Desert & Semi-Desert Bushcraft

Kitfox76

Kitfox76

Tracker
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
117
Likes
174
Location
Montana (HLN)
This post was also placed in the local groups sub-forum, but I wanted to pose the question to all...

Having recently moved back to Colorado from Montana, I've been having to relearn several of my bushcraft skills, and adapting to the changes of living in a much more arid region.

An example of one such skill is building a shelter from natural materials, aka: the debris shelter. While I know that it is absolutely possible to do so in a desert, building something such as a brush wickiup, I feel that the time spent collecting enough materials far exceeds the benefit of having such a shelter.

Instead, I have turned to a much more simple, and basic, concept of using the materials that I have at hand, and which I carry in my pack; a tarp and cord.

So, my question for other desert-dwellers is, what other differences do you experience in the desert that deviate from the more widely written about "typcial" woodland-style bushcraft? Tips and tricks, modified skills and abilities, or specific equipment would be great!

5636042-red-mountain-open-space-semi-desert-landscape-in-northern-colorado-laramie-foothills-near-wyoming-bo.jpg

Colorado Semi-Desert​
 
Yeah in the bushclass forum they want you to Identify 5 differant trees ... thats kinda hard to do where I am at... There aren't much trees and you have to take differant trips to differant areas to ID 5 native trees.... where I am at there is mostly Joshua trees... which are actually big Yuccas and not a true tree and you are not allowed to touch them with a ten foot pole... so you cant list their uses...

The mesquite has beans... you can eat, mustard weed too... the Mojave yucca flower is edible.... its actually an amazing plant and my all time favorite... it provides... medicine, fire, food, cordage and soap

Water is a pain in the butt... you don't get alot of "safe" drinking water around here.... most of the times its in some dried up creek or stream bed and you got to find muddy spots and follow the mud till you find a small indent in the bed rock with dirty water in it... (its good to know how to make a filter and you better have some way to purify it Because I guarantee it has nastys) most of the weight I carry is water.... I had to learn my lesson the hard way on that one
 
Water is everything in our semi desert areas of mixed mesquite, prickly pear cactus, and mottes of black jack oak or post oak.

Shelter- well , with a tarp and sleeping bag, it is seldom necessary to do a lot of construction. Years back I spent time doing an archaeological salvage survey out near Sonora and the Big Bend area. Lot of cattle, and we ended up burning dried cow patties rather than the creosote bush that was the main wood fuel source.
 
Best indicators of water in the desert are cottonwoods and what some call sere(sp) willow or others call mule fat. Both require steady water supply to grow. Also pay attention to insects and birds. In particular, bees are a great indicator of water. An old Apache trick is if you see a bee, follow it for as long as you can, then follow another if you see it. They will lead you to water as they never go far from a good water source in the desert. Be prepared to climb as sometimes they lead you to what are called tinejas or naturally occurring tanks in the rocks. There are many more indicators that others will mention, I'm sure.

Forget the old wives tales of cactus providing water. With only a couple of exceptions most will make you very sick if you try to consume them, and none will you give you a drink that will do you any good.
 
These are good tips, thanks!

I should mention that as a scout in the US Army, I spent the majority of my active duty time at Fort Irwin, California (Mojave Desert). I attended their Desert Warfare School which included training over at the USMC Twenty-Nine Palms. I also spent some time at Fort Huachuca, Arizona (Sonoran Desert) and at Fort Bliss, Texas (Chihuahuan Desert), so I am familiar with, and appreciate, the many challenges a desert enivornment presents. Deserts and semi-deserts are some of the most beautiful places I've had the pleasure to live, work and play in.

What I am really curious about is how desert bushcraft differs from 'traditional' woodland bushcraft and how people make the adaptations?

------------------------------------------

On a side-note:

This was one of the few books I kept from my college days; it was for a class that discussed how the Native cultures of the North American Southwest thrived in the desert region, and how the landscape shaped their worldview. It was a good class. Anyway, this was one of the better books I was assigned to read and thought it might prove useful to people reading this thread. I would be happy to post some of the information here in the forums if people are interested.

