Water Trails of the Ceriso
The End of the Dry Season
By the end of the dry season the water trails of the Ceriso are worn to a white ...It is the Opinion
It is the opinion of many wise and busy people that the hill-folk pass the ten-month ...I Have Trailed a Coyote
I have trailed a coyote often, going across country, perhaps to where some slant-winged scavenger ...Cattle
Cattle, when there are any in the Ceriso, drink morning and evening, spending the night on ...The Crested Quail
The crested quail that troop in the Ceriso are the happiest frequenters of the water trails. ...
Water Trails of the Ceriso is one of the most memorable chapters in Mary Austin's The Land of Little Rain (1903). In this essay, Austin describes the narrow paths worn into the desert landscape by animals moving between water sources. These "water trails" form a subtle but vital network across the arid hills and washes of what she calls the Ceriso country—an expansive desert region stretching along the eastern Sierra and into the Mojave.