Front Range Views

Dateline: Fort Collins, CO

The Colorado Tour

Front Range Country: Experiential Learning Happens Here...

Professor Jennifer Lee’s Wilderness Skills class at Front Range Community College is a feisty mix of outdoor enthusiasts – fishermen, hunters, mountain bikers, hikers, climbers, horse packers, kayakers… and in Colorado, most any of the winter snow-dependent activities are included without saying. The course covers a host of wilderness topics, including land management policy and regulations, plant identification, leave no trace skills and ethics, and winter survival techniques. Our time with the class passed quickly, as we had spirited discussions about the impacts of discarded fish visera (“guts” by any other name), dogs-off-leash, trail etiquette, and raucous disturbances of wilderness tranquility.

Later this semester (when the nearby mountains are in the cold, snowy grip of winter), Jennifer will take her 28 students on an overnight snowshoe trip to a backcountry campsite where they will stay in yurts and hone their wilderness survival skills in the wind-whipped, sub-zero setting. Now there’s a practical motivation to study hard for the final exam…

…along the (chilly) Colorado Trail,

Peggy and Barrett