Bikepacking: Baja Divide

Abigail Taylor

2019

Redmond, Oregon

Cairn Project Ambassador Abigail Taylor looks to her left at the camera from within a small structure made of sticks

Why Get Out and Give Back?

“My whole life, I’ve loved the outdoors and was called a tom boy. As I got older and went to university for outdoor recreation, I heard it called “a boys club”. Now, I am part of an all female administrative team at a major outdoor company. I am so, so excited to be able to represent women outside. To show young girls that they aren’t a tomboy, they’re just tough. There’s space for all of us out here.”

550 miles from Loreto to Cabo San Lucas

In December, Ambassadors Cori, Rachel, Jennifer, and Abigail will set out with the goal of riding 550+ miles of the Baja Divide route. Starting near Loreto, Baja California Sur, MX the women will ride south to Cabo San Lucas. As a self-supported bike adventure, the crew will spend several weeks pedaling through the mountainous desert landscape with stopovers in  small villages and cities to resupply. Fundraising goal: $6,000

The Baja Divide route is a rugged 1,700 mile off-pavement bikepacking route that spans the length of the Baja California peninsula, in its entirety, stretching from San Diego, CA, USA to San José del Cabo, BCS, MX. Connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, the route passes through every major mountain range in Baja California on miles of primarily dirt roads. The route utilizes existing roads and jeep trails, but was first developed and popularized as a bikepacking route by Lael Wilcox and Nicholas Carman in late 2015.

Graphic showing the map from Loreto to Cabo
A sea of desert mountains beneath a blue sky

The Team

This Redmond, OR-based crew works together at the Northwest Outward Bound School and adventures together whether it’s rafting the Grand Canyon, climbing/biking around Central Oregon, or wandering in the desert southwest. Each woman has done some form of bike adventure separately, and this year they are setting out together. What better way to spend a winter month than biking together in Baja!

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