Section 5
How a route tells you where it goes
Blazes, cairns, the GR flash, and the numbering systems.
An Appalachian Trail white blaze in winter.
Photo: Appalachian Trail Blaze · Wikimedia Commons
- Two inches by six, painted on a treeThe Appalachian Trail's white blaze is a fixed size and spacing, and the double blaze that signals a turn is the whole navigation system in two marks.
- Stacked stone above the treelineAbove the trees a cairn is the only durable marker, and the large ones on exposed ground are maintained structures rather than piles.
- Numbering a route so it can be describedMileposts and section numbering let a route be discussed precisely, which is what makes maintenance, rescue and record-keeping possible at all.