TOWNSHIP 2, RANGE 8 — They had come from as far away as New York’s Long Island and as close as Mattawamkeag, navigating extremely “unimproved” roads with minimal signage to find the national monument nestled in Maine’s North Woods. “What can I say? It’s beautiful,” said Rich Brady, a New Yorker on vacation with his family, as he gazed across the valley to where the massif of Mount Katahdin jutted from the forest floor.