Red%252520Rocks%252520Trading%252520Post%252520Trail%252520049.JPG


(Gathering the Desert by Gary Paul Nabhan; purchased new for USD$23.00; published 1985 by The University of Arizona Press; ISBN 0-8165-0935-2)​
 
Last edited:
Differences

Water dependency is one difference. Have to know where it is, how to purify or carry large amounts with you. In some parts of the desert water is conveniently provided by charities facilitating the movement of illegal immigrants. PLG is right, most of it will need filter and purifying. In AZ it is a requirement to camp at least 1/4 mile from water holes.

Foraging, very different group of plants to forage. ID isn't as tough, but finding in editable/harvestable quantities is. The local Indians were often semi-nomadic for that reason, they followed plants as they matured.

Fire. When it is okay to have a fire, there is usually plenty of firewood. Often it is small pieces that can be handily broken up. Seldom is there a need to baton wood to get to the burnable middle. A small stove designed to burn sticks (Emberlit type) is very useful. Most places have a multitude of small dry stuff to use for tinder.

Shelter. Need shelter from sun as much as protection from rain, snow etc. Take your own shelter, often the shady spots will have insects or reptiles that are unfriendly to your needs.

Cattle. Lots of the desert / semi-desert areas are open range and have cattle on them. Leave them alone! They can be cranky and unpredictable and it is a crime to bother them.
 
Bushcraft in the desert is different yet has similarities to general bushcraft skills. For instance, because of the abundance of dry materials, friction fire is actually easier to attain.
You will not believe how many different plants in the desert make great cordage and some come with built in awls and sewing needles (agave for one).
Desert foraging can actually be easier, especially toward the end of summer when your will find mesquite and palo verde pods in abundance and most cactus will start to produce their fruit, which is almost all edible (watch for the hair like thorns that ill need to be removed from their skins and the abundance of seeds.
By the way, it's the pulp around the seeds of the mesquite pods that is easily edible. The seeds can be consumed as well, but are rock hard and require pounding into a powder, which can be used as a flour. Also, they are not recommended for children. They won't kill them but will give them tummy aches and may result in diarrhea, though they don't have the same effect on adults, from my experience.
Also, learn which variety (very few) cactus are edible. The three most common are two varieties of prickly pear and the hedgehog cactus.
When hiking around for any amount of time, don't do what the snow birds do and wear shorts and t-shirts. Even in the summer time you should wear long pants and long sleeves as they will slow water loss through evaporation and give some protection from the sun and all the stinging, thorny plants you will be brushing up against. Even in our winter.
Learn about all the stinging critters and where they like to live and what time of day they like to be out and around. You may see them in the day but most are very active at night.
This is all probably general no brainers for you as you've spent some time in the desert.
 
Where I currently am, I'm a hour and a half-ish SW of Peacelovingirl. My little corner of the Mojave is quite barren. A few cottonwoods in a runoff area, but thats too near town and houses to go camp in...besides it's a runoff area...if it rains on the mountain, the sun hits the snow thats up there right now or they decide to let some water out of the small dam nearby, anyone in there is going to get wet...if they live through it. If there's local rain, only idiots go near the wash.

Otherwise, it's Joshuas, which are fairly useless as a tree except for really short lengths of cordage and creosote bushes. Creosotes are rather useless as well: the bark and wood is poisonous for cooking directly over (think closed pot) and they have hardly any heat in them...burns orange and smoky. They don't get thick enough to make anything from aside from trap triggers. Can't hang more than a tarp from them and the base collects debris and grasses, so it's prime habitat for rats, scorpions, rattlesnakes (like the Mojave Green...one badarse little deadly snake) and other critter you really don't want to mess with. Yes, they can be cut and used for a shelter, but one needs to remember these things grow slowly...think hundreds of years...some are thousands of years old and only stand about six feet tall. Otherwise, there's nothing around here the approximates a tree unless one raids someone's yard. Up in mountains, there's pinyon pine, but I don't get up there: rich folks and the state own it all and charge accordingly. I don't go to pay-sites for many reasons.

