| Sunday, September 26, 2004 Mount Aziscohos
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The Tower Man's Trail is a round-trip hike of about five miles that gains about 1,500 feet in elevation on its way to the 3,215-foot summit. Follow a grassy logging road for about a mile. At a large clearing turn left into woods and hike easily uphill, passing through a forest of beech, yellow birch and sugar maples. The trail is unmarked, but the going is straightforward. Cross a brook and climb more steeply. At a small clearing enter a thick conifer forest where the trail becomes narrow and overgrown. Slippery rocks and roots and numerous blowdowns make for interesting hiking. The path finally levels off at the junction with the North Trail, which leads two miles back down to Route 16, a few miles east of the Tower Man's Trail. It's a steeper, more direct route to the summit. Just beyond, scramble up the open ledges to the summit of Aziscohos and take in the fantastic 360-degree views that reach west into New Hampshire and north to Canada. The former MFS fire tower was removed in July. The peak is now free of man-made structures, except for the old concrete pillars. The Trails for Rangeley Area Coalition has been very active in trail construction, trail maintenance and land preservation in the region, and played a key role in cleaning up the summit of this beautiful peak. The trailhead is a small parking area on Route 16, just east of the bridge over the Magalloway River at Aziscohos Dam, about 25 miles west of Rangeley. For more information on hiking trails and other recreational activities in the Rangeley Lakes area, visit the Rangeley Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce Web site at www.rangeleymaine.com/hiking online. Carey Kish of Portland is the former president of the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club. He can be reached at maineoutdoors@aol.com.
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