We had all three boys with us in Wrightwood for a couple of days before Easter, and we had promised to take them on a hike. One destination that’s popular with locals (although not well-publicized officially, which is probably a good thing) is a small historic cabin on the east flank of Mt. Baden-Powell. Built in the 1880’s by Charles Thomas Vincent, for whom Vincent Gap is named, the structure lies about a half mile southeast of his namesake trailhead and has been restored and maintained in a very rustic state by the Forest Service. As we understand the story, Vincent was a Civil War veteran who wound up prospecting in Arizona – after killing two men who tried to jump his claim there, he fled west to California and settled here, high in the San Gabriels. Not long thereafter, he discovered gold, founded the Bighorn Mine in 1884, subsequently sold his interest to a mining company, and continued to live in this cabin until his death in 1926. Whatever directions to the cabin we could find online were quite vague, but we knew it could be reached off the Mine Gulch trail that spurs off the Bighorn Mine trail leading south from Vincent Gap – our expected round trip distance was also uncertain, something over a mile but less than two. We set out with all three boys on foot, although Chris carried the empty Osprey in case Beckett needed a lift – we quickly arrived at the Mine Gulch junction, Jude proudly reading the signs and announcing that we should take the left turn off the main trail, which we did. After a couple of short descending switchbacks, the trail levels out and runs parallel with the Mine trail, passing through a shady forest of firs before turning abruptly east and dropping further into the canyon. Shortly past this eastward turn, we met a solo hiker returning from a point several miles down who reported seeing no signs of a cabin. After consulting the GPS and some discussion, we concluded we had missed a use trail or other some such turnoff and decided to backtrack. A couple of hundred yards up the trail, we stopped at a wide spot in the path beside a fallen tree – there, while we further discussed our options, Chris noticed a trail leading away beyond the other side of the log, and we found the cabin another hundred yards or so down this path. The structure sits in a small open meadow and has indeed been restored and strengthened – it’s hard to imagine a century-plus-old shack standing firm subject to the constant pressures from summer heat, winter snow, and windy conditions so common to the region. Supplied with a stone fireplace at the rear, the walls are single wooden planks with a shingle roof, all sheathing a simple timber frame – a most basic shelter indeed. We let the boys poke around inside after a reptile/rodent check, and their curiosities were quickly satisfied – we talked then about how best to return to Vincent Gap. Our GPS app showed a trail leading further up the hill to the southeast and joining the Mine trail after a quarter-mile or so, and we discovered a use trail picking its way up the hill behind the cabin – following this, we found ourselves on an overgrown and deteriorated roadbed, and it wasn’t too difficult to make this moderately-ascending traverse, unless, that is, you’re shepherding three boys six-and-under in the process. What was quite straightforward quickly became tedious, especially as the path narrowed to a thin single track – Jane carried Beckett through most of this stretch while Chris held the hands of the other two. The crux of our effort was where a large tree had fallen across our use trail, requiring us to scale a steep, barren embankment not more than 10′ high up to where we could clearly see the wide shelf of the main trail – we had to shuttle each boy in bucket-brigade fashion up the slope, while attempting to maintain our own balance, and we’re sure the whole process was pretty comical to watch. At any rate, we managed to all get back on the old wagon-road-turned-trail in one piece, and we turned north to head back. The return was uneventful – the guys had a snack break, found sticks became pistols and light sabers, and we meandered the mile or so back to the van, Chris carrying Beckett on his back the last few hundred yards. At exactly two miles, this was a fun and interesting loop, although the advisability of taking small kids up the use trail is questionable – the trail down and back, however, is workable for all ages.