Shit you should bring with you

There is only one thing that is mandatory....Water! You are in the desert, you need to drink water.
I recommend a few things though because you never know when something will go wrong, or you might wind up lost or separated from the group.

1. Water - yes it is that important. I also like a camelbak because it gives you pockets to carry other things in.

2. A knife - I'm not talking about Rambo’s combat knife but something sharp and functional I just bring a folding Gerber. It is lightweight and sharp. If you think you should bring a knife to fight a bear off you should really read about how to deal with bears. For the most part you would just make a regular bear into an angry bear.

3. A first aid kit -(really only the group leader needs one but I always bring a small one of my own) like a couple other things I will mention, this item is useless if you don't know how to use it properly.

4. A compass - I bring a nice compass with signal mirror with me, to get my bearings before wandering off. The signal mirror is really useful for letting people know where you are even from miles away.

5. a snack - especially if you are doing a hike where you stop and backtrack once at the end of it its really nice to hit that stopping point and take a break have some munchies or jerky or whatever you like. It makes the hike back a lot nicer.

6. A camera - it’s always nice to document your journeys. Looking back on them and remembering the good times you had adventuring. Remember extra memory or film and also batteries.

7. A flashlight - I prefer a headlamp version it keeps your hands free. I find this piece to be important because you never know where adventure will call you into dark places.

8. a good attitude - you are supposedly doing this to have a good time, and a bad attitude will not only make the trip for you more painful, but probably sour the experience for the others traveling with you as well.
In general experience will tell you other things you would like to have with you. You will develop your own style of hiking. I also bring a bandanna a garbage bag for my own and other peoples as well (leave no trace), a pair of sunglasses and I carry a backup pair (UV damage is real people), a pair of binoculars or I like the monocular mostly because it’s lighter weight.