Norway Bluff rises north of Munsungan Lake astride the boundary of the unorganized townships of T9 R9 WELS and T8 R9 WELS in the northeastern corner of Piscataquis County, just west of Aroostook County. Off the radar for all but the most dogged hikers, the 2,284-foot peak is described for the first time in the 12th edition of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Maine Mountain Guide. Suggested by my friend and ambitious peak bagger, Paul-William Gagnon, a longtime Mainer-turned Vermont resident, Norway Bluff was one of a handful of mountains in far northern Maine that I’d never visited.
Two summers ago, I embarked on a mission to check those boxes, and in doing so, adjust the trail descriptions and driving directions for the guidebook. Pulling into the gravel pit parking spot, I turned off the engine, eyed the odometer and did some figuring in my notebook. Sitting there in the deep woods, I was exactly 42 miles from the pavement of Route 11 in Ashland.
It had taken two hours of driving over gravel logging roads to get here. As I exited the truck and shouldered my daypack, I felt an undeniable sense of being “out there.” The trail on Norway Bluff is an unmarked jeep road; steep and eroded in places, it leads a mile to the radio communications complex on top.
The old (1914) fire tower was removed and relocated to the Ashland Logging Museum in 2012. Nonetheless, the expansive view, ranging over the vast forestlands to Katahdin and the Traveler in Baxter State Park some 30-plu.
