Trips and Excursions

Special trips form an essential part of the CTA experience-
a wilderness trip prior to the start of classes in September,
a desert trip in the late fall, and a spring trip.

The wilderness trip or Wakan is an extensive, often arduous, backpacking journey of five days in the San Juan Mountains. Wakan provides the setting to revive old friendships, to make new ones and to instill a strong sense of community and cooperation. Wakan creates a lasting bond among both students and teachers and makes everyone aware of preserving the environment for themselves and for those who follow in the future. Hiking with simply a backpack in the mountains makes one aware of life’s more simple needs as opposed to what we generally think one needs in order to survive.

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The desert trips are truly special. A favorite destination is southern Utah where there are extraordinary land features as well as canyons to explore. It is pleasant to bask in the last bit of temperate weather before winter sets in. To many people, the desert seems a dreary, lifeless place. But to those who look, it is a world of beauty and power, full of life, unlike anything else. Many students experience the vastness and quietness of the desert for the first time.

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In the spring, we again break into small groups to experience various locations not necessarily restricted to backpacking. Past trips have included backpacking to Havasu Canyon in Arizona, rafting down the San Juan River, whale-watching off the Oregon Coast, rock climbing in the Joshua Tree National Monument, mountain biking in southeast Utah and houseboating on Lake Powell.

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Trips are also an integral part of some academic programs. Students travel to either France or Mexico as a required part of the Foreign Language Goal. As well, excursions have been offered to England, China, Japan and Denmark. Trips have been sponsored to the Navajo Indian Reservation as well as to the Pueblo Indian Villages as part of the Southwest Studies program at CTA.