Cool, mountain spring time is the perfect time to jump into some HOT SPRINGS, and not those commercial ones where it’s just a giant pool filled with screaming toddlers and their parents. A group of us hiked up to Rainbow Hot Springs, one of the better known natural springs in the state. It’s about a five mile hike in, with moderate elevation. It’s helpful to note down the location of the springs on your GPS as it is easy enough to miss just hiking by since the stream with the springs runs fifty feet or so below the trail. After setting up camp, we bushwhacked behind a huge waterfall half a mile back along the trail. Turned out there was a nice covered spot behind the falls, and if we’d known about it on the way in, we’d have certainly pitched camp there. After enjoying the falls, we hoofed it back to camp and dropped down to the river to enjoy the hot springs. It was a short backpack with a great destination, but the route itself was so-so. Lots of dead trees along the trail from past fires, and way too many fallen trees on the trail. If I ever go back, I’ll day hike just to avoid bodily contortion around all the deadfall with a big pack.