Water? Fuggedaboutit...ain't any unless you can drill a few hundred feet down or get caught in a rain storm...then you better gather what you can because within a half hour after the rain, it's all gone.

Shelter and water: Bring yer own or die. A person wouldn't last much more than a day in the summer here without them.

Now in southern Utah, there's a lot more resources. I am a resident over there, but am stuck in the middle of a move with my family in so-cal. Once I get established over there, I've got a few different ecosystems to choose from depending on which direction I take.

This is all crazy-nuts to me. I grew up in northwest Montana and the Idaho panhandle...I'm used to trees and water everywhere...and none of these idiotic esnakas and scorpions!

Arizona was a lot nicer. Trees to use, some surface water from time to time, a lot more by way of resources. I really admire the Indians who lived in this area..but then again, 200 years ago, this valley was a lot different. There was water, grasslands, less tumbleweeds, more trees and even antelope living here (hence 'Antelope Valley"). Now all that is left is several aerospace installations (Edwards, Plant 42, Skunkworks) and a bunch of unemployed folks. The land has been stripped and decimated. People dump garbage everywhere, toss tires and old tv's off the side of the road or in riverbeds...yup, not a nice place to be.
 
I live in central Washington and the tallest "tree" on the whole ranch is an ancient sage brush that is over my head (over 6 foot).
There are a few springs here and there but you have to know where to look. There is nothing you can see from a distance that will show you were the water is.
I'm just learning about edible plant life but it seems very limited with a short season.
Animals also depend on the season. I swear they all leave during hunting season but there are everything from deer to turkeys to the occasional wolf or elk and very occasionally a lost moose or bear. With all the farming around here birds are less likely to be found in the desert and I have no desire to bushcraft around a wheat field.
 
Yes, I know the feeling. I am somewhat in the middle of all this space you are talking about.

Any time I am out and about, I carry 5 gal. of water in the truck along with the other gear for off the hiway tools. And for digging a sump for water, the aquafar that feeds this area, it is 1251 ft to the water table. That was by the reading from one of the well that the water departments checks every 30 days.

I would like to learn a few more of the useable plants of this area.

LeeRoy
 
I live in Central Nevada at an elevation of 6000+ asl. High Desert.

We have sagebrush, rabbitbrush, cedar, pinion pine, some cottonwood, aspen (quakies) and what we call mountain mahogany (usually found in the higher elevations) which has a blood-red wood and is very dense and heavy. It makes GREAT firewood if you can find it but will eat up a chainsaw blade in nothing flat!

We forage for pine-nuts and the occasional prickly-pear cactus (rare here).

Water is often easily found in dry creek / run-off beds but you have to dig down about 18" - 24" to get a good seep hole so it's a good thing to have an e-tool or a trowel in your kit. We have areas with standing or flowing water up till mid-summer in some places other than in established lakes and rivers (few and far between). Around these are found cattails and other aquatic plants that are edible.

Fortunately, ranchers have established stock tanks with windmill pumps to provide water for their livestock on open range.

Not a bad area to survive in but to be living in a boreal area would be a treat, more opportunities to hang a hammock. :)

th_CaveValley5.jpg
 
Last edited:
I think that a desert dweller's approach to bushcraft is necessarily different, but the essential skills are similar. I think we desert dwellers have an advantage over the woodland dwellers: We have to focus on the use of very different resources, and different availabilities of life sustaining resources than a so-called traditional bushcrafter, as can be seen by the above posts.

I have seen posts from folks who say that the ability to carry water has increased the distance that 'crafter can travel. Out in any of the places mentioned above, particularly in summer and fall, the ability to carry water is critical to an excursion not during into an emergency. You should not expect to walk any measurable distance without some h2o. Expecting to find water is foolhardy at best.
Shelter often comes in the form of carried materials. However, it is possible to find or create shelter in the desert. Example: since it is shade that is sought in a shelter out here, a rock overhang is ideal. That type of "resource" is not often on a woodland bushcrafter's radar. A hole next to a clump of bushes is not much of a natural shelter in most bushcraft books, but a dang fine spot at 4:00 pm in July (sun's starting to go down and offer some shade potential).
I think there is a reason C.Lundin (AZ), BOSS (UT), Larry Olsen (UT) all use desert for training.
That, however, doesn't mean anything about the desert dweller's superiority in the out-of-doors though.
 
