Don, I was down on Saturday also with my wife and two children. I was there from about 12 to 5 PM so we probably crossed paths there. The best way I've found to traverse that steep drop into the canyon is to follow the very top of the ridge which goes north from a place near the top where you see a barbed wire fence which had a wood sign saying something like " Cross fence to bradford ridge trail. I don't know if this wood sign is still there since I haven't been that way in a while. I'm sure you came to this fence which is near the top of the hills on the edge of the canyon. After you cross over this fence going down you catch a trail briefly ( maybe a few hundred feet where it comes to a point where it goes across the face of a steep hill which is quite slippery. Where that slippery section begins the ridge above you is quite close and I just go up to it a follow it all the way down to where it meets the PCT. You have to wind your way through and around some rocks and bushes but its alot easier than crossing the slippery face of that hill. If you don't cross the barbed wire fence on top and instead take the trail to your right it takes you down another ridge which is quite a climb. I met another person down at the springs on Saturday who I'd met before and he hikes the Bradford Ridge trail since he and his family live in the Arrowhead Lake area. He is 32 years old and says he hikes the trail in about an hour and fifteen minutes going in and a little longer on the way out. That section into the canyon is steep no matter which way you go and there is no really good " trail " through that section. Maybe this info will help you on your next hike in that area :-)