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Manzanita Trail Morning

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Trees silhouetted by the early morning sun on a ridge above the Manzanita Trail.

Many of the hikers and runners that park at Vincent Gap climb Mt. Baden-Powell via the Pacific Crest Trail. The PCT isn’t the only trail that can accessed here and Mt. Baden-Powell isn’t the only hike. Vincent Gap is also the trailhead for the Manzanita Trail, Big Horn Mine Trail and Mine Gulch Trail. My run today involved these three trails.

Morning sun on trees at Vincent Gap from the Manzanita Trail
Morning sun on trees at Vincent Gap

First up this morning was the Manzanita Trail. The trail is part of the High Desert National Recreation Trail and connects Vincent Gap to South Fork Campground. It’s about 5.5 miles long and can be done as an out and back or as part of an approximately 23.5 mile loop that joins Islip Saddle, South Fork Campground, Vincent Gap and Mt. Baden-Powell.

Western chokecherry (Western choke cherry) along the Manzanita Trail.
Western chokecherry along the Manzanita Trail.

That loop is a favorite and this morning’s short run on the Manzanita Trail was to check if a small stream/spring I use as a water source was still running. Remarkably it was!

Some work had been done on the trail since I was there in June. A washed out section just below Vincent Gap had been repaired, the tread in several places improved, and the indistinct trail across the rocky wash about a mile down from Vincent Gap had been much improved.

Some related posts: South Fork Adventure, Trail Running Weather, San Gabriel Mountains Running Adventure, Islip Saddle – Mt. Baden-Powell South Fork Loop