Here in the White Mountains/Mogollon Rim country of Arizona we're in Ponderosa pine and juniper, with Aspen, spruce and fir higher up. We also have various sumac, locust and other hardwoods, thinly scattered. Lots of edible plants in the area. We also have mesquite vine, prickly pear and other cactus and sotol and yucca.
Down in the desert (Sonoran) there are still juniper, some oaks and others, cottonwoods and sycamore. Lots of varieties of cactus, yucca, agave, mesquite, catclaw, and other plants that are more or less edible, at least parts are. Nearly every plant has thorns, and critters bite or sting.
Animals come in two sizes, large and small. Small are rabbits, gophers, rats, etc. and are pretty easily caught in traps. Large are deer, bear, javelina, mountain lion, bobcat, coyote, fox etc. and are somewhat more problematic to catch without a gun. You also have to bear in mind the hunting laws and seasons, since there is no exception for being in a survival situation.
As mentioned, water is the big problem. If you find any, it's filthy and needs to be well filtered and boiled before you use it for anything. That means carrying a pot of some sort and something for filtration (coffee filters for example) no matter what. You'll also need a container to collect the water and another to keep "clean" water in while you prepare more. I like to carry Jell-o or Tang to make the water taste better.
Shelters are easy, just move in under a juniper. They are big and have large open spaces under their branches around the trunk. Watch out for snakes and other critters who've made a home there, too. Even in low desert, sotol, agave (Century Plant) and yucca blossom stalks can be used for shelter construction. Sorry, they won't support a hammock. Weather, rain, is not usually a problem except during the monsoon. Snow can occur in the winter. There is always a need for fire, to purify water and to keep warm, even in summer the desert cools off surprisingly fast and gets quite cool away from the heat islands in towns.

Hope that helps.
 
Last edited:
I've come to appreciate the value of a walking stick in bushcraft, and find it especially useful in a desert environment where trees are sparse.

I also usually carry a GI poncho.

These and some cord are all you need to rig a quick shelter from sun or squall, even without a single tree around. Just put the walking stick up into the hood of the poncho, and stake out the corners (or bury rocks with guylines attached). Make sure your walking stick has a blunt end on it so you don't damage the poncho.

The poncho can also serve as a means to collect rain water if you are lucky enough to get some thunderclouds (actually not all that unusual in many desert areas, depending on season).
 
Mattnu said:
Water dependency is one difference. Have to know where it is, how to purify or carry large amounts with you. In some parts of the desert water is conveniently provided by charities facilitating the movement of illegal immigrants. PLG is right, most of it will need filter and purifying. In AZ it is a requirement to camp at least 1/4 mile from water holes.

Foraging, very different group of plants to forage. ID isn't as tough, but finding in editable/harvestable quantities is. The local Indians were often semi-nomadic for that reason, they followed plants as they matured.

Fire. When it is okay to have a fire, there is usually plenty of firewood. Often it is small pieces that can be handily broken up. Seldom is there a need to baton wood to get to the burnable middle. A small stove designed to burn sticks (Emberlit type) is very useful. Most places have a multitude of small dry stuff to use for tinder.

Shelter. Need shelter from sun as much as protection from rain, snow etc. Take your own shelter, often the shady spots will have insects or reptiles that are unfriendly to your needs.

Cattle. Lots of the desert / semi-desert areas are open range and have cattle on them. Leave them alone! They can be cranky and unpredictable and it is a crime to bother them.
Click to expand...

But in the morning you want to follow that cattle that is when they usually go to drink.... they can lead you to water...
 
