Should you find yourself in the mountains of a desert terrain, you have a good chance of locating a source of water by following these tips.
1. Check in the low concave areas in river beds, and arroyos where water would have settled at the lowest point. Dig down below the top soil. If you hit moist dirt within a foot of digging, you may have a chance of obtaining water. Keep digging deeper. If the soil gets wetter to the touch, dig a slight bit deeper and see if the hole to fill with start to fill with water. If the soil is just muddy and not wet enough to seep into the hole, you may be able to extract the water by placing the mud in a shirt or bandanna and squeezing the moisture out.
2. If it has recently rained within a 2 or 3 days, try looking in the potholes of rock beds and other flat rocky areas.
3. It to a higher elevation on a hill overlooking the terrain and see if you can spot areas with green lush looking vegetation. Trees like willows and cotton woods need water to survive. Pick out an area and check it out. If that does not pan out, go to the next green area.
4. Check at the base of hills and canyons where the water would drain from the top and down into the base of the terrain.
5. Watch for birds and insects. They are usually not too far from a water source, especially bees. Bees are normally within 5 miles of a water source. But, sometimes this is not a as reliable as the other sources.
Stay Prepared! Stay Alive!
Charlie
