Digging into old guidebooks is such a rabbit hole, it really hits you how much effort people put into keeping these paths open. I found a 1960s map once that showed a reroute near Kinsman that I always thought was natural, turns out a logging crew just got tired of fixing the same washed out section. Makes you look at every cairn differently, like they're little time capsules holding up through every storm. It's cool and kind of humbling at the same time.

That story about the lever hit home. I watched a buddy of mine get roasted the same way at a shop in Nashville a few years back. He was doing these quick bulk trims, all clipper guard work, no shear work, and this old timer just looked at him and said "you're building a house with a sledgehammer." My buddy laughed it off at first too, but then the guy had him do a straight neckline on a client using only the clipper with no guard and his fingers as a guide. Took him three attempts to get it clean. He told me later that the old guy's point wasn't about the tool, it was about knowing the full skill set so you're not locked into one lazy way of moving. My buddy still does that finger-guide trick on every flat-top he touches now, and it's way faster than the guard method he was leaning on. Funny how one cranky comment from a guy who's been doing this since the 70s can reset your whole approach.