old AT route: Blue Brook shelter???

Dear trail sleuths,

Sunday found me in the Rim Junction area. Hiking down (up) the Black Angel Trail to Blue Brook Shelter, we came across an interesting trail sign. The sign pointed the way to Spider Bridge and Carter Dome (both to the right). The words "Black Angel Trail" were displaced several inches to the right, and the nested "AT" symbol appeared to have been inscribed before the trail name. Since the AT does not run this area now, the AT symbol has been scratched out.

Questions:
(1) Was the Black Angel Trail formerly part of the AT?

(2) The picture also has a scratched arrow pointing ahead (up) (roughly south). I followed a beaten path up a steep slope into the woods, but it appeared to peter out at a trampled area within 100 yards. Surely the AT didn't run in that direction?

(3) Is there a resource other than the old WMG/AT trail guides that would give the route of the AT and the relos that took place over the years?

The enclosed pic is of the curious sign.

el-wildrivertramper

topozone map

Ice Storm

I think the great ice storm of 1998 might've had an impact on this trail. I remember hiking in the area at that time and we had trouble finding a trail because of the huge blowdowns along there. I found this:

Black Angel Tr (east end) Clearing in progress 5/18/ severe damage west of Blue Brook shelter to Spider bridge

I don't think the AT was ever in this area (at one time it went down the C-M Trail to Gorham and crossed under RR bridge to power plant)

My guess would be that the AT symbol was crossed out because the ignorant sign painter used it erroneously instead of the up arrow. If you look on the back, many trail signs are made by inmates of Federal prisons, who may not know or care about trails.