[pct-l] Another Baden Powell Bypass option

[mardav at charter.net (Marion Davison)]

We hiked section D in March one year with three llamas.  Since they 
don't make crampons for llamas, we bypassed from Vincent Gap to Cooper 
Canyon, entirely on trail.  Heading northwest from Vincent Gap is the 
Manzanita Trail.  It drops directly to South Fork Campgound in 5.3 
miles.  At this point you can pick up the South Fork trail and hike back 
to the PCT at Islip Saddle, 5.2 miles.  We found the South Fork trail to 
be too narrow and loose for stock.  It is a sidecut on a very steep 
wall, and a fall would be fatal.  The llamas simply refused to go on 
when their packs started to scrape the sidewall.  So we hiked west on 
the Punchbowl trail thru Devil's Punchbowl, then south on the Burkhardt 
trail where we rejoined the PCT in Cooper Canyon. (14.3 miles)
This was a beautiful, worthy and very safe detour.  We found several 
water supplies along the way.  We camped at a very nice site in Holcomb 
Canyon on the east side of Devils Punchbowl.  When we did this a few 
years ago, the trails were all in excellent condition.  Who knows what 
they are like now after all the storms of winter.
You can find this whole detour very well outlined on the Tom Harrison 
map called "Angeles High Country."
llamalady