Jason stayed well away from the salt cedar trees, or Tamarisks, which also provided cover and shade along the banks of the river. Those trees seemed to be magnets for rattlesnakes who apparently wanted out of the sun during the heat of the day. The arrow weeds along the bank made for difficult walking or running and made for difficult entry to the banks of the river in many places. They also provided good cover from anyone seeing him as he went to the river to drink. Once in the second day he nearly had a heart attack when a covey of Gambel's Quail flew out of the arrow weeds in front of him. It was coming up on evening at the time.
He stopped, went to the river and drank his fill, thought about trapping some quail but thought better of it when he contemplated making a fire. The ashes of
