Maine Fire Towers - Zircon and Pisgah (August 20)

John and I left his Lake Androscoggin camp early for the 40-minute drive west to the Mt. Zircon Trail in Rumford, which we lengthened by failing to spot it at first. It's obscure and the one other hiker we met also missed it at first. More than two-thirds of its 2.9-mile length is a dirt road that once served the Mt. Zircon Spring bottling works. The Spring still goes strong, and we filled our waterbags with cold, clear water from its pipe. What's left of the Firetower lies on its side, but the views from the summit ledges, from SW to NE, needed no artificial enhancement.

Since it was still morning when finished that hike, we added a second firetower peak - Mt. Pisgah in Winthrop - this one with very tall tower intact and open to the public. Some haze had crept in but the views were still fine.