Douglas Mountain Stone Tower, Sebago Maine

Not for one, but for all

- Dr. William Blackman

There are those who would get their hands on something beautiful and hide it away for themselves, never to share it with anyone. There are also those who would get their hands on the same beautiful thing, but instead will want the whole world to experience it. This adventure starts with one of my favorite types of people, someone who falls squarely into the latter group of men and women.

A century ago, Dr. William Blackman purchased Douglas Mountain in Sebago Maine, and in 1925 constructed a stone tower at its summit. He didn't build this tower just for himself, at least not entirely, but instead built it for anybody willing to make the relatively easy hike to the mountain's peak. To emphasize this point, onto a boulder at the summit he had carved the Latin phrase, NON SIBI SED OMNIBUS, which roughly translates to mean, not for one but for all.

If you're interested in seeing the tower, it can be reached in just over a half-mile beeline from a parking spot off Spring Ledge Road. Our hikes are more like our Sunday drives, however, so rather than this direct route we chose the longer and more scenic one, and for this we have scout Seth Newcomb to thank. His eagle project gave us the Eagle Scout Trail, a two-mile loop bringing you out along the mountain's scenic ledge, before tracking you back to the summit.

We're lucky in that more often than not on our hikes we find at least one unusual thing in the woods, something we could never have predicated being there. Today was another one of those days, as we came across not just one, but two, of these round structures.

Hiking to our much taller firetowers, often you will see the tower peeking out over the treetops before you actually arrive at it. That is not the case with the Douglas Tower. At just 16 feet in height, it wasn't visible until we exited the woods and turned the corner, when suddenly there it was.

Climb the tower and you will find both great views of nearby mountains, plus a map showing what each of the mountains you're looking at are. If you're like our friends at WeRmudfun, you can have a whole lot of fun pointing out the dozens of peaks you have climbed already. And if you're like myself with not nearly as impressive a resume, you can have just as much fun pointing out all of the peaks you've heard of and cannot wait to climb someday.

And with that many mountains still out there to climb, I never have the right to complain about being bored while I'm living in New England - unless maybe we're in the middle of a thunderstorm or a nor'easter. But if those words ever come out of my mouth while the sun is shining, someone needs to kick me off the couch, tell me to pick a random spot out on the map, and then go outside to conquer it.