SPOT ON SPOT
A Revisionist Glance At Historic Surf Locales: Lowers
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Another notable historic moment was in 2003 when a group of biologists got a grant to cut down all non-endemic plants and trees in the area. In an attempt to save the local habitat, they ruined the local’s habitat by inadvertently cutting down the venerable date palm tree that was used as the unanimous marker to triangulate the take-off spot. “Guys were lining up with that tree in the longboard era,” says Sam George. “A whole generation of locals didn’t know how to line up.”
Misconceptions
That longboarders are welcome there. “Trestles got its reputation as a longboard spot because Herbie surfed there,” says Sam George, “but it’s definitely not a longboard spot anymore.”
That you can read a How To Surf Trestles article, then go out there and get waves. “It’s more crowded and way more hectic then you think,” says Pat Gudauskas. “So I would think twice about how bad you want to go surf Lowers before you make the trek down there and potentially have a face melting session with a 100 of your closest friends.”
That Lowers is in Orange County. “They’re always claiming Lowers is the best wave in Orange County but its not in orange county, it’s in San Diego. Technically, Uppers is Orange, but not Lowers. Even the last parking spots on the street are in San Diego. That’s why the end of the parking is painted red- the San Diego police didn’t want to have to come up and cover that little area, so they just made it so you can’t park there,” Sam George attests.
Quotables
“That’s where we go to feel the nature in our sport. There’s no more nature left in surfing if they start screwing with Trestles,” -Jericho Poppler.
“It’s one of the few places that’s rideable 365 days a year.” -Bill Stewart
“It's funny because there’s a group of guys from, I think, Huntington who surf out there all the time, but they semi fly under the radar and are absorbed as semi locals because people don’t know any better. Every now and again I'll see one of them out in Huntington or Newport and it makes me laugh ‘cause I thought they were from San Clemente. But that’s the nature of the beast, its one of the best waves on the coast so people are not afraid to devote lots of time to getting there and surfing it if the waves are pumping even if it means long drives back and forth every morning. I can’t fault them.”-Pat Gudauskas
“When it’s really good, Lowers is on Uppers.” –Scott Bass
“In the afternoon there are three guys who are real ‘locals,’ but besides that it’s a ‘free trade’ surf spot, there’s no locals.” -Sam George
The Dirt
The biggest uproar associated with Trestles is the proposed Toll Road, which if passed, will run through and along San Mateo Creek, not only affecting watershed and endangered species, but also substantially changing the way Lowers breaks. Apparently that upsets people. Posters, bumper stickers, and demonstrations can attest to the fact that Orange County surfers would rather deal with a little traffic than lose their only non-beachbreak wave. An entire non-profit industry has emerged; people are paying their mortgages by “Saving Trestles.”
When the tour comes to town, the pros relish in the opportunity to surf Lowers with only 4 guys in the water, although some free surfers are not so keen on being periodically barred from the spot. “I think that the locals need to be more open minded to a slightly longer waiting period for the WCT event,” says Pat Gudauskas. “It's absolutely ludicrous that the only WCT on American soil is restricted to 5 days or something stupid like that. These old guys who are putting up the beef should be a little less selfish in my opinion and allow for a few extra days. I don’t think it would kill them to go surf a beach break or another wave on our beautiful coastline.”
Nostradamus
2012: With the construction of the road right to the beach at Lowers along with the multilevel parking structure, now the surf spot will finally be accessible to even the disabled, the vastly obese, and the lazy.
2012 and a half: The deaths of several surfers in the jam-packed lineup force authorities to step in, enacting a 100-person capacity and prompting surfers to arrive 2 hours pre-dawn to sign up for their session time for the day.
2021: Global warming and rising sea levels will reach an all-time high, rendering Lowers extinct. Oh well, it was a good half century.
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