The afternoon began with a climb up the first of a series of mountains called the Chairbacks. The first of the peaks in this range were numbered, starting with Fourth Mountain.
From a rock at that peak I could see the Baker Peak and Whitecap mountain ranges. Second Narrows Pond, which lies outside the 100 Mile Wilderness, was also in view.
After the descent from Fourth Mountain I began to hear the sound of a helicopter flying nearby. A short time later I heard chainsaws. The sounds were coming from the other side of a ridge, so I was unable to see what was going on. I suspected a forest fire was burning, but I didn’t smell or see smoke.
A short time later, I saw Wendy, the volunteer from Monson who had told us about how to get our permit and camping spot when we reached Mt. Katahdin. She was out for a day hike on her day off from the visitors center.
Wendy confirmed for me that a forest fire was burning. She thought it might have been started by lightning in last night’s thunderstorm.