The first course of my apprenticeship was a 14-day Field Course. The same kind I took as a student last summer.
The students are given a very short list of clothes and gear they may bring. We teach them how to package it all up inside a nifty blanket pack. Then we take it away from them. They won't get any of their stuff for at least 3 days. No food, no blanket, and we march them through the desert.
We hope it's cold the first night--level of concern will be high the following day when we teach them about shelters. This night though was unusually cold, low-30s. I got zero hours of sleep. I didn't make a good impression the next day nodding off during the head instructor's lessons. I got a second wind though when we thought we lost part of the group. We tracked them down though and continued on.
Not much unusual after that. I did enjoy hanging out in the cave while students were out on their solo time. I couldn't believe how many sand traps there were around us. Built by ant lions, they are pits in sand that ants fall into and the beetle-type creature waiting at the bottom flicks sand up at the ant and eventually catches it.
One night one of the instructors saw two cone nose kisser beetles right near us as we were going to bed. We transported them far from our camp and hoped there were no more. These creatures inject you with an anesthetic then suck away at your flesh (usually on your face) creating big ugly wounds
The last morning we were there, I found a scorpion at the foot of my blanket. Fortunately I found it by sight not by touch.
Notice the oh so fashionable skirt in the photo--protects my legs from deer flies.
