If you haven't ever lived in or camped in the desert it is very different than most other places you might go on earth and you will have different problems than most other places too.
For example, water and communication in general and transportation and things like Air Conditioning become more critical especially during the summer months. I'm not surprised at what happens at a Burning man festival where everything turns to slippery clay when wet enough and food has to be preserved and people need to be kept out because it isn't safe to travel on wet clay because of how slippery it is. I saw the man's feet covered with mud. This has happened to me many times both with mud in the deserts when wet but also with certain types of snow that stick to your boots or skis or even snowshoes where you are lifting 5, 10 or 20 pounds of snow or mud just trying to take another step.
However, then if you are trying to ride a motorcycle in this kind of mud you usually should give up for a variety of reasons. And a car or truck that isn't a 4 wheel drive isn't very useful either. And even a 4 wheel drive won't necessarily work in these kinds of conditions. Probably a helicopter to rescue people from something like this might be the most useful because walking won't work, bicycles won't work, Motorcycles (even off road) won't work and most 4 wheel vehicles won't work so having enough food and potable water in a situation like this becomes really important. Also, deserts are known for wide swings of temperature of sometimes as much as 100 degrees any time of year unlike most other places. Deserts are known for high winds because there usually aren't mountains or trees to stop the wind either. So, survival on a desert is much more iffy than other places you might visit worldwide.
My father and mother and I moved to San Diego in 1952 and he soon took me to the Borrego desert when I was 4 years old. For my Dad after living and working in Seattle so long this was a real treat for him.
Later when I was 20 years old my father bought 2 1/2 acres of land near Yucca Valley on the high deserts of California where he and I and our friends built a retirement home for my parents from about 1968 to 1980. In 1968 I was 20 and so in 1980 I was 32 years old and married and lived in Mt. Shasta. But, I still kept a motorized mini-bike and a World War II BSA 500 used in North Africa in World War II at my father's property in a shed there that still started up amazingly anytime I visited. It was amazing that it didn't have a battery at all and ran on a magneto where you kick or bump started it in 2nd gear and usually I could start it and run it even if it hadn't been run for a year or more. Amazingly resilient Motorcycle. But, it had no suspension in the rear end other than springs in the seat so if you were going to hit a bump you better stand up on the foot pegs or you were going to break your back.
So, anyway I have a lot of experience with what a desert can do both good and bad from these experiences with my father and mother's land and before. I also have cholla spines likely still in my legs and feet which are sort of like mini porcupine quills which just go deeper into you when you try to remove them.
Stay away from Cholla Cactuses as they are one of the most difficult things to deal with in the deserts around Southern California especially if you are riding a motorcycle across the wild deserts there. Also, if you are wearing beach walkers (sandals) or sometimes they are called thongs and you accidentally step on a cholla with spines it will come up through those sandals and get your feet. And if you are barefoot forget it because they can be even worse if you are barefoot running around in the desert. So, obviously I have learned from some painful experiences which cactuses are the worst to deal with in person.
Here is what they look like. Be sure to stay away from them in any form living or dead.
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