1,000-Mile Baja Trek

1,000-Mile Baja Trek

Photograph by Justin DeShields

On February 2, 2013, Bryan Morales and Young Explorer Grantee Justin DeShields departed on foot to traverse one of the most arid, alluring, and misunderstood frontiers in North America—Baja California. Carrying a surfboard, survival equipment, and cameras of all types, they are documenting every step of the adventure.

“Whoever said trudging through the desert all day, every day, for two months sounds like fun? Compound that with a 50-pound pack, a surfboard lashed to your back, and a shadeless, windy coast—sounds like a punishment from the Dark Ages. In the last 60 days we've dodged hundreds of cars, fallen down crumbling coastal bluffs, been attacked by a coyote, and suffered through blisters. Only when we stopped using our car and traversed on foot were we able to access parts of Mexico's Baja Peninsula that few humans have ever laid eyes on. Our surfboard keeps the morale up when we're down!

“With 600 miles behind us, we have left the sea and are heading inland to cross the peninsula at the Sierra de San Francisco. We'll hike trailless mountains of volcanic rock, cactus, and oasis before ending up in the Gulf of California. In the town of Mulege, we'll begin a new chapter in our human-powered journey as we exchange our backpacks for stand-up paddleboards and traverse the next 600 miles of the peninsula along the Sea of Cortez.”