A Trail Dream Come True

[image credit Gary]

A couple days ago I fulfilled a lifetime fantasy--I painted blazes on "my" Reese Hollow Trail, where I recently began volunteering as overseer with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC).

I've done other work this spring at the trail and shelter (where I am also overseer), but when I actually wielded the paintbrush and carefully refreshed that very first old and faded yellow blaze mark on that young oak, I felt tears welling up in my eyes.  It was now bona fide and official--I was a real trail volunteer, part of a largely invisible army of other such volunteers, not only here in PA with the PATC, but across the whole length and breadth of these United States.

I've been a trail runner for years and always knew that the trails did not mysteriously appear and then maintain themselves; of course there was a behind-the-scenes organization and individuals who actually did the real work.  It was always my dream to volunteer "sometime," when life and circumstances permitted.  With retirement I finally felt I had the time to give back and be a producer of sorts rather than simply a consumer.

The Reese Hollow Trail is a short feeder trail to the major north-south Tuscarora Trail that runs some 250 miles from Carlisle, PA to Shenandoah National Park in VA.  Since the Tuscarora is largely a ridge top route, water and shelter are a problem.  So the Reese Hollow Trail was developed to serve as an access point to the Tuscarora and to bring hikers down off the ridge to the new shelter and a reliable spring.

 

 

[image credit Gary: toad at the base of the recently-installed bear pole at Reese Hollow Shelter--looks like she/he approves.]

 

 

Blazes...and Ultrarunning

Nope, this post in NOT about those helpful painted marks on trees and rocks that show you where the trail is.  I love me some of those blazes!

Rather I want to talk about fires.  Or more properly, people talking about fires, as in newscasters.

Seems that there are a lot of serious wildfires out west right now.  It's been a hot, dry summer, making conditions right for fire.  National news has been devoting a lot of coverage to the situation, especially since many homes are at risk, to say nothing about the thousands of acres burned.  I have nothing but sympathy and heartfelt wishes for a good outcome to all affected.

But what I really wanted to get to was the use of the word "blaze."  See, I think it's fair to say that you and I never use the word blaze, as in "Did you see that house over on Madison Street that was destroyed in a blaze?", or "Man, those blazes out west are really terrible this year!"

Nope, blaze is a word only used by newscasters.  Every time I watch the news (whether national or local) and they present a story about a fire (whether structure, grass, or forest), I wait for the talking head to use the word blaze.  It actually would make a good drinking game, where you have to take a drink every time the TV person uses the word.

It usually is not long in coming, as newcasters must get tired of repeatedly saying  fire this and fire that.

Except that normal people simply never say blaze.  It sounds contrived, and it is.

The connection to Ultrarunning?  My thing about blazes--the trail kind, not the fire kind--is that I wish they would incorporate some sort of reflective component into the paint.  Many times when I am running in low light conditions, say around sunrise or sunset, or if it's foggy, having a blaze reflect back at me from my flashlight or headlamp beam would be SO very helpful.

I expect to begin some volunteer trail maintenance duties soon with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, and I will be sure to make the case for reflectivity.