Comentario sobre Exodo 18:5

אל המדבר INTO THE DESERT — Indeed we know that they were in the wilderness, and it appears unnecessary to state that Jethro came to Moses there. But by stressing this Scripture is speaking in praise of Jethro: that he was living amidst all the splendour that the world could provide, and nevertheless his heart prompted him to go forth into the desert, a waste place (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:5:2), to hearken to the words of the Torah.

אל המדבר, to the desert, etc. The reason the Torah adds: "to the place where Israel was encamped" is in order to explain how it was they knew where to locate the Israelites in the great desert. Moses had previously informed his family of the location of his encounter with the burning bush and that G'd had told him in 3,12: "you shall serve the Lord upon this mountain." This explains why the Torah was able to describe the mountain as "the mountain of G'd where they were encamped" already at this juncture.