Too Big? Go South.

After waiting my 72 hours after the flushing the rain gave Southern California, I decided to get a surf in before the next storm moves in tonight and sends the rest of the cow crap, motor oil, dog shit, and any number of things pumped through the Santa Ana river and into our ocean. Last night I did just enough arm twisting to get Ian to wake up early and get a surf in. He just returned from a business trip in Vegas, (for some reason, he is always more tired from his Vegas trips than any other trips. Weird, huh?) and wanted to sleep in. Knowing we were going to get a big swell, and most of the local beach breaks would be walled, he suggested Trails. Trails? San Onofre? I had not surfed Trails for over a year, and then only with the family. "Does it get good? Does it line up?" I asked him. "oh yeah." he said.

I left the house at 5:20am, hoping to just get a decent surf, considering I had not surfed in about a week due to lack of waves, then rain. Met Ian at the gate, just past the giant ta tas, known as San O energy plant. The first thing I noticed was the lack of ANYONE in the area. It reminded us of the movie Vacation when the Griswolds park in the empty Wally World lot. We grabbed our gear and began the trek down the cliffs. Long story short, the waves were pumping! There was no crowd at all. (a lot of times I mention that I surfed alone, but usually I see a couple of guys north or south of me, but today there was not ONE other person miles north or miles south of us.) The ocean was glassy, no wind, consistent sets, and empty! We shared waves for two hours and both got the best waves we surfed in months. Definitely a session that will be remembered for a loooong time. Sorry for the low quality pics, but all I had was my iPhone. This must be the place.
"Ah man, it looks small. I thought it was going to be bigger." Ian said "Dude, it IS pretty big. We are a hundred feet above the beach right now!" I said as we quickened our steps.

From the beach. It is a lot bigger than it looks, trust me. I would have taken a picture of someone surfing to give you size comparison, but there is nobody out there.

The sunrise was really nice.

That little speck on that wave is Ian after I already came in. He is actually on a smaller one coming in, but it is still shoulder high.

Half of the crowd today.

The trail end

Self portrait of the other half of the crowd.

Conditions were still good as we left and reached the top of the cliffs. We were relieved to see two people get in as we got out. I would feel almost guilty knowing great waves like that were breaking unridden all day long. It's nice to know you can still get lost and surf alone in Southern California in 2009.