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| Thursday, July 29, 1999 |
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| Roam the Wild, Wild West at Tame, Tame Prices With Utah's Four Corners School
For those who like to give their brains and bodies a bit of a workout on
vacation--and in the process make a modest contribution to America's
natural heritage--here's a dandy addition to our treasure trove of
learning vacations. Based in the southeast Utah town of Monticello, the
15-year-old Four Corners School of Outdoor Education is a nationally
esteemed nonprofit that aims not only to educate the public--"using the
Colorado plateau as an outdoor classroom," they say--but on some trips
also to let them participate in original research.
FCS fields a varied roster of 30 "ed-ventures" year-round (though most
heavily in spring and summer) in--as the name implies--the "four
corners" area formed by Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. At
the same time, it occasionally ventures further afield, from tracking
wolves in Yellowstone to studying polar bears on Canada's Hudson
Bay--even photodocumeting wildlife on the Serengeti plain of Tanzania.
Some trips are run jointly with other organizations, such as Elderhostel.
Small groups (a minimum of eight to a maximum of 25) are led by
eminent naturalists, environmentalists, anthropologists, archaeologists,
geologists, and educators. All or most meals are included, and cost
levels vary, but plenty of programs weigh in at less than $150 a night
(sometimes closer to $100). Just three examples:
July 30-August 4: A 4-day/3-night, 27-mile rafting trip down the Utah portion of the San Juan
River, with overnight camping on its banks. Designed to be family-friendly, for adults the cost is
$440, for children $415.
August 29-September 4: In cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Land Management and
co-sponsored by Elderhostel, this six-nighter will be mapping and documenting prehistoric rock art
and ruins in Comb Ridge, Utah. Price per person: $712.
October 16-23: Nine days/eight nights of houseboating on Utah's Lake Powell, studying and doing
original research on the Glen Canyon Anasazi civilization. Price per person: $1,175.
For more details or a catalogue, contact the Four Corners School at 800/525-4456 or 435/587-2156;
fax 435/587-2193. Its Web site can be found at www.sw-adventures.org.
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