(GPS: N34 21.390 W117 44.680)
This is one of the hikes I am posting more for historical reasons than anything else. A lot of hikes I do near where I live are more for exercise compared to what I do in the High Sierra. These Angeles National Forest trails are good just do to get away and get some exercise in. I always feel like I am hiking in a forest in a desert. The smells, the scenery, etc. just do not feel quite right. It is usually dry giving it that forest in a desert feeling.
We parked at Vincent Gap off the 2 HWY (which recently just opened up all the way through to the west after being close for some years). The week before we had hiked up to Mt. Baden-Powell which I will talk about some other time. The above picture shows the signs at the trailhead. If you go up the trail you start the dozens of switchbacks to get to the top of Baden-Powell. If you head to the left of this picture then you start on the historical wagon road to the Big Horn Mine. I had done Baden-Powell a bunch of times, but I had never been to the Big Horn Mine.
The hike is pretty much straight forward. It is easy. I do not remember how long it took us, but it seems to be it is about 2 miles with about 500 ft. elevation.
I am cutting out a lot of pictures, but this is the point where to the right is a steep incline and to the left is a drop off. Nothing too dramatic. This is really the only part I remember that was opened up a bit compared to walking on the road through a forest. We eventually got to the stamp mill.
To the left of me I could see Mt. Baldy (in the middle background) and Iron Mountain to the far right. Somewhere down below would be the East Fork River and the Bridge to Nowhere (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) which I have covered before.
Here is a closer shot of the stamp mill.
The mine is on the other side. I will show a little about the mine in my next blog.
