From Acjachema to Pājaktse - Trails Over the Santa Ana Mountains from San Juan Capistrano to Lake Elsinore, c. 1769-1845
High in the Santa Ana Mountains are relatively flat areas with meadows with the Spanish name “potreros.” Pictured here is the Potrero los Pinos. It's quite something to consider this is a natural part of Orange County, a place far better known for its beaches and urban sprawl. From Acjachema to Pājaktse Trails Over the Santa Ana Mountains from San Juan Capistrano to Lake Elsinore, c. 1769-1845 The Santa Ana Mountains form an ever present background in the lives of the people of Orange County. This is somewhat ironic given the stark contrast between the cities and housing tracts below and the mountains’ untouched appearance above, broken only by power lines, truck roads, and radio antennas. Their natural quality serves to remind us that the rest of the county was once a more natural place. The mountains preserve the character of history before the urban sprawl. Perhaps the mountains’ ruggedness, or something in the name “Old Saddleback,” evokes the distant past. The mountains fe...