Old Man's Spring

Last week, we drove down to the San Rafael Desert just outside of Canyonlands, Maze District, for 3 days of riding. 

In contrast to the snow we found on Lake Mountain in the previous post, temperatures were near 80 F on the red desert. 

The first day, we started at Kegg Knoll and rode toward the arch you can see on the cliffs above Steve and Boss.

In the hills below it, we searched for Old Man Spring, where someone purportedly ran a still in Prohibition days.  We found this cave and a few cottonwood trees.  The sand was wet, but we didn't find any actual water.  Springs in this area surface at the contact zone between the permeable Entrada and the Carmel layers of sandstone, which is what we found here.

Grass and other vegetation were greening.  The yellow blossoms of a Fremont's Mahonia brightened the scenery.
Maybe the Old Man used up all the water making whiskey!