I will not break you all covered up in wool

This past week I've had to buy a few pieces of gear for my upcoming BOSS Field course - specifically, a wool blanket and a fleece jacket, as well as a few items on order: a hardcore poncho and a sheath knife - and I've been joking with folks about how the need to buy anything at all had been totally unexpected. I mean, I've done some backpacking in my day and consequently have amassed a little stash of the gear deemed reasonable - from a modern perspective - for most any multi-day outing in all but the harshest of conditions (ex. winter storms, technical approaches/climbing, etc.). Yes, so regardless of the fact I pack light - go FAST! - in general, I still have things like a small tent, a sleeping bag.. and a backpack to carry it all. But yet, it was not enough..

Or, I should really say that the modern gear list does not jive with the one proposed by BOSS (and required) for their Field course, which is most notable for what it does NOT have on it. A tent, a sleeping bag, a backpack? The wilds of deserts or mountains be damned, this gear is no-can-do during my time in Utah. And I will surely miss thee..

But I think I will miss the food and water during the "Impact" phase (i.e. the first three or four days) the most. haha. What thoughts go through one's head under such adverse and, thankfully, foreign conditions? I can take a guess, of course, and perhaps my guess is more educated than that of most people.. I have certainly been massively dehydrated before, have literally fallen over from leg cramps during a few lengthy running and biking outings, have gone on overnight hikes with no food.. but the temporal scope for the BOSS course is much longer than I've endured before, and I'm not sure what to expect for the pace of activity and how that will affect my overall state. That is, I've only really hit upon these bodily limits after high intensity, relatively short term (i.e. 3-6 hour) outings, but I think here the hiking will be medium-to-slow-ish and so my body should have time to adapt to the limited, or *ahem* non-existent, food supply.

Further, I'm expecting, if this is true, to slip into a mindset, or, maybe more accurately, into a mode of existence that is simpler and more primitive than my normal, daily life dictated by a "Western" society (we know that this term hinges on historical legacy, given surging economies all over the world - but I digress).

But what exactly does that mean: Man of heightened senses or walking zombie? Or.. something else? I think I might take the easy way out right now and go with the last one - the something else - if only because I know the situation will demand that I tap, subconsciously anyway, into a mix of primal elements, both of a physical and spiritual nature. Wow.. more vagueries. But what can you do; what can you expect? These things, these feelings, are ancient and global and start to get at the heart of what it means to be alive and sentient and free, but, still, they are new to me.. haha.

Ah, but to get back to the discussion on gear, all is not lost! We will learn how to use our wool blanket as both backpack and bedding, our poncho as groundcover and/or roof, as required.. skills I certainly have not had the *need* for up until now, but who knows what applications one will find in the future, in the outdoors or otherwise. At the least, it could make for an interesting picnic, or, if I'm more bold, cocktail party. Wine glasses, I will not break you all snuggled up in wool..