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There's a reason desert cultures almost all wear coverings from head to toe. Three main things to consider: Protection from the sun's harmful rays. Air flow for convection cooling Moisture retention (you heard that right) for evaporative cooling. Despite the convention, "cotton kills," in the desert those same properties (slow drying, water retention) ...

There are two types of water-based concerns while doing strenuous activity in the desert: dehydration and hyponatremia. Dehydration occurs when your body is not getting enough water, and is the most common. Symptoms include irritability, headache, lack of energy, bright yellow/orange and infrequent urine. You lose water while you sweat, but in hot climates ...

There are several concerns Rodents. Unlike the eastern US, rodents in the West are much more likely to carry Hanta virus and Bubonic plague. These are not common, but unlike the Eastern US, they are also not unheard of. Scorpions. Scorpions in the east are a minor annoyance. Some of the Western ones kill. Wild Horses. Again, unheard of in the east, ...

Despite the convention, "cotton kills," in the desert those same properties (slow drying, water retention) are useful for keeping you cool by slowing down the near instant evaporation experienced at such high heat and low humidity. Your goal is to make that moisture work as long for you as possible. Since "water is 24.5 times more conductive than air," ...

Your blood and body need sodium, potassium and various other solutes in order to function (without the correct potassium levels, your heart will start to fail etc) In a hot country, where you may sweat a lot, and top up your liquids by drinking water, you lose these solutes quite rapidly. The quantities you require are generally a lot higher than you might ...

The other answers have great information. I would add some specifics that I have learned from living and backpacking all over Arizona and the white mountains for most of my life. Don't have everyone pee on the same rock/place at night. It will dry out and the salt can attract deer. If they get brought in to camp for the salt, they might smell something else ...

I live in the northeast US, but have done a bunch of hiking in the desert of AZ and NM. Big animals aren't really the problem. Most everything like that will run away from you. Camping with bears around is something you have to think about, but that is not really different from New England. In fact, you're quite unlikely to bump into a bear in the ...

As an update, I arrived at the canyon on May 13th. They had precisely one open slot and thus I was able to hike down to Bright Angel one day, and back up the next. A rim-to-river in a day is doable, but hard. For a first timer, it is definitely worth overnighting and going back up. Especially during May, hiking between about 11 - 3 is really uncomfortable. ...

I carry 6L in the Mojave dunes but find that I only drink 3 to 4L. I may carry as much as 8L. Better safe than sorry. Water is very heavy, but you can always ditch gear. I pack my backpack like a lightweight hiker, so I can carry all that water without my backpack getting too heavy to be any fun. My backpack weights around 40-45 pounds with water, but it's ...

I'll weigh in on the Gatorade part. No, you don't need Gatorade, or any other drink with the right salts in it. However, you do need to replace the salts somehow. I use Gatorade because it's convenient (I have to carry the water anyway), the amount of electrolytes I need to replace is well matched to the amount of water I need to replace so having them in ...

So-called "sports drinks" such as Gatorade are miracles of modern marketing, surpassed only by bottled water. They are expensive and contain large amounts of sugar. If you're hiking long distances in high temperatures (say 40 C or 105 F), then you have a long list of hazards to worry about, one of which is getting low on electrolytes. Higher on the list ...

Bears in California are a huge problem in certain highly impacted areas such as Yosemite Valley. They are almost not a problem at all in less traveled areas such as the White Mountains. Rattlesnakes are fairly common. Keep your eyes open and don't step on one that's basking in the sun on the trail. They're not aggressive. If you get bitten, don't try to do ...