You know you’re getting really old when four days after a cross-country ski outing you still can’t walk right. (The premonition should have come after my third, and certainly after my fourth fall Sunday.)

Every time I try to stand up there’s this pain in my upper legs that mocks my effort and laughs at my agony!

And not only do my legs refuse to work, I’m having pain in my left arm because of the bruise on my elbow where I landed in the first fall.

Something tells me that an 11- or 12-mile first-day-out trudge on skis was not the way to go, especially over crusty trails and marginal conditions.

Remember that rain we had at the end of last week? It didn’t wipe out the snow north of Greenville, but it did a number on it. There was snow in the woods, but there was a certain frozen stiffness to it that made cross country skiing “interesting” to say the least. Monday’s storm dropped a few inches of powder that made the skiing better, according to friends who ventured out. (After Thursday’s storm, who knows whether Greenville is still there?)

The occasion of my demise was the annual celebration of winter associated with the birthday of friend and fellow paddler Karen Francoeur of Orono. For the past several years a group of us – families and friends – have ventured to The Birches in Rockwood to play in the outdoors, explore the region and overindulge. Some years the gang has numbered nearly a dozen. This year, due to numerous circumstances, our gang slumped to four – all of us paddlers out of water. Robert Causey, the deposed Baron of the Bunny Hutch (he had to move from his lakeside estate), and Andrea Iverson of Washington, teacher, connoisseur of smoked oysters and Alaska kayak guide, joined in this year’s celebration. Iverson couldn’t make it for our trek Sunday (sorry to say we’d started before she arrived) so she had a leisurely ski to a nearby yurt and had plenty of time left over to correct science papers for her class.

We lodged at John Willard’s home on the shore of Moosehead Lake looking over at Mount Kineo. Willard, who owns The Birches and the township surrounding it, was out west on an exotic skiing trip in British Columbia that reportedly involved jumping out of helicopters and skiing, so he offered the house to Francoeur for the weekend.

Our mission to Rockwood began late Saturday afternoon. We later stopped at the Indian Hill Trading Post for groceries and “necessities” such as a new pair of lined rubber gloves and trekking poles for Causey. I found a new knife to replace the one I lost last summer and for which I’ve been carrying around money ever since.

After contributing generously to the economy on the southern end of town we stopped at Kelley’s Landing for dinner, the last place on the right on the north end of town. As we ate we watched a car and numerous snowmobiles playing on the frozen surface of West Cove. I learned later that a vehicle had broken through the ice somewhere else on Moosehead Lake that weekend.

We closed Kelley’s Landing and bounced northward over Route 15, my nomination for one of the worst roads in Maine. I’ve driven on many dirt roads that outshine this disaster of a paved state highway. It’s so bad the snowplow hits only the high spots. Pity the poor plow driver who must have to wear a football helmet and full racing harness to ride his bucking beast on this roller coaster.

Our supper fully compacted, we slid into Willard’s ice rink of a driveway, claimed our rooms, popped a cold one and headed for the hot tub on the deck. One of the many assets of being away from the city lights is being able to see so many stars (at least when your glasses aren’t too steamed up). We picked out planets and constellations over the lake to our east.

Sunday morning, after a leisurely breakfast we threw gear and lunch makings into backpacks and hit the trail. The destination was the Poplar Hill yurt on Brassua Lake, about 6 miles away, depending on which of the many trails you take from The Birches.

Trail conditions were not the best thanks to the recent rains. There was a dusting of powder on top of frozen granular and ice. Along the way we stopped numerous times to check out moose, rabbit, squirrel, mouse, vole (I saw one that’s how I know) and coyote tracks. Most interesting were the rubbing marks moose had left on trees. There were some where the bark had been removed all around a tree trunk by antler rubbing, and other places where teeth marks were left on just one side from the animal’s lower incisors scrapping up the tree to eat the bark. The bark- eating thing is something Francoeur later looked up.

After what seemed an eternity, Brassua’s shoreline came into view between the trees. A camp road and two camps are now neighbors to what used to be a remote yurt. Someone’s big Labrador retriever stood watch over the next door driveway. We fired up the woodstove for some warmth and I got some water heating on my “Pocket Rocket.” While waiting, we had cocoa from a thermos and some snacks. Causey fixed some ham and cheese wraps and Francoeur produced some tasty gorp and pumpkin bread. Hot soup hit the spot and we were ready to get back on the trail way sooner than my lazy bones were ready. But the sun was sinking and we had a long slog to get back.

