I used to love getting up early, whether for work, to go camping or to the airport, or for a photo op. But as a freshman in college, I'll admit that I haven't seen a sunrise in a long time. So it was especially hard to wake up at 4:30am in the middle of a vacation.
My dad, brother and I are a little addicted to fly-fishing. Every summer, we try to get out to the Gold Medal waters of the Frying Pan River in Basalt, CO to challenge ourselves against the stubborn trout. Whenever the three of us venture away from our beloved Frying Pan, we try our luck at another type of fish, fishing and water.
Hence the three of us were up and at 'em at before the crack of dawn and drove 45 minutes west of our temporary home in San José to downtown Cabo San Lucas to meet the surf fisherman of Cabo. We piled in his car and drove over the last of the Sierra de la Laguna mountains on the western side of downtown Cabo and made our way over a pothole-filled road to a private beach. The sun was just beginning its journey into the day.
After a short hike down the beach, my brother and I began casting aimlessly into the surf. There were no signs of any fish, although my dad and our guide assured us they were there. The sun came up over the southern hills and I could no longer resist the morning rays of sunlight. I ran to grab my camera. My brother continued to search for fish while I captured this photo of him, reeling in a cast in front of the 10 foot waves with a 12 foot rod.
Three hours later, we were still empty handed. But we explored another excluded beach and its hidden caves and dunes. We were lucky to be taken to a part of Cabo that most tourists never see, even without a catch and at such an ungodly hour.