Family Traditions

by Gabe Matthews

Our family’s connection to Baja began at a very young age. We grew up surfing, spending countless weeks exploring the Baja coastline in search of waves. My father would take us on two-week trips at a time, driving up and down the Pacific side and stopping wherever the surf looked promising.

By the time I turned eighteen, we had already made the journey to Cabo more than a dozen times.

As I grew older and began traveling with my own family, my appreciation for Baja deepened. It became more than just the Pacific coast. I discovered the beauty of the Sea of Cortez and developed a love for fishing in places like Loreto and Bahía de los Ángeles.

Baja was no longer just a destination: it became part of our family’s story and traditions.

About ten years ago, a friend invited me to help support him during the NORRA 1000. That experience changed everything. I brought my son Luke, who was eight years old at the time, and together we spent six unforgettable days chasing my friend’s Baja Bug all the way to Cabo.

Watching Luke experience Baja for the first time through the lens of off-road racing opened my eyes to an entirely new side of Mexico.

When we returned home, we were inspired. We purchased a RZR, and our off-road journey began.

She began exploring and mapping new routes,
engaging with local communities, and planning a trail that stretches from Mexico’s northern border to the southern seas. Zelzin wants to ensure that visiting hikers treat communities along the trail with the utmost respect.

“Baja is so much more than the beaches; it has natural riches that are so diverse: it has snow-capped mountains, it has canyons, it has desert, it has so much nature and animal life that exists nowhere else.”

This New Baja Thruhiking Trail means more than hiking, it’s about sharing Mexico’s natural diversity, while bringing hikers close to Indigenous communities so they can benefit economically, and, through all of this, giving Mexicans the chance to experience long-distance trails without leaving their country.

“So many people say it’s impossible, we have to demostrate that it is possible. I want to see more Mexicans thru-hiking, I believe wholly that a trail changes lives. I want to change the history of Mexico.” - Zelzin Aketzalli