By BEA SHELBY

My favorite place in MTRP is the Grinding Rocks. The old oak trees that have been there long before I ever was overlook the San Diego River. The running waters are still carving a gorge through the mountains. The large plutonic rocks show markings of women’s work in a long time past. Here they prepared acorns to feed their families.

Little is known for sure of those long gone by, but legends tell of a simpler and more peaceful time than what we know today. As a breeze blows through my hair while I sit on a “grinding rock,” my thoughts go back in time. I wonder what life would be like here if the Europeans had never come and changed the local peoples’ lifestyle forever.

— Bea Sheby is a trail guide at Mission Trails Regional Park.