The San Juan snowmelt week that wrecked my itinerary

Last June I planned a 6 day loop near Silverton, Colorado and hit a week of record snowmelt. The first crossing was ankle deep at 8 AM, but by 3 PM the same creek was waist high and moving fast. I had to bail on the whole route and take a gravel road out to Durango, which added 14 miles of walking. What stood out was how every stream that looked small on a map became a real hazard by afternoon. I ended up using a GPS app to reroute daily, which I normally refuse to do. Has anyone else had a season where the water levels made their planned trail totally unsafe? How do you decide when to turn back vs push through a crossing?

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