For the training regimen I always tell folks who live down near sea level to do 90 minutes of intense cardio at least six times a week for three months ...
... And oh by the way, you should do that cardio while breathing through a plastic straw to mimic the whole altitude thing ....
... or better still, do the cardio with your pack on while breathing through one of those skinny plastic sticks you are supposed to stir your coffee with.
If they survive until Elk season they just might do okay when they hit a steep uphill trail at 10,000 ft at four in the morning opening day only to spook the elk into running downhill into the dark timber below, just as they have done for thousands of years.
Us locals? We sleep till around 8:00 am and then park at the gate of a flat, level, closed N.F. logging road that meanders through that same dark timber. We walk a strenuous 200 yards to a natural funnel that the elk have used since the days their ivories were actually tusks and they were running from saber tooth tigers and such. On a good day the wind will setup such that we'll be able to position oursleves so that we can smell the elk before we see them and so that the elk will give us nice broadside shots before they run 198 yards back towards the gate where we parked our truck and fall under a tree with a perfect branch upon which we can hoist them up and commense with the field dressing -- all while we listen to some classical music broadcast by Wyoming NPR playing on the radio in our truck parked next to that same tree. Yes, Wyoming NPR is the only signal available on that mountain in northern Colorado but nothing beats jamming out to Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic with Wilhelm Furtwangler conducting -- especially when you are elbow deep in bloody elk guts and looking forward to tenderloin for lunch, perhaps with a nice cabernet.
Inspired by true events
Last edited by jcbcolo; 02/14/13.
