BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 12, 2022
Years ago while hiking with friends on Seawall Beach
Long-time friend Bob Rowe is a veteran of several Spirit Pond and Morse River excursions in Phippsburg. We decided to begin at Spirit Pond an hour after high tide at Popham Beach. The tide was flowing out and we easily navigated a feisty current through the widest of three openings in an old granite dam at the outlet. On Morse River, we were impressed with the large number and variety of birds in the marshy habitat. Approaching the mouth, we could see waves exploding above the dunes on the crescent-shaped shoreline. The turbulent seas were no place for puny sea kayaks on this day. A healthy tailwind benefited us on the return trip. Three small rocks called Spirit Pond runestones were found there in 1971. The stones contain alleged runic inscriptions that are supposedly indicative of pre-Columbian Norse colonization. Many consider them a hoax but there remain true believers.