Firepit Knoll

Well, we really wanted to try out Jacqueline's new snowshoes so that I could show her just how awesome they are. Here is some product endorsement, buy MSR Denali Snowshoes and you will not be disappointed. They rock! Anyway, Jacqueline did not know this yet, so I wanted to introduce her to the new and exciting world of snowshoeing. So we drove up into the park. The Kolob Terrace Road was supposed to be closed at Maloney Hill, so we headed on up. When we got to where it was closed, there was no place to park. We had to drive a couple of miles down the road before we finally found a spot where we could park the big red van. 

Then we got out, threw our backpacks on, and off we went up the road. We talked about what to do. It would be quite a ways to get back to where it was closed and frankly walking the KT road is not my idea of a good time. I have always wanted to go to the top of Firepit Knoll, but this would prevent us from doing any snowshoeing. We could see the top from where we were and frankly it seemed to be snow free. It seemed like a good alternative, though, so we decided upon that. We walked past the Hop Valley Trailhead and then turned off on the road out to the Firepit residence. We went to where I figured it looked the least brushy and then started heading uphill.

 It was a beautiful day and it felt good to the expending a bit of energy after being basically laid up with my injury. The air was calm with no wind, unlike the previous day when I had trouble breathing on my run. Jacqueline was pace setting and I think she was attempting to set a speed ascent record for Firepit. I took over after a bit and she liked the pace better. We continued up and soon it got steeper and more snowy. I tried to show Jacqueline how to kick steps, but she did not like it. The snow was very hard and the angle kept getting steeper. Our adventure seemed doomed. Luckily, strapped to Jacqueline's pack were her new MSR Denali Classic snowshoes.

 I assisted her and getting them on her feet, a very easy process. Then she stood up and started walking. Amazingly, she felt confident in every step. See, built in to the snowshoes are a crampon. That must have been a revolutionary development in snowshoe technology when someone said, "Hey I don't see why we need to have people use tennis rackets on flat land and sharp, impaling spikes on steep slopes. Let's combine them." Well, it was a great idea, for on this day the snowshoe was used for two purposes. First, as the crampon to get a first time user up a steep slope.

 Then, once we reached the crater, to keep Jacqueline from sinking in some steep snow. I just used my boots up the slope, as I understood the concept of kicking steps from doing it since my youth. 

Once on top of the crater, though, I chucked on the snowshoes just to enjoy using them. It was really neat up there. I knew that Firepit was an extinct volcano and I knew it had a good crater, but it was so much better to see it in person. We decided to circumnavigate the crater. The views were awesome and anyone who has not seen Zion in winter needs to come on out and enjoy the beauty. We made it all the way around and then decided to take a trip into the crater. It feels weird to be standing in the presence of a volcano no matter how many hundreds of thousands of years the last eruption was. We headed back down after a while. I kept the snowshoes on just to aid my descent. Jacqueline kept them on a little while longer, but the descent was quick. In fact, the whole trip was quick taking only about 2.5 hours, when we intended to be out for the whole day. Oh well, we'll have to try again to get a really big day in there somewhere around the corner.