But the solitude can be appealing, and those who attend the college have to enjoy being on their own at times.

Because Deep Springs is the only human habitation in a valley the size of Manhattan, quiet is easy to come by. Even a quick stroll can be an antidote to the relentless lack of privacy in the dorm where students spend all their time.

"Once you started walking away from the school it was really hard to find you," Wambsgans recalls. "You see no evidence of any humans--no cars, maybe a plane overhead, just this vast expanse of desert. It's mind-boggling."

Not surprisingly, it takes a certain kind of eccentric to attend Deep Springs, graduates say.

Years later, some men are legends among the student body for their peculiarities.

Wood remembers stories about the student who ran over himself with his truck, the man who went barefoot for months at a time, the one who refused to live in the dorms and moved his sleeping bag to the dairy barn.

By their second year, the students acquire an unmistakable rugged look, Dewis says.

The first year, "you and your classmates have short cropped hair and are pale," he says. "The second-year men are men--they're big and burly and hairy."