Arriving in La Paz the evening before I tried to take in as much as I could that night. The two hottest cities so far have been Loreto and La Paz by a long shot. The temps are already breaking the 90’s by 10 am usually and with no winds it can be unbearable later in the day. Compared to other cities like Cabo, La Paz is more low key and cleaner. It’s still too busy and hot for me.

The only major stop South of La Paz would be Cabo. With this in the back of my mind I know that Baja is almost coming to end. Three weeks have gone by fast. I crossed over the border on edge second guessing my decision to take this journey. I wasn’t sure If this was the right thing to do. But I dreamed about this for years; I had to go.

Making my way towards the East Cape I noticed a town that at first glance looked like every other small town in Baja. At second glance though I noticed that most of the streets were paved in stone. Not something that you see in most small towns. Of course the Mission is the first thing you see when driving into El Triunfo. But I’ve already seen a Mission. Don’t they all sort of look alike? So I exited the van. In the middle of the desert. At high noon.

The  I made my way into the Mission. Yep, looked like a Mission on the inside. I walked around towards the back though and noticed another paved street with a cool little bridge leading towards some ruins. Then I noticed the huge stacks located further back. It was sort of like going on a hunt for treasure. I kept walking further and further and found more and more. In its prime, El Triunfo was a major mining operation with over 10,000 miners digging for silver and gold. The mine shut down in 1926 but the history of the town remains.

With 94 km left to go until reaching Cabo I had to make a decision. Continue south or head east. I wasn’t ready to hit the end of the peninsula just yet. Some people I had met in Loreto told me to give the East Cape a shot. So I did.

Over the next 6 days I camped and surfed from south of Cabo Pulmo to Nine Palms. I walked the beaches at dawn taking in the beauty and colors of the sky. I managed to find some usable firewood for the evenings. A nice south came in and put some overhead size into the waves which were perfect with morning offshore winds. Crossing the Tropic of Cancer just to get here made it all the better.