buckyball1
New member
With all the in & out weather in Maine and lots of wet woods, i decided about 11 this morning to take advantage of some rays of sun and do something small/easy, just to get out.
Musquash 1250+'(means muskrat i think?)--up Rt 95 from Bangor, off the big road, into Lincoln, onto Rt 6 and east through Lee and Springfield toward Topsfield. I enjoyed the ride. It's an area of Maine I've not visited; open, nice feel and pretty empty. Just before Topsfield and near Musquash Lake, I parked at the base of Tower Rd (unsigned) and headed up the road. It's a decent, steep dirt road and I'm sure the Forester would have been OK right to the summit. However it is called hiking.
The woods surrounding me were soaked as was the asphalt on Rt 6, but i had the best weather of the day-abundant sun with light wind, scudding clouds and 60 degrees. The top of Musquash is festooned with communications towers, five of them. There are also a number of utility sheds and abandoned cinder block buildings. I was surprised to find a dilapidated fire tower with an unusual look. The cab was square(looks trashed), but it's roof was round. The trees have grown to obscure the summit view so i decided to try the tower. Well....it's not in good shape and in a different area would have already had the lower steps pulled for safety. The treads on the steps are heavy gauge open "diamond" mesh connected to small pieces of angle iron on the stringers-- many steps are badly bent, close to broken. This seemed "OK" as i ascended the first flight, but about flight 3-4, I realized how tenuous my handholds were and that i'd probably drop straight down if a step failed. I went a bit higher while placing my feet on the edges of the steps over the angle iron support, but upon reaching landing 2?, I'd had enough. Fortunately i was high enough to have a terrific 360 degree view of an area I've never seen--rolling hills, many lakes, scattered population-easy peek across the border.
Uneventful descent and ride home--was able to get some info about a gate (DeLorme) that I though would block reasonable access to another peak in my sights--it's only closed for mud season
-a nothing day had turned into an enjoyable afternoon
jim
Musquash 1250+'(means muskrat i think?)--up Rt 95 from Bangor, off the big road, into Lincoln, onto Rt 6 and east through Lee and Springfield toward Topsfield. I enjoyed the ride. It's an area of Maine I've not visited; open, nice feel and pretty empty. Just before Topsfield and near Musquash Lake, I parked at the base of Tower Rd (unsigned) and headed up the road. It's a decent, steep dirt road and I'm sure the Forester would have been OK right to the summit. However it is called hiking.
The woods surrounding me were soaked as was the asphalt on Rt 6, but i had the best weather of the day-abundant sun with light wind, scudding clouds and 60 degrees. The top of Musquash is festooned with communications towers, five of them. There are also a number of utility sheds and abandoned cinder block buildings. I was surprised to find a dilapidated fire tower with an unusual look. The cab was square(looks trashed), but it's roof was round. The trees have grown to obscure the summit view so i decided to try the tower. Well....it's not in good shape and in a different area would have already had the lower steps pulled for safety. The treads on the steps are heavy gauge open "diamond" mesh connected to small pieces of angle iron on the stringers-- many steps are badly bent, close to broken. This seemed "OK" as i ascended the first flight, but about flight 3-4, I realized how tenuous my handholds were and that i'd probably drop straight down if a step failed. I went a bit higher while placing my feet on the edges of the steps over the angle iron support, but upon reaching landing 2?, I'd had enough. Fortunately i was high enough to have a terrific 360 degree view of an area I've never seen--rolling hills, many lakes, scattered population-easy peek across the border.
Uneventful descent and ride home--was able to get some info about a gate (DeLorme) that I though would block reasonable access to another peak in my sights--it's only closed for mud season
-a nothing day had turned into an enjoyable afternoon
jim
Last edited:
