Jane stayed at the cabin while Chris took Pedro and Cody and Carter Ammeraal on the 4-mile roundtrip hike out to Bighorn Mine. Located high in Mine Gulch on the southeast flank of Mt. Baden-Powell, the gold mine was one of the most productive in the San Gabriels, producing into the 1940’s before watering out. The trail, which follows an old jeep road that has washed out in many places, leaving a narrow track that traverses the steep hillsides, has seen even more damage since our last visit a year and a half ago – the area saw torrential rains this past summer, and virtually all of the existing washes and slide areas look to have been deepened. We made our way leisurely down the initial, wide and shady part of the trail, emerging into bright midday sunlight around a bend to a south-facing slope about halfway in – here, Cody found a baby rattlesnake sunning himself on the uphill side of the slope. Thus discovered, the snake quickly slithered down across the trail and coiled up beneath a small rock, clearly annoyed at the unwanted attention – we left him be, and found no sign of him on the return trip. The building ruins at the mine’s south entrance looked to be unaffected by any recent storms, and it’s somewhat of a marvel that such ambitious structures were able to be built here, even with the support of a road. After exploring a bit, we headed back, uneventfully reaching the busy Vincent Gap parking lot about 45 minutes later. Despite the new washouts, this remains a short, easy, and (therefore) popular hike – we encountered at least a dozen other parties coming and going. Both the fall scenery and mild weather were beautiful, particularly as the absence of haze over the Inland Empire allowed clear views across the southland all the way to Catalina Island from Inspiration Point. A great day. (The GPS batteries died within the first mile – see our previous hike for trip stats.)