I had heard the term "trail blazer" many times. I thought it meant "explorer".
When we came to Utah and started hiking and riding through the woods, Steve exlained to me that blazing refers to hatchet markings on trees to identify a trail. (Must be a guy thing to pick up such obscure information!) We travel lots of seldom used and therefore badly overgrown paths that would be impossible to follow without these occasional markings.
A trail blazer is the person who carves out the actual blazes, which consist of a short upper cut and a long lower cut. This is to distinguish a purposeful blaze from an accidental mark made by one tree falling and scraping off the bark from another.
Mischief doesn't care about the significance. He just likes having a handy tree with rough bark for scratching his itchy head.
I had heard the term "trail blazer" many times. I thought it meant "explorer".
When we came to Utah and started hiking and riding through the woods, Steve exlained to me that blazing refers to hatchet markings on trees to identify a trail. (Must be a guy thing to pick up such obscure information!) We travel lots of seldom used and therefore badly overgrown paths that would be impossible to follow without these occasional markings.
A trail blazer is the person who carves out the actual blazes, which consist of a short upper cut and a long lower cut. This is to distinguish a purposeful blaze from an accidental mark made by one tree falling and scraping off the bark from another.
Mischief doesn't care about the significance. He just likes having a handy tree with rough bark for scratching his itchy head.
Very interesting! I learned something new today! Happy Trails!
ReplyDeleteI believe Mischeif is a trail blazer. I'd heard of blazing on trees but didn't realize about the two marks. Great post and info.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I meant to ask you Janie if you would like to do a post on the equipment that you use. I'm changing from English gear to Western as we go more trail riding and less racing. I'd love to know more about what bags you bring with you, what you pack for a trail etc. Do you ever use satellite navigators, for instance? Do you have horn bags and saddle bags? Obviously, I have tons of questions.... Love your trails, as always!
ReplyDeleteHuh, how did I not know this? I thought it was the same as an explorer. Cool.
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting, Janie. Does Mischief happen to eat the bark off of trees? It would be handy if he could learn the pattern... :o) Just asking, as my mom had a horse that would strip a tree of all its bark, as high as she could reach, that is!
ReplyDeleteA great post and very informative. I'd trust a blazed trail over a GPS reading anytime!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Blessing
How interesting, Janie... Guess that is a little different from bush-whacking ---which is what we do when we go off-trail while hikng. We do 'blaze' our own trails---but I don't think we can be called 'trail-blazers'....ha ha
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Thanks!!!
Hugs,
Betsy
And the bark grows over those old blazes or the tree blows over... Not to mention the many old & now abandoned trails that I seem to stumble upon and follow until I'm in the "wrong" drainage. Not lost, mind you, just wandering.
ReplyDeleteI often bushwhack, but how nice it is to come upon those blazes when you're looking for a quick way out!
How cool! Who knew I could get an education while blogging! :-)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I really look forward to reading your next post. I wish i could ride thru the woods! Mischief is a beautiful horse.
ReplyDeleteI too learned something today. I will have to see if any of our trails are "blazed".
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that was what a trail blazer is--learn something new every day!
ReplyDeleteJanie, you & Steve probably already know the old Jonathan Richman tune, "Since She Started to Ride," but if not, you can give it a listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysaBHTwazjk . Great song.
ReplyDeleteI'd heard of blazing, but you gave a really good explanation of the process, along with the photos.
ReplyDeleteLove that next to last photo of you and Mischief!! :)
found you from Dave's Sunday Roast. It's funny because I live in southeastern utah! My dad was a game manager for 30+ years and I road a horse over many mountain passes in the southern part of the state. Your pictures and stories made me feel quite nostalgic. Though I've been through Indian Canyon many times, I've not been to the Uinta's very often. I have been to Tavaputs, and Tabby Mountain. And spent time nearly every summer at Lake Powell. I'm glad to have been pointed in your direction.
ReplyDeleteEsther: you read my mind. I've intended to do a post on outfitting our horses but haven't gotten around to photographing everything to go with the descriptions. It'll be coming soon, I hope.
ReplyDeleteEarthtoHolly: yes, Mischief will chew bark. He likes an elm tree in his paddock. I had to put chicken wire around the trunk so the horses wouldn't chew it to death.
Would be great if I could teach him to bite off the bark in the "blaze" pattern! We'll work on it...
Ecorover, we've had the problem of grown-over blazes, too. We like to say we're "disoriented" for a few hours. Never lost!