Canoeing in Maine: Seeing the light along the Kennebec River
Lighthouses along the Kennebec River – from Phippsburg up to Bath Iron Works – are the focus of a challenging yet highlight-filled excursion.
By MICHAEL PERRY
Photo by Christine Wolfe
When we think of Maine lighthouses we often conjure up images of isolated beacons perched on wave-battered cliffs overlooking the open Atlantic. This month we are exploring lights on the opposite end of the bold coast spectrum – the three unique Kennebec River lights south of Bath. These riverside lights have guided ships up and down the Kennebec since 1898.
We put in at the Morse Cove State Boat Launch on the Fiddlers Reach Road in Phippsburg and headed four miles downriver to Squirrel Point Light, opposite the Phippsburg Congregational Church. Mixed in with the hundreds of cormorants flying low over the water were bald eagles, osprey, sandpipers, and plenty of Canada Geese with their fluffy yellow youngsters scrambling behind th