Falstaff said:
Bushcraft in the desert is different yet has similarities to general bushcraft skills. For instance, because of the abundance of dry materials, friction fire is actually easier to attain.
You will not believe how many different plants in the desert make great cordage and some come with built in awls and sewing needles (agave for one).
Desert foraging can actually be easier, especially toward the end of summer when your will find mesquite and palo verde pods in abundance and most cactus will start to produce their fruit, which is almost all edible (watch for the hair like thorns that ill need to be removed from their skins and the abundance of seeds.
By the way, it's the pulp around the seeds of the mesquite pods that is easily edible. The seeds can be consumed as well, but are rock hard and require pounding into a powder, which can be used as a flour. Also, they are not recommended for children. They won't kill them but will give them tummy aches and may result in diarrhea, though they don't have the same effect on adults, from my experience.
Also, learn which variety (very few) cactus are edible. The three most common are two varieties of prickly pear and the hedgehog cactus.
When hiking around for any amount of time, don't do what the snow birds do and wear shorts and t-shirts. Even in the summer time you should wear long pants and long sleeves as they will slow water loss through evaporation and give some protection from the sun and all the stinging, thorny plants you will be brushing up against. Even in our winter.
Learn about all the stinging critters and where they like to live and what time of day they like to be out and around. You may see them in the day but most are very active at night.
This is all probably general no brainers for you as you've spent some time in the desert.
Click to expand...
I collect mesquite pods in early may.... when the seeds are still soft green and can be eaten raw.... other wise you boil them when they get hard
 
Gryphonblade said:
Where I currently am, I'm a hour and a half-ish SW of Peacelovingirl. My little corner of the Mojave is quite barren. A few cottonwoods in a runoff area, but thats too near town and houses to go camp in...besides it's a runoff area...if it rains on the mountain, the sun hits the snow thats up there right now or they decide to let some water out of the small dam nearby, anyone in there is going to get wet...if they live through it. If there's local rain, only idiots go near the wash.

Otherwise, it's Joshuas, which are fairly useless as a tree except for really short lengths of cordage and creosote bushes. Creosotes are rather useless as well: the bark and wood is poisonous for cooking directly over (think closed pot) and they have hardly any heat in them...burns orange and smoky. They don't get thick enough to make anything from aside from trap triggers. Can't hang more than a tarp from them and the base collects debris and grasses, so it's prime habitat for rats, scorpions, rattlesnakes (like the Mojave Green...one badarse little deadly snake) and other critter you really don't want to mess with. Yes, they can be cut and used for a shelter, but one needs to remember these things grow slowly...think hundreds of years...some are thousands of years old and only stand about six feet tall. Otherwise, there's nothing around here the approximates a tree unless one raids someone's yard. Up in mountains, there's pinyon pine, but I don't get up there: rich folks and the state own it all and charge accordingly. I don't go to pay-sites for many reasons.

Water? Fuggedaboutit...ain't any unless you can drill a few hundred feet down or get caught in a rain storm...then you better gather what you can because within a half hour after the rain, it's all gone.

Shelter and water: Bring yer own or die. A person wouldn't last much more than a day in the summer here without them.

Now in southern Utah, there's a lot more resources. I am a resident over there, but am stuck in the middle of a move with my family in so-cal. Once I get established over there, I've got a few different ecosystems to choose from depending on which direction I take.

This is all crazy-nuts to me. I grew up in northwest Montana and the Idaho panhandle...I'm used to trees and water everywhere...and none of these idiotic esnakas and scorpions!

Arizona was a lot nicer. Trees to use, some surface water from time to time, a lot more by way of resources. I really admire the Indians who lived in this area..but then again, 200 years ago, this valley was a lot different. There was water, grasslands, less tumbleweeds, more trees and even antelope living here (hence 'Antelope Valley"). Now all that is left is several aerospace installations (Edwards, Plant 42, Skunkworks) and a bunch of unemployed folks. The land has been stripped and decimated. People dump garbage everywhere, toss tires and old tv's off the side of the road or in riverbeds...yup, not a nice place to be.
Click to expand...

