I've been dirt bikin' in the desert in Belin, NM. I went 25 miles out into the desert every day.....alone. It was probably one of the most dangerous things that I've ever done. Every so often, I smelled death and found some hapless cow or critter that got hurt or crippled and died right there. The desert takes NO prisoners.
Now, as to the article........... I like the bike, like how he equipped it but wonder what the Hell he was thinking for his choice of tires.
There are Jeep trails all over the desert and the trick is to find one that takes you roughly in the direction that you want to go. That's the easiest traveling. That doesn't always work and you may need to blaze your own trail. If you want to go left and the Jeep trail goes right, your choices are limited.
I used Velcro to attach my GPS to the front fender so I could navigate as I rode. Keeping the direction to landmark arrow and the direction of travel arrow lined up, would always get be back home. The tires on that bike would NEVER make it off of the Jeep trails. The bike would be swallowed in the sand!