Fatigue, ice and darkness contributed to my intimate relations with the ground, and by the fourth time I came face to face with the snow I was ready to call it quits – thankfully we were really close to the end.

A hot shower, supper, a couple of beers and a hot tub helped sore muscles some, and a night’s sleep did too, but come Tuesday morning I felt as if a train had run me down. Subsequent days brought slow relief.

If you haven’t made plans to venture Down East on Jan. 28 (that’s next Friday at high noon) to join me and fellow writers John Holyoke, Diana Graettinger and Aimee Dolloff and more than 200 others for the fifth annual Polar Bear Dip to benefit the Ronald McDonald House in Bangor, do it now. If you’re afraid you’ll melt, then come along for the excitement and just watch us all take the plunge.

But either way, loosen up your purse strings and make a contribution for a great cause. The Ronald McDonald house benefits families of ill children by giving them a place to stay while the youngsters are undergoing hospital care at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. If your child were seriously ill and undergoing hospital treatment the last thing you’d want to worry about is how to remain at his or her side.

You can contribute to the cause and get a warm fuzzy feeling just knowing us crazy folk are taking a plunge in some of the coldest ocean water around. Better yet, know that some family gets a little bit of comfort in a very trying time in their lives thanks to your generosity.

The event is organized by the Washington County Community College Student Senate, and all the money raised is given to the Ronald McDonald House. Last year that came to $35,000. This year, if the students are successful in reaching their goal of $40,000 the five-year total will exceed $100,000. I think that’s pretty darned impressive.

If you’d like to take the plunge, be at the Pleasant Point pier at noon on Friday. This year the theme is Cinco de Mayo. There’ll be Mexican music blaring, bon fires burning and anticipation aplenty as first timers try to figure out why they’re in attendance and wonder if all those goose bumps will ever go away of if they’ll ever be able to sing anything but soprano in the church choir.

Not that I’d need the incentive, but there’ll also be McDonald’s Restaurant coupons and Katie’s on the Cove Polar Bear Claws candy for each dipper. Hot dogs and chili will be on sale. Later that evening there’s a dance at La Sardina Loca in Eastport. How much more fun could you ask for?

Tess Ftorek, one of the original organizers and supporters of this event dropped me a line the other day to update me on this year’s fun.

“Pledges are rolling in with some local businesses doing some great competition. Ellsworth Building Supply is generously donating Stanley Organizers to anyone who pledges a minimum of $5 to see our local John Ramsey dip (John works in the Calais EBS and is a graduate of our college). Employees from some of the other EBS locations are dipping as well.

“Robert Patterson, who owns the Friendly Restaurant in Perry, is challenging folks to come up with a mere $2,000 to see him dip! And knowing Robert his many friends will do just that!

“Walter Cummings and crew from the Calais Army National Guard will be cooking (and giving away!) hotdogs. We’ll have plenty of hot chocolate and coffee. There will be three trailers for changing rooms and a couple of bonfires to keep everyone warm.”

And if you need some incentive, Ftorek said, “those who raise over $75 get a great commemorative blanket.”

Check out the school’s Web site at www.wccc.me.edu or drop me a pledge, I’ll personally deliver it.

The next Maine Outdoor Adventure Club meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb 1, 7 p.m. at Epic Sports in Bangor. The feature presentation will be Steve Shepard and Eric Clapp presenting slides of the trip they organized to Africa Oct. 9-25, 2004. There was a safari in the Serengeti, then to Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvai Gorge, then off to Machame Gate to begin a climb up Kilimanjaro. It culminated at Uhuru Peak, some 19,300-plus feet high, a hike through several climate zones on the way up.

And under the category of leave ’em laughing (or maybe grimacing), how’s this for timing – Wilderness Systems, a kayak manufacturer, has just introduced a new kayak model called, of all things, the Tsunami. It’ll be interesting to see how sales of the 14-foot polyethylene kayak go. Canoe and Kayak Magazine calls it something more than a recreation boat but not a full-on sea kayak, a “tweener (boat) best suited for calm conditions.”

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