8 students and 2 instructors spent an incredible 3 weeks in the field in Utah doing wilderness medicine and loving every minute of it. The first week was spent high in the Wasach range looking at winter and altitude medicine. It was a true mountaineering adventure. Snow fell every day, obliterating the hard to find descent trail. We ended up bushwhacking on snowshoes down Red Pine Canyon to get out, which involved an invigorating stream crossing at the end. From the high, cold mountains environment of week 1 we progressed to week 2, doing a 100 mile rafting descent of Desolation Canyon. The Canyon is truly remote and isolated. Desolation Canyon is actually deeper than the Grand Canyon and is one of the more beautiful extended river trips in the country. The river was high and the whitewater was excellent. Students became quite skilled at piloting their rafts and inflatable kayaks through some nice class 4 BIG Canyon water.

Week 3 found the group near Moab. After a day of classic Moab mountain biking, the group went off to the Needles district of Canyonlands for an experience in desert medicine. The rocky sandstone outcropping lend a new definition to desert in this location.

All in all, three weeks out in the wilderness does put your head on straight and eases that transition into residency or back to regular life. Wilderness changes you in unexplained ways. Your confidence in medicine soars from your successful experiences in handling the variety of patient scenarios. The American West is truly a glorious place.