There’s an outdoor activity that’s beginning to pick up a little more speed in southern Utah, and for good reason, it’s fun, a workout, and very beautiful; snowshoeing. The reasons behind it’s rising popularity begins with the desire to thrive during winter, instead of huddle up next to the TV watching Netflix. If you can give yourself a great reason to embrace the cold, then you’ll start to love winter.
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The second reason is the workout side of snowshoeing, when you strap boards to your feet and walk through snow it’s going to require a little more effort than just hiking. In fact when you’re shoeing the main concern isn’t getting cold from a lack of clothing, it’s from having non-breathable apparel that doesn’t wick away your sweat, and that’s what gets you cold. Snowshoeing is a workout, but it’s also a very fulfilling one.
The final reason and the one that makes it all worth it is the beauty and peacefulness of it. When you’re standing out in the snow among the tree’s and whiteness of it all there’s a certain kind of quite beauty that is just difficult to replicate. And it’s hard to explain without having you experience yourself. You see for most of us our experience with snow is one of these, driving in it, skiing down it, or running to get out of it. But when you dare to challenge it, to experience it, to purposefully go walking among the whiteness, you’ll see snow in a completely different light.
Snowshoeing in Cedar City
Just yesterday as the sun was going down I went shoeing above Cedar City. There’s a road up the side of the hill called Cedar Highlands, it’s the mountain next to Cedar with the cabins on it. There’s a road that’s plowed nearly up to the top of the mountain and that’s where I started at.
I quickly found a snowmobile track that led up a side trail up the mountain side that was gradual and of course packed down. Before long it began to go up and up and up, but I was looking forward to the challenge and to get my heart rate up. Along with the steepness of it came an ever increasing night view of Cedar City. I often stopped to take in the view that was before me, but never wavering in my resolve to get to the top of the hill.
Before long I crested it and had a snowy mountainside view of the entire Cedar City valley below me. I loved how quiet it was, as I was standing next to a major roadway that during the summer months has cars buzzing by quite often; but not right now.
I took a few minutes to snap some photos of what I saw before deciding it was time to get back to real life and hike back down. Again it’s hard to describe the stillness that was around me, the view that was before me, and the thrill I had at being there.
So if you’re looking for something to challenge you, and something to enliven you, it’s time you give snowshoeing a try.
