts of the trail. Third, and equally important, it is formulated especially for application on trees. It is longer lasting and more fade resistant than most paints that are typically available in the local store. Because it is boundary paint, it is meant to be long lasting. If you need to know the exact color, we think it most closely correlates to Pantone Color Chart #306. However, most paint stores can't show you this color. I've tried to obtain a common paint number (such as a Sherwin Williams number) without success. They say that their colors are not as "intense" or as "clean" as the Pantone colors.

I can hear the outcry now- but this is an oil-based paint. It is harder to clean up than latex paint. Yes-- that is true. Oil-based paints are a little more difficult to work with than are water-based ones. We think this is a small price to pay for the increased durability and visibility that the Nelson paint offers. Personally, I carry a jug of mineral spirits and a 1-pound coffee can with a slit in the plastic lid for the paintbrush handle to stick through. If I'm in the woods for several days, I just let the brush sit in the coffee can (in mineral spirits) overnight. Then when ready to travel home, I do a little better job of cleaning the brush, pour the solvent back in the jug, and transport the brush home in the empty coffee can. I'm still on the same brush after at least six painting trips and it still looks like it will last a good while longer.

A long-distance hiker depends on the blazes and emblems to get through the maze of roads and trails that must be traversed. A trail may be easy to follow- but that does not mean it is the North Country Trail. The blaze reassures the hiker that he or she is indeed on the right path.

Again, to paraphrase from Jim Sprague as he spoke about the Buckeye Trail: "Because Nelson Blue Boundary Paint is the official trail color, other shades of blue do as poor a job of marking the trail, as for example, passionate pink. If you have agreed to help maintain the trail, please take the trouble to use the official color- not a color of your own choosing. The time you spend getting to and from the trail, as well as painting blazes, will far exceed the short time it takes to get the correct paint." In fact, we will make getting the paint easy on you. We will supply limited quantities of blue paint to volunteers, chapters, and affiliates. All you have to do is ask.