I Knew some said they were in my neck of the woods and I couldn't remember who! I thought it might have been you.... my last watering hole was fenced in and bought by rich folks (behind Mojave Narrows).... I seriously cried when that happened..... slowly but surely almost all of my spots are gone now.... You forgot to mention all the drug addicts.... I got a spot I want to check out... and there is water there but you have to go through a guy property to get there but from my understanding is he lets you cross his property if you don't leave a mess .... If it pans out.... I will let you know
 
Last edited:
Has anyone mentioned all the darn holes yet? almost everything lives in holes... lizards, snakes, owls, tortoises, bats, squirrel, spiders, wasps, beetles, scorpions, rabbits, mice.... dang near every critter out here... I am still learning what all the holes mean
 
Last edited:
Peacelovingirl said:
Has anyone mentioned all the darn holes yet? almost everything lives in holes... lizards, snakes, owls bats, squirrel, spiders,wasps,beetles, scorpions, rabbits, mice.... dang near every critter out here... I am still learning what all the holes mean
Click to expand...

You forgot coyote dens, gophers, and badgers. Not sure we have those types of owls around here though.
 
Lichen said:
Leave your hammock at home.
Click to expand...

All you need is one tree and your vehicle. Or a sturdy fence post and your vehicle. It sure is nice to get up off the ground, especially at night when all the creepy crawly things are out.

Peacelovingirl said:
But in the morning you want to follow that cattle that is when they usually go to drink.... they can lead you to water...
Click to expand...

Survival in the desert depends on the same things as it does anywhere: water, shelter and food. Water is the hardest to find, of course. But there won't be any cattle around if there isn't water somewhere. Except for wet weather, there may not be any water except what the ranchers provide, either by hauling out to tanks, or by pumping it with windmills or solar pumps. The point of this is that if you see cattle, or fresh sign, there will be water somewhere. Get up on a high place where you can see a great distance, and look for cattle, windmills, spots with trees, etc. Once you find their water, you will probably have to filter it. If you find a windmill/solar pump, you can probably drink the water coming out of its pipe before it goes into the tank.

When you find that high place also look for leafy trees (especially cottonwoods and sycamores) in canyons. They won't be far from water. You may have to dig a hole to find it, tho.

Peacelovingirl said:
Has anyone mentioned all the darn holes yet? almost everything lives in holes... lizards, snakes, owls, tortoises, bats, squirrel, spiders, wasps, beetles, scorpions, rabbits, mice.... dang near every critter out here... I am still learning what all the holes mean
Click to expand...

That's a big clue right there as to the best kind of shelter. During the day everything shades up and waits for night. Then all the critters come out and go about their business. Getting into a shady hole in the ground (or an undercut arroyo (gully) bank during the hot part of the day will help you conserve your water and keep the sun from burning you up. A tarp will help a lot, but unless you can take advantage of the earth's cooler temperature, just laying under a tarp out in the hot sun will be like being in a microwave oven.

All the Indians who lived in this country before Europeans showed up had to either find, occupy, and defend a fixed location near reliable water, or they had to be mobile. Those who stayed put had to fortify themselves in caves or up on inaccessible mesas (like Acoma). But most of them exhausted their resources unless they were in more fertile places (like the pueblos of NM). The ones that were more mobile (the Apaches, etc) had to follow the water and the food as the seasons and conditions changed. They had huge areas where they roamed. That meant they had to be able to uproot and move all their stuff on their back (until they learned to steal horses from the Spanish). Nowadays we have cars and trucks. KEEP YOUR VEHICLE IN GOOD SHAPE if you venture out into the desert.

Amen on the walking stick. You can prop up your tarp, poke around under things to scare off snakes, splint a broken limb, or even burn it for firewood if you have to. Yucca makes excellent tinder.
 
Ray Mears - Arizona Desert 4-Part Series

I came across this four-part series by Ray Mears in which he explores Apacheria, a portion of southeastern Arizona. He follows the flight of Geronimo and his band of Apache from the US Army in 1886, and explains some of the skills they used to make living, and surviving, in the desert possible. This is the trail he follows:

Apache%252520flight.jpg

Part 1 Summary - Exploring the desert and explaining the resourcefulness of the Apache; essential clothing and equipment; identifying dangerous/poisonous creatures; setting out from Cochise Stronghold.

