Archive talk:Hanging Lake trail marking

Is the hanging lake trail open for snowshoeing? I'm just a beginner skier and don't want to risk any injuries trying to ski down something too steep.

Yes snowshoes will be fine for this trip. It could be icy, in which case an ice axe and/or crampons would be a good to have as well. We can discuss it at the pre trip meeting when we have a good idea what the conditions will be like. Scott Nelson 17:02, 9 February 2010 (PST)

I've never done trail marking before, what exactly is involved? I can ski up and down a lot, and probably carry things too. Are we putting up signs, blazing trees, cutting down trees? Jean-François

The main task will be nailing reflective trail marker diamonds onto trees. This involves sighting along the trail to check visibility and alignment, cutting back branches that might obstruct the view of the marker, and finally nailing the marker onto the tree. Then more sighting and branch clearing to check that it is ok. If there are deep tree wells, things can get interesting as you try to place the markers as high as possible. There's no point in cutting down trees in March, since we'll just have to cut the same trees down again in the summer. We may flag certain trees to be cut down later. Scott Nelson

So now that it's just a day trip, do we need any extra gear other than what we'd normally bring for a day tour? Should I borrow a hammer & saw from my landlady? Should I bring an extra-large backpack for carrying VOC gear, signs, poles, etc? Jean-François

A normal pack will be fine - the signs are not that big. Please bring your saw and hammer. Scott Nelson