Kysa Johnson, 18, of Kirkland recently completed a wilderness expedition traveling in the Baja with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Johnson’s Semester in Baja took place over 77 days alongside 13 students and 10 instructors.

The sea kayaking section was the first of her semester. Johnson and her coursemates traveled the Baja coastline learning technical, leadership and cultural skills. During this time, the students practiced kayaking skills and diving techniques to improve their travel and communication. Along the way to San Basilio, the course stayed in three local fishing towns. In San Nicolas, the students were able to swap stories with Chico, a local fisherman, while eating fish tacos and fresh oranges. Each student had the opportunity to be the leader of the day and make the decisions for the course. After showing the instructors that they had become competent in teamwork, the students spent the final three days of their section traveling independently without instructors.

Following the kayaking section were the sailing and hiking sections. More than 27 days, Johnson sailed 238 miles from Bahia de Los Angeles to San Lucas. One of the highlights was interacting with the marine life. While traveling north of Tres Virgenes, the students swam with a large pod of pilot whales and caught a variety of fish for dinner. Transitioning over to the hiking section, the course traveled 57 miles in 23 days through boulder fields and steep drainages both on- and off-trail. They explored more cultural interactions on local ranches, and the students finished the course with another three-day student expedition.

Overall, the students succeeded in all of the course expectations and will apply their leadership and outdoors knowledge to future expeditions.