Journeys for Ed-Venturers in the West

Combining education with adventure is the stock in trade of an advocacy organization called the Four Corners School of Outdoor Education. Its programs also permit vacationers to play scientist for a few days, and in the process make a modest contribution to America’s natural heritage.

Based in the tiny southeastern Utah town of Monticello, the 15-year-old Four Corners is a nationally esteemed nonprofit entity that aims to educate the public, “using the Colorado plateau as an outdoor classroom.”

FCS fields a varied roster of 20 to 30 “ed-ventures” from October through February (and many more in May, June and September) in--as the name implies--the Four Corners area where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico meet. Some programs venture farther afield, from tracking wolves in Yellowstone to studying polar bears on Canada’s Hudson Bay, even to photo-documenting wildlife on the Serengeti plain of Tanzania. Some trips are run jointly or in cooperation with other organizations, such as (to name just a very few) Elderhostel, the American Museum of Natural History, the Audubon Society, the Sierra Club and National Geographic.

There are trips available for all levels of experience and physical fitness, from kids to senior citizens. Groups are kept small (8 to 25) and are led by naturalists, environmentalists, anthropologists, archeologists and geologists.

All or most meals are included and cost levels vary, but plenty of programs weigh in at less than $150 a night, not including transportation to the starting points (usually Monticello, Utah, or Cortex, Colo.).

Some of the programs involve camping; participants bring their own gear, or may rent it from FCS.

Two programs coming up:

Sept. 17 to 23: This week in Colorado’s Ute Tribal Park will be led by an archeologist and include work documenting cliff dwellings. Price per person: $775.

Oct. 16 to 24: Nine days of houseboating on Lake Powell involves studying and doing original research on the Glen Canyon Anasazi civilization. Price per person: $1,175.

Other examples from earlier this year (and likely to be repeated in some form in 2000):

Mid- and late February: Departing from Bozeman, Mont., eight days of cross-country skiing in Yellowstone National Park, led by a geologist and a wildlife tracker. This is the priciest trip: $1,945.

June and July: A four-day, 27-mile rafting trip down the Utah portion of the San Juan River, with camping. Designed to be family-friendly, the cost in 1999 was $440 per adult, $415 per child.

Special member discounts (usually about $25 per person per trip) are available to those who join the Four Corners School Assn.; annual fees start at $25 per person.

A number of programs (like the Ute Tribal Park trip in September) are designated as “specifically research oriented,” which means you might be able to deduct some of the cost off your taxes.

For more information or a catalog: Four Corners School of Outdoor Education, P.O. Box 1029, Monticello, UT 84535; telephone (800) 525-4456 Internet https://www.sw-adventures.org.