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Here in Arizona, I've primarily seen only the vertical "short-long" blaze. Most seem to be at least a couple of decades old, many much older.

Back east, apparently there is a more complicated pattern of blazes which I have not seen or used in practice.

Many people walk right past blazes without even noticing them. I'm sure I miss many, but I always enjoy seeing them when wandering an old trail.

Anybody know any stories behind blazing trees in AZ? [ photo ]

Or the more complicated tree-morse-code used back east?

markthurman53 wrote: ↑Oct 21 2020 6:44 pm on a slightly different note , does anyone know what the orange or blue paint markings are for in the coconino national forest Some trees have one orange stripe some two or three. I assume this is some marking for logging but couldn't get a good answer.

Last time I researched this, I found it seems to relate to tree removal, sometimes for fuel reduction, sometimes for logging. They seem to go in and mark trees suggested to be removed in one color (orange or blue.) Often, they are repeating the effort of marking before the previously marked trees are removed, so they alternate the colors. I guess in some cases if a previously marked tree had all the other trees around it fall down, it might not get marked the 2nd time around. Sometimes the trees get marked both times and have both colors, or the third time around receive the original color again if they are marked all 3 times.

@nonot

@markthurman53
I saw this being discussed ad nauseum elsewhere. It seems they mark the trees they are not going to cut, according to people who claimed they work in the tree-thinning business.

markthurman53 wrote:does anyone know what the orange or blue paint markings are for in the coconino national forest

I don't know if the markings are different elsewhere on the forest, but the Flagstaff thinning project explains it thusly:

https://flagstaffwatershedprotection.or ... _Final.pdf

I told Deb once the forest service puts bear repellant in the orange paint, so it's safe to hike there. She asked for my pistol.

I've seen some diamond ones in the Sierra Nevada, but mostly the "i" blazes along older trails & out here.