Ended up camping about halfway between river and springs. Its really bizarre that the springs are on the trail so you are sitting in a major bottle neck for all the hikers. Unfortunately there was a large volume of conservative retiree textiles who kayaked down the river and come up to the springs just to judge those of us in our natural state. There were some chill people as well, but the overall clientele certainly made me miss California. The other issue vs deep creek, is that voices echo and resound in the canyon walls so even if there are only 2 other people, it feels less peaceful. Got up to 90 in the day and with the river too cold to swim in (around 55) and the springs trail soon to close (May 15) I guess I came too late in the season. At night the volume of bugs, mostly gnats and other non-mosqitos, was crazy. Any time we turned on a headlamp they would rush towards our faces attacking our eyes. Regardless, the slot canyon the springs are in is truly beautiful, and I really like the waterfall where the ladder is located. The best spot was a pool I made under the waterfall away from the main pools because it was a bit cooler and the sound of the rushing water drowned out the voices. I guess I would return for an evening hike closer to winter, full moon would be amazing.
