LARGE FORMAT – Meet the buoys, these volunteers who maintain the hikes of Isère

If you hike, you know the small yellow, red or white lines, and the crosses that delimit the hiking trails. Behind these strokes of paint, there are volunteers from the French Hiking Federation. We go to meet them.

We followed a group of buoys from Brié-et-Angonnes. They listed a new path : a loop starting from the village, up to Bellevue, above Montchaboud. A group of six markers. In Isère, there are around a hundred of them walking the 9,000 kilometers of marked trails in the department. By marking out, they ensure the safety of hikers. Every three years, they return to each trail to maintain them. Last year, in 2021, they marked out 1,668 kilometers of trails, a long-term job, but also a pleasure. On this new path to be marked out, we will have a panoramic view of the massifs, at the highest point of Bellevue, but first, we must equip ourselves. It is Patrick who explains to us, the referent of the group, it is him whom we follow.

“In the belt, we will have some tools such as a scraper, grater, metal brush, in order to prepare the supports. Either on trees, where we scrape the bark a little, in order to make the base a little smoother , or on pebbles and at this time, we use what is called a bush hammer. It is a hammer with a head with small pins that allow you to break the rock a little on the surface, so as to smooth and facilitate the work of the painters and the adhesion of the paint to the rock. The team will have two types of markers, those who prepare the supports and those behind who will do the painting. Today, it will be yellow since we will mark the trails called “PR”.”

PR for Hiking Walk. It is a hike that is done during the day, unlike the GR, the long hikes that can take several weeks.

“The painting is done with brushes, stamps and with stencils of different shapes, depending on the beacon that is to be affixed. There are three kinds of beacons: continuity, which indicates to hikers that they are on the right path. There is the cross that says they are no longer on the right route. And there is also the beacon that indicates a change of direction to the right or to the left.”

Meticulousness, the key word

We reach our starting post. 150 steps further, you have to mark a tree. 150 meters is approximately the distance between each indication. “That’s why you hear me grumbling numberssmiles Patrick. The principle is to scrape to make the surface more or less uniform. Also remove all impurities, lichens, mosses which will degrade the paint quickly, but without damaging the tree. We will work only on the surface of the bark, without ever going to the sapwood so as not to injure the tree. The principle is also to mark out the path visible in both directions of progression. A few years ago, markers were made that were parallel to the traffic lane, visible in both directions. Now the markup is perpendicular to the traffic lane, visible in one direction and visible in the other. We do what we call “double-sided”.”

This double-sided is only the first. He stays five kilometers of marked trails. For this, Patrick is well supported, five buoys and beacons accompany him.

On the team, experience is measured by paint stains on clothes. Véronique has been tagging for several years and her tool belt. His work clothes are covered in yellow. Déborah, on the other hand, 24, has just started. His clothes are still immaculate. In addition to painting, she is assigned to the rag under Patrick’s gaze. “Clean the directional blades with water and black soaphe explains.

Cleaning is a bit of hazing for newbies. It’s Deborah who sticks to it. She left Paris for Grenoble six months ago. She does civic service at the FFrandonnée de l’Isère and she will no longer see the yellow indications in the same way. “I suspected that there were people behind the small lines, but it’s true that we don’t necessarily imagine that they are volunteers and we don’t imagine the work it is. It’s more technical than I thought, there are still a lot of tools to use. There are rules to follow, the distance between beacons, etc. It’s a nice job.”

“Before, I was a freelancer in digital communication, web marketing, says Deborah. And there, I would like to orient myself in the field of eco-responsible tourism. While waiting to be taken at the start of the school year, in September, I do this civic service for hiking. I realized that I was missing a more human dimension and contact with nature and myself. My idea is to one day be able to open an eco-responsible lodge, perhaps an unusual accommodation in the middle of nature, offer tours, have animals… Quite a radical change, but it suits me better, I think. The Paris region is another world. When you love nature, you immediately have to drive several hours to be able to go for a walk. Indeed, I wanted to be in a region where we have easier access to nature. And then the mountain, I love it.”

This is only the beginning of the apprenticeship for the young rookie of the team. For now, she is on trial. To become a confirmed marker, she will have to pass an exam. Nothing theoretical, it happens in the open air and is based on practice. It is trainers like Patrick who validate it.

“We explain to them the functioning of the Federation, the Isère committee, insurance and responsibilities. We also talk to them about the organization of an outing, the rating of difficulties. We also and above all explain to them how the architecture of the trails in France and in Isère works and how it is organised. To understand when they tag, why they tag, how they tag, who they tag for. We respond to calls for tenders from communities of municipalities and we tag because there is a demand. We don’t do anything, anytime, for anyone.”

Once a buoy, always a buoy

If Patrick and the others travel the hiking trails, and put their time and energy into this marking activity, it is for several reasons, such as to feel useful. Patrick now spends a large part of his time on the trails. A passion that began during confinement.

“We work for something. When we pass, there is a trace behind us and we have the impression that we have worked, not for eternity, but for the next three years. It allows people to walk around in relative safety when you do not master orientation. But it also allows, in certain sectors, to be able to guide, orient, channel the significant flows of frequentation that we have recorded and in particular since the beginning of the crisis of the Covid. There are more and more people concentrating on certain routes and this can cause problems related to overcrowding. If we can avoid these sites and orient on equally interesting routes, it is not more wrong.”

With him, Patrick trained his wife Christine. “My husband got into it, with confinement we could only go out with the spouse or with the one with whom we were confined. So I was just going out with him, she laughs. And then afterwards, we take the virus, as some say: Baliseur one day. Marker always.”

If it made you want, you can join the tag team. For that, you have to contact the Ffrandonnée de l’Isère directly, on their website for example. There is no skill required other than the enjoyment of the walk. You can choose the outings, depending on your stamina, there is something for everyone.