Seth Powell walks along Southern California’s coast bearing only his backpack. His mission is to travel roughly 1,000 miles on foot to reach Humboldt State University in time for the first day of classes, Aug. 25. Each day he walks 20 miles carrying his pack in the California summer heat. So far, Powell has only ridden public transportation and accepted rides a handful of times. As long as the car was already heading north, he says, but the bulk of the journey will be on foot.