A tad breezy last weekend, wasn’t it?

And what a lovely day in the neighborhood it was Tuesday with that horizontal snow. Nothing like getting in a little workout with the snow shovel and snow blower before breakfast. I have a new exercise I do just to make the activity a bit more physically challenging. It’s something I call Snow Blower Roulette. Here’s how you play: Put a limited amount of fuel in the gas tank and run the machine until it sputters and dies. The farthest from the shed and the gas container the better. Then drag the machine backward through the snow to the starting place and refuel.

You can do this as many times as you think the neighbors can stand it (bent over in stitches laughing, that is) or until you no longer have the strength to haul the blower back to the start.

I know you’re asking why not just carry the gas can to the snow blower. That’s not as physical as pulling a 200-pound machine through the snow. Besides, in all likelihood, when I’ve finished refueling and go to pull the starter cord, it’s iced up or it doesn’t engage and I wind up doing half a back flip, promising myself as I lay on the ground licking snowflakes off my moustache that I’m not going to do that again. Lucy has pulled that football away too many times for me to fall for it again, Charlie Brown.

Not me. I’m going for the sure-fire electric start, no matter how far I have to drag that beast.

The buildup to Tuesday’s pasting started Saturday with brisk northerly winds rolling into town beginning a two-day chill. Other than those blustery gusts, Saturday was a gem. The sun tried its best to keep the thermometer in the mid- to upper 20s and the sky was clear and blue.

Paddling friend turned professional dog walker Robert Causey called around brunch time to tell me he was heading out to give his girlfriend’s dogs a workout and would I like to tag along? Other than finishing my manicure, I couldn’t think of a reason why not, so we agreed to meet around noon and caravan to Mud Pond in Old Town (Robert and Pam and the two dogs pretty much fill Robert’s Honda Civic, hence the caravan.)

Mud is a small pond just east of Pushaw Lake. Sewall Park (formerly Camp Telok) sits on the southwest side, and the access road is plowed, allowing you to drive up to the lake’s edge. The last time I’d been there was in warmer weather several years ago with a sheriff’s deputy and some youngsters in the Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs program.

We parked and put on snowshoes, hoisted our packs, hooked up the dogs, and we were off across the pond. The eastern shore provided a few sheltered spots where you could enjoy the warmth of the mid-day sun. We had the place to ourselves as we tromped up the shoreline to the northern outlet that flows into Pushaw Stream. Part way up the lake we let Merlyn, the little, hairy cocker spaniel, loose to sniff out every little set of mouse (or were they vole?) footprints he could find. He looked like he was having a ball. He kept running back to tug on Pearl’s leash as if to urge her to come and play. (Pearl, the American Eskimo, remained on the leash for this trip.)

Our plan was to find a relatively sheltered spot and have a picnic. We found a suitable spot on the northwest shore. It wasn’t totally sheltered, but by the time we packed down a spot in the snow, we had a passable kitchen area. I settled down on my Crazy Creek, back to the wind, and set up a small stove (yes, I actually remembered to pack it!). I had a few soup packets and some crackers and Causey had some ham and cheese slices we rolled up to make finger food. And of course we had to have some hot chocolate.

This required hot water, which comes at a premium when you’re using a canister stove. Cold temperatures are not friends of gas canisters. The fuel tends not to vaporize as well as it does in warm weather, thus cutting the heat output of the stove.

There are a couple of things you can do to improve the output. One is to carry the canister inside your coat where it will be warm. This works for a few minutes, until the canister chills.

Another trick is to use a hand warmer packet. One of these placed under the canister will help keep it warm.

I didn’t have one of these, however, so I started out by warming the canister inside my coat. After a little while I got some warm water. I took a small pot from the GSI cook kit, poured in a little warm water, and put the canister in the pot. Voila! The canister, which fits the small pot like a glove, jumped to life. When the water cooled and I wanted more output, I simply poured the cool water out and added some more warm water. It worked fine.

It hasn’t soured me on getting a liquid fuel stove (my old one is kaput), but for the time being, I’ll get by with my water trick.

While I could have languished lakeside for the rest of the afternoon, it was time to move on – the two dogs told us so. We packed up and continued onward. As best as I can measure on my mapping program, the walk turned out to be 2.75 miles. Had we walked the whole shoreline (that would have included the smaller southern end) it would have added another mile.

It turned out to be a pleasant outing and we were able to make it back home in time to wrap up a few chores before the sun set.

Mud Pond is easy to find. Take the Stillwater Avenue exit off I-95 toward Old Town. Turn left at Bennoch Road (north) and look for Kirkland Road. You’ll go under I-95 and in a little more than a mile you see Poplar Street, which takes you to Old Town Landing on the eastern shore of Pushaw Lake. Before that you’ll pass through a section of the road lined with wire guardrails. The pond is on the right. At the end of the guardrails is the entrance to the park.

Acadia conditions ‘perfect’

A reader and outdoor enthusiast, Jim Haut of Pittsfield, dropped me a line the other day to tell me about the excellent cross-country conditions at Acadia National Park last weekend. The Cianbro worker said he and his wife had a great ski. I’ll let him tell you.

“I have just started to read your column in the last few months, and it has become one of the first things that I read in the Sunday paper. Many of the activities that you write about are the things my wife and I enjoy doing.

“This past Saturday (Feb. 26) my wife and I went down to Acadia National Park to cross-country ski. It was PERFECT! PERFECT! PERFECT! We parked our car at the Parkman Mountain trailhead on Route 198 toward Northeast Harbor and then skied the Hadlock Pond loop and into the Amphitheater loop. The trails were all groomed to perfection, the snow was perfect, the sun was bright, and the scenery was as beautiful as only Acadia can be. We also met some wonderful people while skiing on the trails. I told my wife that this is why we live in Maine, and my wife responded that if every winter could be like it was last Saturday, she would not mind if it was winter year-round.

“If you mention this in your column, please thank all those that work hard to make such a beautiful area available to enjoy.”

Thanks, Jim, for noticing and taking the time to acknowledge the trail work.

Jeff Strout can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.