National Geographic Expedition, Baja Mexico

Dr. Brian Hausback on the summit of the volcano Tres Virgenes, researching the volcanic hazards of Baja California.

In the winter and spring of 2000 I was asked to photographically document a trip funded by the National Geographic Society researching the volcanic hazards of the Baja peninsula. Needless to say this is the opportunity that every photographer dreams of so I did not hesitate. While there was no guarantee my work would make it to the pages of the magazine the adventure was right up my alley having spent so much time in remote deserts documenting expedition life. When all was said and done we did indeed make it into National Geographic Magazine and with a lead off double page spread no less. It was a fascinating experience from dealing with the editors of the magazine, trying to grasp the science in the field, keeping equipment functioning in extreme environments, to keeping my nausea at bay while peering through my telephoto lens from the back of a stripped down Cessna. Often my job would just begin after a long and strenuous day climbing to the top of a volcano or arriving back at our camp only to find it ransacked by coyotes. Please read through the captions to the following images to hear more of our day to day story.

Our expedition featured in National Geographic’s April 2001 issue.

Volcanologists study the ash deposits on Isle San Luis.

Our morning commute to work on the Isle San Luis.

Google Earth view of Isla San Luis and the location of our basecamp on the Baja Peninsula.

Dr. Hausback trying to find a way to date when the most recent eruption occurred on Isle San Luis by taking samples of the multi-layered bird droppings in the rookery on the island.

Brian checking in with base camp from the summit of Tres Virgenes volcano.

The enormous cliffs of ash deposit on the southern flanks of Isle San Luis. Locals have witnessed enormous chunks sloughing off and crashing into the sea not dissimilar to an iceberg calving off of a glacier.

Sharing stories and cervezas around the campfire.

We camped on the peninsula while researching Isle San Luis and hired local fisherman to take us to the island everyday. The island was home to large rookeries of pelicans and there was little fresh water making it not suitable for camping.

The worst of the cactus were the cholla. If you so much as brushed up against one the thorns would grab hold of you and the lobe of the cactus they were affixed to would break off. If you tried to pull it off of your body it would stick to your hand. We literally each carried a fork on our belts to use to pry off cholla from our bodies.

After an incredibly long day Brian, Paul, and I summited Tres Virgenes Volcano and simply rolled out our sleeping pads and did an open bivy right next to the memorial that was there. In the morning you could see not only the Pacific Ocean to the West but all the way across the Sea of Cortez to mainland Mexico.

Dr. Hausback (aka the Volcano Doctor) on top of Tres Virgenes Volcano at sunrise. That shadow is being cast from the volcano we are standing on top of.

Dr. Brian Hausback. Geologist, volcanologist, and big curious kid.

Cruising the shoreline of Isla San Luis accessing where to land and what to study.

Chris Farrar, US Geological Survey scientist otherwise-known-as the Gas Man or Papa. For the science geeks reading this caption, it was Chris who discovered that Mammoth Mountain in the Eastern Sierra was expelling enormous amounts of CO2 in the mid 1990s that killed vast stretches of forest.

On the shore of Isla San Luis accessing ash fall deposits.

Brian taking notes on the tidewater lagoon on the northern end of Isla San Luis.

Geologist find a massive “popcorn bomb” thrown from the central volcanic cone on Isla San Luis.

Francisco Paz Moreno taking a close look at deposits along the moat around Isla San Luis’ central volcanic cone.

Isla San Luis is an important nesting grounds for pelicans and is closed to public access.

Dr. Hausback and his giant bird shit sample that he wrapped in tinfoil and then duct-tapped up tight to take back to the USA to have a carbon test done on to access when the last eruption of Isla San Luis may have been. His packaged sample looked exactly like the illegal contraband that I’ve seen in movies for decades. Thankfully out vehicles were never inspected by the border patrol or they would never have believed us as to what it actually was.

Several hundred feet above sea level geologist pinpoint a spot to dig a pit to look for fossils of crustaceans that they might be able to date to access how and when Isla San Luis lifted up out of the Sea of Cortez.

Brian digs for fossilized seashells far from the shoreline.

Brian finds what he is after. Seashells hundred of feet above sea level. By dating these in the lab he can access the timeline of Isla San Luis’ volcanic creation.

Brian digs out seashells to date and a Cal Tech student logs them.

After several days of exploring Isla San Luis Dr. Hausback mentioned how he would love to see an aerial view of the island. When we went to the nearest village to purchase food and clean water we say a small dirt landing strip and Dr. Hausback immediately tried to find the owner of one of the planes that were parked there.

We were offered a flight free of charge by a very generous college teacher from Los Angeles. He had been traveling around Baja with his wife in their small and somewhat tattered Cessna.

Brian sat in the co-pilot seat while I was in the rear of the aircraft where all of the seating had been removed. I was able to move freely around to get shots out both windows in the rear of the plane.

We blacked out the rear window in the plane to minimize the reflections on the inside of the windows. I had my camera up to my eye for 95% of the flight and while I have never gotten motion sickness I came as close as I ever want to during this flight.

A bird’s eye view of Isla San Luis. It was funny that while the pilot was more than willing to take us on a flight around the island, he told me that I’d never get a good shot through his plane’s windows. I sent him “thank you” note with a copy of the National Geographic magazine that featured a lead-off double page spread that I shot through his plane’s window. :)

A rare calm moment on the Sea of Cortez. Here the team is being transported north from the town of Santa Rosalia to the La Reforma caldera where we will spend several days camped on a beach and exploring the caldera.

Being dropped off on the beach and unloading all of our gear.

Camp life was always pretty lively. Rattlesnakes, scorpions, centipedes and even coyotes made visits.

A fascinating display of columnar jointing discovered in the La Reforma Caldera.

Google Earth view of the second area the team of geologists studied. La Reforma Caldera is the giant crater along the coast and Tres Virgenes volcano is marked just its west.

The team moves camp to explore the northern flanks of the caldera.

Paul Verke the expedition’s writer and USGS Geologist Chris Ferrar descend into a crater that is on the perimeter of the La Reforma Caldera to take gas samples from the crater floor.

Chris assembles his gas sampling instrument.

Hiking back out of the crater after having taken samples to catch our boat ride back to camp.

Chris Ferrar banging on some colorful rocks. I’m sure he was doing something scientifically interesting, but I just grabbed the shot because of all of the cool colors and the action!

Geologist Dr. Joanne Stock from Cal Tech takes care of some blisters back at camp.

One of the cool things that would happen when you shot for Nat Geo is that you sent the film (old school) straight to them in Washington DC and they would process it and edit it without you having ever seen how the photos turned out! Eventually they would return the film to you in their super cool slide mounts. :)