122 Adventures in Scenery 



cooling effect. Travelers in the desert should be provided with 

 a sufficient water supply. One should never go far from a 

 source of water, in winter or summer, without enough water 

 to last until another supply can be reached. Travelers should 

 carry at least two to four gallons of water per person for each 

 24 hours. 



Three Rivers that Do Not 

 Reach the Sea 



Three rivers enter upon the vast domain of the Mojave 

 Desert from high mountain ranges, but none delivers any 

 water to the ocean. These are the Mojave, the Owens, and the 

 Amargosa rivers. The rivers originate on high mountain 

 ranges, fed by melting snows that gather upon the high ranges 

 and peaks, and by rains that are condensed from the wind-borne 

 clouds at high altitudes. These all start as rapidly flowing tur- 

 bulent torrents. They continue for many miles as intermittent 

 streams, but ultimately disappear by evaporation after passing 

 into the porous soils and sands, detritus from the erosion of the 

 mountain slopes. Other streams that flow as mountain torrents 

 to the great desert plain sink at once into the sands and are 

 "lost" as streams. 



The Mojave is a typical desert river. It rises in the high San 

 Bernardino Mountains, in southwestern San Bernardino County. 

 The waters gather in the mountains and form a perennial 

 stream. Within a short distance it emerges upon the desert 

 plain, and much of the water sinks into the porous alluvium. 

 The course of the stream is in a northerly direction to Barstow, 

 where it turns to the northeast. In times of flood the water 

 may be carried 40 miles east of Daggett to Soda Lake. Water 

 sometimes flows into Silver Lake, another playa a mile or two 

 to the north of Soda Lake. During many years no water from 

 the river reaches the playas, but in years of extreme flood the 

 water may be several feet deep in the playas and remain for 

 several months. The water that reaches the playas disappears 



