[pct-l] Blazes & yellow blazing

[Mtnned at aol.com (Mtnned@aol.com)]

Mags,
 
When I did the PCT in '74, blazes simply helped me know if I was close to  
the trail when it was under snow.  In the summer, or when there wasn't any  
snow, I didn't pay any attention to blazes.  What color they are must be  either a 
more recent invention, like different highway symbols, or an east coast  
thing.
 
On the Divide in '80, New Mexico was primarily on ranch and reservation  
roads with no blazes of any kind and Colorado was under snow to RMNP.
 
Yellow blazing was not considered a part of the "continuous" thru hike  
experience, thus not done by "purists."  After Ryback's joke of a book, we  all 
wanted to make sure we did the whole thing. After all, a six-month hike  along 
the spine of the western united states where contact with civilization was  few 
and far between was a mountaineering expedition and not expected to include  
trips into towns anywhere.  Even food resupplies were mailed to Ranger  
Stations on trail, driven to highway crossings, or cached by self prior.   The desire 
for a Continuous Mountain Trip was the wish.
 
Didn't need no stinkin' blazes to find our way, into town or  otherwise.
 
Mtnned