Marie and I did a multi-purpose trip to the local mountains today, mostly just to get the BLANK out of the house for a while but also to spend some time in the snow country up high. We wanted to get up high to test my aerobic capacity at altitude, 4-1/2 months out from the medical adventures that ensued in late 2018.
The snow had stopped falling about 3 A.M. this morning. We had brunch at a GREAT spot at the foot of the mountains, and started uphill about 11 A.M. Roads were clear and out of ice by this time, so our first stop was made about 6,500 feet up, in a highway turnout cleared of snow and no ice. This is a long area, meant for use to chain up when things got raggedy--room for lots of cars. Its long dimension also has a 3%-4% grade to it. We had parked at its upper end, where Marie was taking some pictures for her InstaGram--whatever that is.
I started out downhill to a NF sign sticking out of the snow (about 18" deep), roughly 500 feet away. This part went well, I walked this non-stop. Encouraging! I could not have done this 2 weeks ago. Just a little out of breath, I stopped for a minute or so and turned about, starting back uphill toward Marie's Jeep. Going uphill was a little tougher, and I made it about halfway and stopped to loosen up a sore muscle in my back. That done, I finished the return to the Jeep more out-of-breath than the downhill excursion produced, but not uncomfortably so. I "recovered" in about 90 seconds. I count this as a WIN, and good-to-go for Nevada varmint hunting, which gets done at 6k-7k elevations.
In for a penny, in for a pound. We drove on to Onyx Summit, with some coyote strafing on my mind. 8,500-9,000 ft. up, THIS will test things, all right. Cal-Trans or County Roads plows out the paved section of the trailhead road into the back-country for some reason, then halts at the gated-off unpaved section that goes for miles into fairly deep forest for this part of the country. Over the years my partners and I have taken a whole lot of deer out of here, because the season is early and they stay up high unless snow drives them down. Well, with 2-3 feet of snow on the ground--I would say the deer were not around. This time of year, most of the coyotes are probably at the snow line with the deer birthing their fawns--but all of our entry points to that part of the forest were gated off--so we settled for this spot 1/2 mile off the state highway, got out the CZ 22 Hornet and loaded up with Lyman #225438 at 2400 FPS courtesy of 9.0 grains of Alliant 2400. I started working the rabbit screamer mouth call a bit, and I am always amazed how quiet the forest or desert gets when that sound goes out. Any coyote still around the area is NOT eating well with 2-3 feet of snow on the ground, so maybe a young, stupid, hungry one might sashay right up. Not all of them are Rhodes Scholars.
I spent a couple hours like this, changing spots along the roadway, 30-50 yards each move. The grade here was more like 7%-8%, and at 9K elevation was a mite more taxing--but I WAS IN THE FIELD. I was actually HUNTING. DID IT EVER FEEL GOOD! Yes, it got my juices flowing, and like back-country ventures always do--my sight and hearing sharpened up. The senses combine into a synergy that exceeds the sum of its parts. This is what I live to do.
I needed this. No song dogs sighted, no shots fired. Still a great day.