Reasons vary for mountain’s moniker

I’ve always wondered how mountains got their names. Who decides to name a particular mountain Doubletop, instead of another name, like Big Pointy?

There are several ways that mountains acquire certain names. For some, the name describes how the mountain looks. Others get theirs from the first people who saw them, the native people. Some mountains are named to honor an important individual in its history, maybe the first person to climb it. Still others are named for no other reason than that’s what they’ve always been called.

The mountains which I hike most are those whose names describe their shape in terms of their profiles when viewed from a distance. Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley is one of those. Its profile is so obviously shaped like a western horse saddle that it’s hard to think of a more appropriate name. One feature on Saddleback is even called “The Horn,” referring to the saddle horn end of the saddle.

The Piscataquis region is home to a mountain range that also bears a name that defines its shape, Chairback Mountain. One end of the range is a cliff that ends abruptly on a seat that looks like a chair from a distance. It sits in the Katahdin Iron Works-Jo-Mary Management Area north of Brownville. The names Katahdin and Jo-Mary are also mountains north of Chairback. Katahdin was named by the native Penobscots to honor “the greatest mountain,” both in height and spiritual meaning, while Jo-Mary Mountain was named for a much-respected Abnaki chief.

All over Baxter Park there are mountains whose shapes are the key to identification by name. Doubletop’s twin peaks are visible from every direction. However, The Owl’s pointy ears and flat brow are most noticeable from Katahdin’s Hunt Trail. The same goes for The Brothers, North Brother and South Brother. They look enough alike to be, well, brothers from Katahdin. Then there’s Mountain O-J-I, which got its name from the huge letters scratched into its side by several rock slides. Later slides changed the shapes of the letters but the name stuck.

Then there are mountains whose names are meant to honor the people in its history. Bigelow Mountain is one of those. It’s named for Lt. Bigelow in Benedict Arnold’s Army. Bigelow climbed the mountain in 1775 as he and 1,100 others marched toward Quebec City. He had hoped to be able to see the city from there. There wasn’t much chance of that as they were still at least 150 miles away. In spite of such an act of futility, the mountain still holds his name.

Acadia National Park is home to mountains with all sorts of names, those honoring people and descriptive shapes. Dorr Mountain is named for a much-loved local benefactor. Champlain Mountain is named for the explorer Samuel de Champlain, the first European to see Mount Desert Island.

Then there’s Beech Mountain which is named for the beech trees which grow around its base. The most amusing name in the park is for the twin mountains called The Bubbles. According to local lore they’re named for an amply endowed girlfriend of an influential rusticator.

Some mountains have undergone name changes over their history. Cadillac Mountain used to be called Green Mountain. Although Katahdin has always been Katahdin, Baxter Peak honoring Percival Baxter used to be called Monument Peak. Before that it was called North Peak. Then there are mountains that defy name changes, like Peaked Mountain in Clifton. That would be an accurate name for its shape. But, for as long as it’s been called Peaked Mountain, everyone locally has known it as Chick Hill. There are two Eagle Bluffs in the vicinity, which seems kind of strange, until you consider Bald Mountain in Dedham. There are so many Bald Mountains in Maine that some of them have to be attached to the name of the region in which they reside. There’s Moxie Bald and the Boundary Balds, for instance.

Then there are mountains whose names leave you wondering. I’ve never been able to figure out Traveler Mountain’s handle. It’s a big mountain mass that travels broadly across the landscape in the north end of Baxter Park. That could be it or maybe because you have to be a traveler to hike it. It’s easier to see how a mountain like Great Pond Mountain in Orland gets its name. It’s located near Great Pond. The same with Pleasant Pond Mountain in Caratunk.

Some mountains just have names that in themselves are interesting enough to prompt packing a pack and heading out to climb them. One in particular, Parkman Mountain in Acadia, has attracted me since I heard that it’s named for the men who built the park’s stone-paved trails and carriage paths. I’ve climbed it several times but I’ll look at it differently next time, maybe to see why they picked this one to honor the park men. Kineo Mountain seems magic on it’s face, so I’m saving that little hill for a later hike.

There are times when I think of my own names for some of the mountains I hike. Usually it’s a name I resort to that describes my own personal view on the hike. It could be Rough-Steep Mountain or No-View-Due-to-Rain Mountain, but I don’t like to call them those names because it seems kind of mean. So, mostly I call them by their given names as you would a best friend.

Brad Viles is an avid hiker and a new resident of Ellsworth.