I lived in the Mojave for 2.75 years. It's 3000 feet above sea level. It took me at least six weeks to stop waking up short of breath. My bra size permanently

I lived in the Mojave for 2.75 years. It's 3000 feet above sea level. It took me at least six weeks to stop waking up short of breath. My bra size permanently changed due to my rib cage enlarging due to my lungs enlarging. Drinking caffeine by day and alcohol by night can land you in the ER with heat stroke. No, drinking enough water is not sufficient. At altitude and in high heat, you also need electrolytes (think gatorade). I grew up in Georgia. That thing they say about "It's not the heat. It's the humidity." is spot on. The Mojave gets six whole inches of rain per year. It's just south of Death Valley which is below sea level precisely because it's so extremely dry that what would normally be a deep lake full of water is bone dry. Cool factoid: If you get crazy levels of rain in short order, like an inch or two in a day, all the dry lakes flood for some weeks and shrimp hatch out.