Short gaiters are helpful in keeping scree and brush out of boots. The behavior of scent in the desert can be predicted from studies done by researchers in other environments. Pearsall and Verbraggen, in their book Scent, Training to Track, Search and Rescue, suggest that temperature increases will dissipate scent faster. They noted that skin grafts containing scent will drop six feet in six to ten seconds. Field experience supports these experimental conclusions.
Trails are often better as the temperature drops.
Damp evening air that flows into our local desert from the coast improves a trail. Trails that have been laid in hot weather with a surface inversion layer will disperse over long distances. All of these factors influence both where the handler may expect to find scent and the duration of the scent. Scent often collects on desert plants and the dog will work from plant to plant. It is speculated that the moisture in the plant, the plant's oily surface, and the scent drift along an inversion layer may be possible factors that result in this phenomenon.