ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996 TAG: 9603270091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
Hikers on the Appalachian Trail could see changes in the blazes that mark the Georgia-to-Maine pathway, but not along the 115-mile section under the stewardship of the Roanoke AT Club.
The 2,000-plus-mile trail is marked with 2-by-6-inch white blazes that are painted on trees, rocks and sometimes stakes that are close enough in most instances to view one from another. Two blazes, one above the other, have been posted to warn hikers of a sudden change in the direction of the trail.
Members of the Appalachian Trail Conference have debated for several years the idea of changing the double-blaze policy by offsetting the upper blaze approximately two inches in the direction of the turn. Because arrows or slanted blazes are nonstandard, the offset would help send hikers in the right direction, proponents say.
While the idea has sparked considerable debate in many AT clubs, it really hasn't been an issue among Roanoke club members, said Charles Parry, a math professor at Virginia Tech who is the club's trail supervisor.
The old symbol ``was my preference and nobody favored the other,'' he said. ``So we really didn't spend a lot of time discussing it.''
It was a more heated issue elsewhere. During a meeting of the Appalachian Trail Conference in Harrisonburg last year the board approved a policy giving individual clubs the discretion of remaining with the old system or adopting the new one.
``There are some fairly strong advocates of both systems,'' said Brian King, director of public affairs for the conference. ``It probably will take two years to shake itself out. The Potomac AT Club is just starting to talk about it among its leadership, and also in Maine they are just starting to talk about it.''
In time, the traditional in-line blaze style will be replaced with the new offset style, depending on which club is maintaining a particular section of the trail. The conference has warned both sides to use double blazes sparingly - only for abrupt changes - out of concern the markings could become meaningless with more frequent use.
The Roanoke Club chose to stick with the old system, not because the in-line double blazes are like old friends, but because of the work it would take to make the change, Parry said. The club's labor, he said, is better spent on several bridge-building projects and a relocation project in Bland County.
``The old system works,'' he said of the blazing effort. ``When I came here 25 years ago, there were places I would get lost on the trail.'' But now the pathway, for the most part, has a well-defined treadway, he said. ``Probably the trail is somewhat over-blazed these days.''
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: BILL COCHRAN The Roanoke AT Club will keep in-lineby CNBdouble blazes for directional changes. color
2. graphic - New offset blazes point the way color STAFF