We Do Power Climbs, and Roll Rocks, In the Off-Season

By the end of the last waterfowl season in January each year my wife has had enough. And so have I, for the time being. It's back to work, school, and other matters. It's time to fall back and re-group a bit, and savor last fall's hunts. But it's also not long until my attention is drawn again to what's ahead. As an engineer I need something to get me outdoors - so that by next hunting season I can run the hills in pursuit of wild creatures. We do what we call `Power Climbs', and sometimes roll rocks, in the off-season, to keep in shape - to keep our outdoor edge - and also keep our sanity.
 

The `Power Climbs' are two ridges in the Snake River canyon (of Eastern Washington) where we hunt in the fall - and climb the other seasons. The launch point is only about 30 minutes from town - so it is not a major driving expedition to get there. Power Climb [1] is a ridge with about 1600 vertical feet of gain bottom to top. It has only a few rock outcroppings, which can be by-passed, if necessary, so the climb is good for anyone - especially children and first-timers. Anyone who wants to go on a more serious trip later on must `qualify' on the Power Climb. It's a great way to find out if boots fit, or not, or if people are fit, are not. It's a great way to discuss and pass on outdoor rules, as we cross fences and go through rattlesnake areas. We also watch the deer and learn their habits on these climbs. Maybe they get used to us. Power Climb 2 is the mountain to the west. It's 100 vertical feet higher, and a lot steeper. We nick-name it `Thin Red Line' - after the hill assaulted in the movie by the same name.

We climb in all weather, and at all hours. If the weather fouls on the day - we go anyway - since we likewise have little control over the weather on Opening Day. And a good number of our climbs are at night - so we learn getting in and out before and after dark. Sometimes we take our rifles, and tracers (in wet season); sometime we take our bows and arrows, and play archery golf (and we've lost and busted some arrows). One day we climbed with two one-ton jacks which we used to dislodge a 5-ton rock - allowing it to roll, bounce, break up, and crash some 800 vertical feet below - reaching a greater state of entropy and dissipating about 6.5 million joules of energy in the process.
 

Someone said we should drink half our body weight a day in water. That may be fine in the office (though it sounds like a lot) - but hunting it's impractical. I don't want to be responsible to find or carry 100 lb a day while hunting - so we do the climbs on less and less food and drink. And we eat fat-conversion energy bars. We also shake down our radios and other equipment.

So by hunting season we are in shape. We can insert and extract in all conditions. We know the good routes, and the areas to avoid. And we know where the game is.

It's all because we do Power Climbs, and roll rocks, in the off-season.

Notes:

1. The author does not endorse the rolling of rocks. We only roll rocks when we are certain there are no people, livestock, etc. below. Part of the 5 ton rock we rolled reached speeds estimated at 90 mph and jumped 90 feet per bounce. We presume it would have sliced right through a wood frame house.

2. Memorize fence locations. While it's possible to move about freely in open terrain by moon or starlight - fences remain for the most part invisible at night.