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Just like any backcountry environment, the desert has its share of surprises.
ENVIRONMENT SPECIFIC ADVENTURE CONSULTANTS
Desert Trekking
Introduction
In the desert water is the number two element crucial to human survival; right behind the air we need to breathe in order to keep living. Desert wilderness areas can be beautiful and breathtaking areas to visit. There are numerous National and State Parks such as the Mojave National Preserve, Zion National Park, Big Bend National Park and Joshua Tree just to name a few that are visited by thousands of adventure seekers. Although these recreation areas have plenty for outdoor tourists to see and do, these arid places can present some deadly threats to the uninitiated. Without a doubt, the desert can be one of the most difficult environments to survive in. Even with prior proper planning and preparation, these arid regions of the world can still present more than a reasonable share of issues and concerns
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Just like any backcountry environment, the desert has its share of surprises.
So many variables exist in the desert. By day, it can be sweltering hot and by night, the temperatures can drop to near freezing. In order to plan and prepare to trek through hot arid regions, all factual data has to be collected and compiled.
Anyone who wishes to trek through the desert, needs to be educated and become proficient in desert survival and living skills. There are desert survival skills that have been tried, tested and proven over millennia and are still effective to this day. The Bedouin tribes still live and thrive in the desert and it is from them as well as the peoples of other arid climates around the world that we learn the vast majority of desert survival skills.
Whether trekking through the desert, or any other environment, be reminded to have as complete and detailed an itinerary and timeline as possible to leave with family or friends to help monitor your situation.
Planning your Desert Trek
Probably the first thing you want to determine is where you want to trek in the desert. What is it you want to see and experience out there? There are many national parks and preserves in the southwest United States that are frequented by tourists year-round. Most will enjoy the views during the day from the comfort of their air-conditioned vehicles. To truly enjoy the desert, however, do a small hike and spend a night or two. Some of the most beautiful nights you can spend outside can be experienced under the wide-open skies of the desert with millions of stars brightly shining overhead.
There are several resources you can investigate when planning a trek in the desert environment. One of the best resources for finding good, updated information on the desert, (or any other environment), is the Internet. A really informative website is http://www.desertusa.com which highlights the desert areas in the continental United States.
Let the Internet Be your Planning Guide for Desert Treks
Studying the information from the Internet and/or any books will help you determine the best times of the year to hike specific locations in the desert. In southwest United States, that will normally be from October or November through
May. The daytime temperatures are not going to be as high as in the summer months. The nighttime temperatures may drop though, so be prepared. Water availability may also be much more plentiful during the fall and winter months. The type of desert that can be found in southwest Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Colorado, Utah, Nevada and southeastern California can be characterized as mostly mountainous deserts.
A mountainous desert in Nevada
Hiking through mountainous deserts presents it’s share of challenges, all of which is surmountable given good, solid planning and utilizing proven backcountry skills when out in this arid region.
As with any wilderness environment, a good map study will illustrate all the possibilities. If there are certain points you want to see, mark those down on the map. Look at the ways for getting to the trailheads, which are available from main roads and mark those down. You will probably be driving to a trailhead so ensure that the roads that you’ll be driving on will be good. Make sure that your vehicle is desert driving ready and that the radiator, hoses and emergency equipment are good to go. From that initial plan, you can get down to the meat and potatoes of the hiking plan. You will determine everything you envision as part of a great desert wilderness trek from where you will leave vehicles, to where and when you will conduct your hike, to precisely where your water sources for resupply will come from to where you will be camping. Both your backcountry skills in the desert environment and the details of your hiking plan will work hand in hand to ensure a great time had by all in the desert mountains.
Know where water sources and roads are available on your route
As you continue to study your map and determine your routes, the most important aspect of what routes you will travel and the location of your camps between the start point and the end of your trek will be reliable water availability. Mountains everywhere tend to have springs as well as plenty of ravines tucked between high ground that can still contain water sources. Another nice-to-know aspect is any roads that intersect your hike route that can be used to get back to main thoroughfares in case of an emergency. You should contact park officials or other knowledgeable people who know the desert area you want to explore to find out about weather patterns for the time that you’ll be out there. It will be necessary to tailor your hike route to avoid flash flood areas and hazards you may have learned from park officials that are not shown on the map.
Once you have determined the routes in and out based on local knowledge and weather forecasts then you can start to focus on some more details of the hike. Everyone on the hike needs 1 gallon or about 4 liters of water each day when moving. Everyone can carry a 3 liter water bladder in the back of their pack and a couple of 1 liter bottles and resupply as needed from the water sources identified on your routes. There should be a first aid kit for the group and everyone should have a personal survival kit on their person. When on the move, take it easy and try to keep profuse sweating at bay. The more you sweat the more dehydrated you will get. Take a break for at least 10 minutes out of each hour. Take more breaks of longer duration if necessary. Drink water when you need to so you can stay ahead of dehydration. Try to stay out of the sun when you take a rest break if possible, otherwise keep your head and face covered. If you’re taking the load off and having a seat, use your groundpad to sit on as the hot ground will be much warmer than the surrounding air.
Beware of the wide range of temperatures; midday HOT…early morning CHILLY!!!
When determining what clothing to wear in the desert, just replicate the indigenous people like the Bedouins that live in the desert. They are covered from head to toe to reduce the adverse effects of the sun. Ideally, wear light colored long pants, good, tough boots, light colored long sleeve shirts, and a good hat that will at least cover your face. The wide brim hat that covers your face and the back of your neck is ideal. Keep covered up when trekking through the desert. Contrary to what you may think, keeping clothing on your body will keep your body temperature down. Carry warm clothes for camp at night and in the morning.
