Arroyo Trabuco is an addition to O'Neill Wilerness Park, which is part of the Orange County Wilderness Parks system. The park lies in an arroyo that separates Mission Viego, to the west, from where I live on the east side of the arroyo. I access the park from the northwest side of the Oso Parkway bridge that goes over the arroyo.

I had thought about hiking in the area for some time but hadn't gotten around to it. The cool thing about this part of Orange County is that there are a lot of open spaces, despite the fact that the area is thickly settled.

I didn't go down into the arroyo because I saw a trail leading up the hillside. Yesterday was an exceptionally clear day and I knew that the moutain ranges around the Los Angeles basin were freshly covered with snow. I hoped that climbing to a high point would give me a vantage point for seeing the snowcaps. I was not disappointed. At one point I looked northeast and could see the snowcaps, and when I turned around to look south, I saw the Pacific Ocean. In my world, that's very cool.