Many hikers turn around without reaching this mountain’s 4,170-foot peak, aiming instead for a ledge that’s 1,000 feet lower but still provides a knockout view of the winding pass below. The hike even to that point can be hairy — one route requires a challenging clamber up ladders and rungs — and “hairy” also happens to describe the human facial feature for which the scenic ledge is named. Those who continue beyond it are rewarded at the summit with a panoramic view from a fire tower. The mountain was briefly a candidate for alpine-ski infrastructure when Maine flirted with a bid for the 1976 Winter Olympics. The bid was dropped, but not before another undeveloped peak, 50 miles northeast, became the focus of a plan to build lifts and cut trails — one that conservationists found, well, eyebrow-raising.
If you can name this prodigious peak and the destination cliff beneath it, submit your answer below. We’ll feature our favorite letter in an upcoming issue — and send the winner a Down East wall calendar.
