Standing atop the 4,120-foot summit of Saddleback Mountain in western Maine earlier this week alongside a cairn marking the fabled Appalachian Trail, I gazed at a breathtaking panorama of distant peaks, valleys, lakes and forests – one of the most exquisite, 360-degree vistas in all of New England.

    Barely hidden by a drop-off only a half-mile or so from this rocky promontory an extensive network of ski trails, warming huts and lift lines from the Saddleback ski resort spreads across the mountain’s shoulder – unused in summer but a whir of activity once snow covers the slopes.

    And not much farther down the mountain, but also mercifully out of sight, another trail for snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles now provides access for noisy machines driven by people with a far-different appreciation for the outdoors from mine.

    Earlier this summer the state of Maine dedicated a new multi-use regional trail connector on the west slope of Saddleback designed to serve snowmobile and ATV riders as well as hikers traveling through Franklin County's High Peaks region between Phillips and Rangeley. The connector is part of a growing network of such trail systems in the region.

    It took years of planning and negotiations to complete the connector, and the dedication ceremony attracted a crowd of officials, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who helped secure $4 million from the Department of Interior to buy 587 acres on the southeast side of the mountain. Federal legislation was crafted to protect the Appalachian National Scenic Trail with a directive for the National Park Service to convey a portion of the acquired land to the state of Maine. This assures continued protection of the Appalachian Trail, which extends some 2,181 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, some 150 miles north of Saddleback.

    I’m happy that parcel will now be protected from encroachment, but have mixed feelings, to say the least, about the new multi-use trail, which from my admittedly one-sided perspective is too close for comfort.

    Call me elitist, selfish or any other pejorative term describing an outdoor enthusiast who prefers non-motorized recreation, but I don’t like to be within sight of – and especially earshot of – a snowmobile or ATV. I guess you can throw in hypocrite, too, since I’ve hiked up Saddleback’s ski trails, and have cross-country skied on trails groomed by snowmobiles.

    But I’d be just as happy on paths cleared by hand, and, as many of my scratched-up hiking companions will testify, also have been known to bushwhack on occasion.

    Ski resorts, for all their vaunted appeal to outdoor-lovers, often are the environmental equivalent of toxic waste dumps. Think of all that energy to power chair lifts, make snow, groom trails, plow parking lots, and heat lodges. And then there are the requisite condos, restaurants and bars that often proliferate in once-pristine areas.

    Though it has built new condos, renovated its lodge and added a new warming hut/yurt on its slopes, Saddleback is not as intrusive as, say, Mount Snow in Vermont, surrounded by so much honky-tonk and ticky-tack.

    Since my family has been vacationing in Rangeley for decades I wind up climbing the mountain a few times a year and never tire of the Alpine vista along its signature ridge. Having climbed to the top of all 67 of the 4,000-foot-tall mountains in New England, I can say Saddleback truly is a peak experience – as long as the ATVs and snowmobiles are kept at bay, and as long as the ski trail doesn’t edge any closer to the summit.