Ray Mears / Arizona Desert Part 1/4 - YouTube

Part 2 Summary - Using agave as needle for repairs; creating a hand drill fire set from sotol; crossing Sulpur Springs Valley at night.

Ray Mears / Arizona Desert Part 2/4 - YouTube

Part 3 Summary - Reaching a canyon at the base of the Chiracahua Mountains; setting up a fixed camp; building a solar still; exploring a dry arroyo for fresh water; tips on boiling water; uses of beargrass, yucca, prickly pear cactus, agave; making cord and 'soap' from yucca; building a wikiup.

Ray Mears / Arizona Desert Part 3/4 - YouTube

Part 4 Summary - Cooking agave stock for food; entering the Chiracahua Mountains; uses of mullen; myths of water from barrel cacti; Apache moccasins; importance of established and well-known springs; arrival at Skeleton Springs; history of the US campagin to capture Geronimo.

Ray Mears / Arizona Desert Part 4/4 - YouTube

**************************

UPDATED Video Link - Full Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AkecT8ZVuc&feature=youtu.be
 
Last edited:
Jouka said:
I came across this four-part series by Ray Mears in which he explores Apacheria, a portion of southeastern Arizona. He follows the flight of Geronimo and his band of Apache from the US Army in 1886, and explains some of the skills they used to make living, and surviving, in the desert possible. This is the trail he follows:

Apache%252520flight.jpg

Part 1 Summary - Exploring the desert and explaining the resourcefulness of the Apache; essential clothing and equipment; identifying dangerous/poisonous creatures; setting out from Cochise Stronghold.

Ray Mears / Arizona Desert Part 1/4 - YouTube

Part 2 Summary - Using agave as needle for repairs; creating a hand drill fire set from sotol; crossing Sulpur Springs Valley at night.

Ray Mears / Arizona Desert Part 2/4 - YouTube

Part 3 Summary - Reaching a canyon at the base of the Chiracahua Mountains; setting up a fixed camp; building a solar still; exploring a dry arroyo for fresh water; tips on boiling water; uses of beargrass, yucca, prickly pear cactus, agave; making cord and 'soap' from yucca; building a wikiup.

Ray Mears / Arizona Desert Part 3/4 - YouTube

Part 4 Summary - Cooking agave stock for food; entering the Chiracahua Mountains; uses of mullen; myths of water from barrel cacti; Apache moccasins; importance of established and well-known springs; arrival at Skeleton Springs; history of the US campagin to capture Geronimo.

Ray Mears / Arizona Desert Part 4/4 - YouTube
Click to expand...

As much as I dislike you tube I may have to watch those just to see what Mears thinks of the area. Looking at the map I can’t see where the Apaches would have come out of the Chiracahua until the south end. There is quite a few spring and creeks in there and would have been more 100+ years ago.
 
GreyOne said:
Water is everything in our semi desert areas of mixed mesquite, prickly pear cactus, and mottes of black jack oak or post oak.

Shelter- well , with a tarp and sleeping bag, it is seldom necessary to do a lot of construction. Years back I spent time doing an archaeological salvage survey out near Sonora and the Big Bend area. Lot of cattle, and we ended up burning dried cow patties rather than the creosote bush that was the main wood fuel source.
Click to expand...


ewww.... burning poop? was it bone dry? could that potentially release bacteria into the air and your lungs?
 
Don't forget about caching water. If you frequent a remote desert area, might be worth burying a couple gallons at a landmark you will remember. Can anybody weigh in on best way to store/cache water? Containers, pre-treatment for longevity, etc.?
 
meowroarchuff said:
ewww.... burning poop? was it bone dry? could that potentially release bacteria into the air and your lungs?
Click to expand...

No, burning cow chips, or other poop, will not harm your food or cause lung problems. The heat kills anything that may be in it, and since you're using herbivore poop, cattle, bison, deer and elk, etc., it's not likely to contain anything anyway. Ruminants process their food through a long process involving four stomachs, so it's pretty dead when they're through with it.
And yes, it does need to be dry, or it won't burn. If you have some chips that are a little "green", dry them by the fire and they'll be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top