A Circumnavigation of Isla de la Guarda

Abstract

The senior expedition is our final capstone of the Expeditionary Studies program at SUNY Plattsburgh. This is basically what we have been training for during our university career. Since being a student here, I have seen many of the senior expedition presentations and even went along on a few of the trips, but I had no idea what I would be doing for my own. Starting out exclusively as a climber, a climbing trip was the obvious choice, but as I continued my education, many other disciplines came to be a part of my regular schedule. In fact, climbing recently has taken a back seat to other sports such as white water kayaking and sea kayaking. In the last couple of years with the extensive traveling I have done, I thought about what my expedition would entail and ideas came around every corner. Many of these ideas were way over my head and I realized that after looking into them more extensively. Someday I would like to complete these more rigorous expedition ideas, but for now, I need to do something in my skills set. First I needed a discipline, and as climbing has slowly been moving out of the spot light, I decided sea kayaking would be a great plan. Climbing has always been a challenge for me to push my limits and I see that in sea kayaking too. Dealing with tides and currents, flat water, rough water, and the dynamic setting allows me to be challenged within and outside of my comfort zone. Along with white water kayaking has taught me so much on the water and gives me the same feeling I get while on the rock. This is what really has intrigued me to continue in this program primarily as a kayaker. 4 Next I needed a venue. I have been fortunate enough to paddle in so many different parts of the United States as well as a few other countries. I try to go to new places as much as I can but in this instance I decided to go back to Mexico. I love Mexico. I had paddled on the Pacific side of the Baja peninsula in the past but this time I wanted to be in the Sea of Cortez side because I had never been there before. Originally I wanted to cross the entire sea from Baja to mainland, but after looking in to it, I determined logistically it would have been a nightmare, so then I found Isla Angel de la Guarda just outside Bahia de Los Angeles. This was it. A circumnavigation of this island would be perfect. The route would be perfect to fulfill the requirements of the trip but it would still be a serious undertaking.