In the heat of the day, light colored clothing and a good hat is key
Based on the weather forecast, you may determine to do most of the movement in the wee hours of the morning and late afternoon into well past dusk and taking a siesta during the hottest part of the day. Have a good movement and rest plan that is good for everyone and prevents any heat illnesses from breaking down the group. The four main heat illnesses that can occur during the heat of the day are sunburns, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Prevention is the best option. Simply keep covered up, use SPF 30 or better on exposed skin, drink water when you need to and rest regularly to keep from overdoing it and overheating. Have a good plan of action for treating heat victims. For sunburns, use ointments to soothe the burn and keep covered up. For heat cramps, massage the cramp and get some salt down your neck. For heat exhaustion, get the victim out of the sun and get him cool by wetting clothes and fanning him. For heat stroke, the hike is over. The victim will need immediate medical evacuation. Work out a bombproof evacuation plan prior to starting your desert trek. While you’re in the rear with the gear, spend that quality planning and prep time on medical emergency PREVENTION.
When in camp, find a little burrow to lay your bivvy or one-man tent. Be sure to have some overhead cover to keep the sun from blasting down on you. During the day, it will be hot so it is important to have some kind of overhead cover. There are two choices you can go with for desert shelter. One is the one-man tent and the other is a bivvy bag and an overhead tarp that you can erect using your trekking poles and small tent pegs. Make sure that both types of shelter can provide adequate overhead cover as well as good ventilation. At night however, you can sleep under the stars because of the lack of a chance of rain, it is a wonderful time to rest but be sure to have a good, warm sleeping bag because it can get chilly.
Our desert home sweet home away from home.
At night in most desert areas in the United States during non-summer months, the temperature will be low enough to warrant the use of sleeping bags to keep warm into the night. People have suffered from exposure in the high mountain deserts, so while you’re planning and prepping in the rear, make sure you pack the right gear. Equipment that you would normally use in snow covered mountains to keep warm may be just the ticket for spending frigid nights in the desert mountains.
Food is as important in the desert as any other environment but during the day while moving, desert hikers tend to skip meals or snacks because of lack of hunger. They don’t feel the real need to eat, or maybe the fear of lack of water looms in their minds. It is true that if you’re low on water or out of water, you want to keep from eating because you will need water to help digest your food. If you have plenty of water and you know that your re-supply points will have water, you should try to eat on a fairly regular basis, especially at night before going to sleep. When planning and preparing the food you want to take out in the desert be sure that it is food that YOU WANT TO TAKE TO EAT. Pack food that you find tasty but will be useful to you for the physical activity that you will be performing as well as keep you warm at night during rest. Snack food is popular while on the move and easy to heat up food for dinner at night that will provide you with calories to keep you warm while resting.
Even in the Heat of the Day, unexpected beauty can surprise
Get to know the desert environment each and every time you get out in it. Do research on the plants and animals indigenous to the region you plan to trek through. If possible, bring a memory aid with pictures of plants, animals, their descriptions, and what they can offer in the way of your survival if needed. The more knowledgeable you become of the region you plan to explore, the more you become one with that environment.
When it comes down to emergency survival and how you would deal with an emergency survival situation, again you must do some research through books or the Internet. The number one requirement in the desert whether you’re in a survival situation or not is WATER. If you know how to find or procure water than one of your biggest concerns while out in the desert will be greatly diminished. Knowing how to survive in the desert is knowing how to plan and prepare to trek through the desert. Carrying crucial survival items on your person in your pockets and/or a belly bag, fanny pack or survival vest will give you peace of mind and greatly reduce the panic factor in the event of a survival emergency. Many of these survival items will be similar to whatever you would carry in other environments but you would carry the following additional items in order to procure water.
*Large Clear Plastic Bag or Drop Cloth – As with survival kit items for other environments, try to use items that can be multi-tasked. In addition to emergency shelter, this plastic bag or drop cloth will assist you in procuring water in addition to your own knowledge of collecting water. The bag or drop cloth can be cut into two sheets can be used to construct solar stills as well as water collection vessels in the event of a flash storm. You can wrap the plastic bag around plants, which will condense and cause moisture to cling to the inside of the plastic. The plastic can also be used to collect dew or moisture from the air on foggy mornings at high elevations.
*Cup or Container – Another water vessel that will be primarily used in the solar still to collect the condensed water.
*5 to 6 foot Length of Plastic Tubing – You will use this primarily with a solar still to access the cup or container in the hole in the solar still for drinking without disturbing the solar still operation.
Illustration of Solar Still
Although solar stills can be hit or miss in terms of water procured for sweat lost, it is worth checking out the technique the next time you’re trekking through the desert just to appease your own curiosity or to test your desert survival skills. Urine and/or plant life can be inserted into the pit of the solar still to help with water production. Search the Internet for “Solar Stills” and you will find numerous websites that feature all kinds of different types of solar stills that you can experiment with when you’re out there in the desert. Just be sure to plan and prepare to dabble with these experiments while you’re out there so that you have enough time and resources to do so.
Once your plan is complete and all preparations for what you plan to do while trekking in the desert are good to go, double check your contingency plan so that if anything occurs that hasn’t been planned for it can be addressed before you set out on your trek. Re-review your plan and timeline, put the finishing touches on the overall plan and leave copies with friends and/or family prior to departing civilization. PLAN YOUR TREK AND TREK YOUR PLAN. Stick to the timeline as much as you can throughout the time you’re out in the desert. Try to have a good communications plan in case of an emergency and then make sure you have a good backup NO Comms plan.
Are you ready to hold the distinction of being a true Desert Rat?