I've been on the MWT scores of times over the years, and was there again on June 9th. What I have noticed over the past few years or so is an increased number of rocks being placed, sometimes on both sides of the trail, to help define a hiking corridor. This additional marking includes the rock slabs above Mirror Lake.
Would painting a few blue dots on the slabs at strategic points as navigational aids, especially at night, help prevent such tragic incidents? If so, should they also be placed in other dangerous spots, such as the windows?
What I do know is that marking of trails varies enormously around the country, and that good ideas seldom seem replicated. For example - a friend and I did Shasta last week via AV Gulch, and was reminded of what great signage is used between Bunny Flats and Horse Camp. The signs are made of thick steel with laser cut lettering, welded to a sturdy steel post sunk into the ground. IIRC, they've been there at least 10 years - they'll never rot and seem imprevious to vandalism. I've seen other examples of steel signs, such as used by the USPS, but nothing close to these.
Why doesn't the USFS, USPS and BLM employ a best practices approach to something as basic as signage? And shouldn't that be extended to cairns/ducks, and all other methods of marking trails? I mean if 50 states can use nearly identical methods/practices of road markings, why can't we have something similar on trails?
