Industrious people in Hiram work not only for profit to themselves but to benefit others, as did Dan Hester and others who made the Mt. Cutler Park dream come true.
Following the completion of a new parking lot on Hiram Hill with links to trails up and down the mountain, there was a site visit on Sept. 12, 2019 by Doug Beck, Outdoor Recreation Supervisor, Bureau of Parks and Lands, Maine Dept. of Conservation Agriculture & Forestry to review work done with grant funds. All seemed to go well at the meeting and the subsequent hike up Mt. Cutler.
Photos taken on Thursday, Sept 12 by Dan Hester, Joyce Siracuse, others.
The new parking lot on Hiram Hill, contractor P Y Estes.
Most other photos have self-explanatory titles. Dan explains a few terms: Seen on the mountain, Rattlesnake Plantain, a native orchid with small white blooms on spikes.
"Gunsight View" The reason for the name of this viewpoint, is not from the use of an actual gun-sight from here. The reason is how this location is best identified when viewing Mt. Cutler from near Ingalls Pond or from in front of Estes Quarry. From those locations, this point on the Main Ridge of Mt Cutler is easily identified, because it looks like a small, rectangular cut-out in the forested ridgeline. It has an appearance similar to a classic steel gun-sight notch. This viewpoint is the only place on the Main Ridge of the mountain where you can stand in one place on ledges and see views to both north and south at the same time.
Hikers continued eastward on the Ridge Walk to the junction with the North Trail. Before descending they were passed by a family group of a half dozen hikers who had ascended by the original trails.
With pauses for final views, the group descended North Trail, then took the Link Trail back the NW trail and returned to the cars parked in the new parking lot (by driveway of Peter Payne).
Thank you, Dan, and the numerous volunteers, for orchestrating this new safer access at Mt. Cutler Park, now a Hiram Town gem in our backyard.
