Looking for Water in the Desert

Have you ever been to the desert, if so then you will know that water is everything. Carry enough water for a fulls day’s hike can be challenging at best and since you’ll need at least a gallon a day in the warm months, more at the height of summer, planning a backpacking trip in the desert revolves around the quantity of water that you can reasonably carry and the likely hood of finding additional sources along your route. Don’t count on water being available just because the map shows a spring. You can probably trust people who have actually been there – so long as they were there yesterday, not the week or month before. Even in that case, bring along some extra water.

In an emergency, your map, your eyes are your best ways for finding water. Examine the map not only for springs and streams, but also for man-made structures like wells, cattle tanks and windmills. When you are hiking keep an eye out for bright green vegetation. There may be a spring nearby. Keep an eye out for cottonwoods, sycamores and seep willows growing in dry stream beds. They too may mean water is close at hand. If you find damp sand, dig downwards as may find water further down. Search out places in canyons where flash-flood waters have scoured away the sand and gravel, exposing bedrock. Shallow depressions in the bedrock, called tinajas, may have trapped pools of rainwater.

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If you’re hiking the ridges in hilly terrain, examine the canyon floors for the bright flash of sunlight reflecting in a water-filled pothole. Lava and limestone are porous rocks that often contain springs and a cave neaby. Look for the dark stains and green moss that mark seeps in sandstone cliffs.

In the high desert in the winter months, examine the shady north sides of cliffs where the sun never shines. Lingering snow patches may provide a source of water. Whatever the source, an easily cleaned water filter will not only remove whatever critters may exist, but also the inevitable sand and silt. If you carry a Strei Pen which is a water purifier just carry a coffee filter for cleaning out silt, will save you weight.