This was the sort of day made for hiking. Blue skies, puffy clouds, tons of wildlife out and about (turkeys, a bald eagle, a herd of elk at least 100 strong), a grueling climb up to see the snowy Trinities and some nice trail descent to finish it off. Only one thing could dampen my spirits: a creek bed bushwhack along very steep banks. That's right, it's runoff season and there's literal tons of it melting away right now. The day was warm so the creek flow was even higher than it would be normally in runoff, so full that the trail down low became itself another creek bed. I should have known better and stayed higher until I got closer to where I started, but the trail was beginning to do too much up and down for me. Of course, the bushwhack was far more strenuous than the open but uphill trail would have been. The trailhead could not have been more welcome when I finally laid eyes on it.