As I waddled through the breakfast line on Saturday morning, I finally figured out a way to partially weasel my way out of the Egg Ride … and 903 eggs worth of discomfort.

Or so I thought.

“You fellas are in for a long day,” a friendly man told me as I stood in line for ham, home fries and (yes) eggs at the Hungry Hollow 76ers Snowmobile Club. “You’ve got enough eggs so you’ll have to take two trips.”

Two trips, I thought. Either that, or … or …

I plastered my best innocent Cub Scout smile on my face, peered deep into the eyes of the woman scooping scrambled eggs onto plates, and made the only play that could possibly save me.

“If I eat a lot of these, does this count against my egg total?” I asked, figuring that every little bit would help.

She chuckled … briefly. She scooped … quickly. And she shot me down.

“No, no, no,” she said, grinning back with her own innocent Cub Scout smile. “You’re gonna be loaded.”

Loaded we were.

Later that morning, as planned, the seven of us – Adam White, Cindy Campbell, Paul Dupuis and J.R. Mitchell of WQCB radio, Todd Simcox of WABI-TV, and Paul Jacques of the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife – left Levant, bound for Newport.

And as planned, we were loaded down with dozens and dozens of eggs.

The popular Egg Ride is a fund-raiser for the Pine Tree Camp, a Rome camp for children and adults with disabilities. It was a huge success this year.

Just ask any of us who agreed to tote eggs (in our snowmobile suits) on the 20-mile jaunt to Newport.

For every $50 the radio station received in donations, each rider (theoretically, at least) would tuck another egg in their suits. This year, $45,150 was raised. And that meant that each of us would carry 903 eggs … more or less.

As it turned out, we carried less than that (don’t tell anybody … it’s kind of a secret).

There are many reasons for that.

First, safety: None of us could possibly carry that many eggs, which would, according to my rough calculations weigh at least 100 pounds … and possibly as much as 200.

Second: We’re not greedy. The eggs are donated by Davis Egg Farms, and asking the Davis family to pony up 6,321 eggs is probably asking a bit much … even for a good cause.

And third: The chickens. At the last moment, we received a reprieve of sorts from the undoubtedly beleaguered flock.

“We’re supposed to be carrying … 903 eggs,” Campbell told the throng on Saturday. “But the chickens couldn’t work that hard, so we’re not going to get that many.”

“The chickens went on strike!” the energetic Mitchell crowed. Many of us cheered.

OK. Seven of us cheered. And we all happened to be fixing to get egged.

Not to worry, though. We carried eggs. A lot of eggs. And we got messy.

Very messy.

I’m happy to report that at least three of my eggs (enough to make an nice omelet, if I were still able to think of an omelet as “nice”) made it out of my suit unscathed.

Several hundred didn’t … and truth be told, I’m still feeling a bit like an oversized quiche.

All in all, it was quite a day.

Thanks for your donations, and for all you’ve done to help the guests of Pine Tree Camp.

Ice caution a good idea

While the recent spate of warm weather has made our days afield a bit more tolerable, state officials warn that the warmth can come at a steep price.

Most area lakes still have plenty of safe ice, but it’s important to remember that troublesome areas on each lake and pond are the last to freeze … and the first to thaw.

That’s the message from assistant regional fisheries biologist Jeff Bagley, who works for the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in Greenville.

According to Bagley, some areas of Moosehead Lake that were previously safe have thawed, and snowmobilers ought to use caution.

“I encountered two such locations Sunday on Moosehead Lake; the south end of Moose Island and Hartford’s Point, and between Sand Bar Island and Sand Bar Point,” Bagley wrote in this week’s DIF&W fisheries report.

“These areas are known to be hazards and have recently received snowmobile traffic over them as they were frozen over,” he wrote. “However, anyone following sled track through these areas now could find themselves in trouble.”

Many local waters are likely seeing similar situations, and anglers and snowmobile enthusiasts should use extreme caution, especially near inlets and outlets.

Sunday hunting opinions sought

If you’ve got an opinion on the proposed budget provision that would allow Sunday hunting (except for the Sundays that fall during the firearms season on deer), I’m interested in hearing it.

At some point in the coming days, I’ll share some of those opinions in a column.

Especially of interest to me are the opinions of land-owners who may (or may not) change their access policies if Sunday hunting becomes a reality.

So call. Write. I look forward to hearing from you … and sharing what I find out.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.