In many places, Rock Springs looks more like a ruin than it looks like something natural feature.
Posted May 11, 2004
Rock Springs is a short section of creek in the Thebes area, between Fayville and Olive Branch in Alexander County, Illinois.
The creek bed is composed of limestone which was laid down in very definate bands, and the creek has cut its way through the bedrock creating a landscape that, if the scale were larger, would look like something out of Star Trek.
Creek bed with Jim for scale.
It passes a Beech tree which reminds me of the first joke Jim ever told me. I think he learned it in Boy Scouts.
How do you recognize a Beech tree?
It's the one with the initials carved in the trunk
Of course, for all the oddness of the geology, it's the water itself that really makes the trip worthwhile for me.
And of course, there's no way a photograph can convey the delightful sursuration of the creek, the play of light on water, or the coolness of the creek.
But like a fool, I keep trying!
We aren't sure, by the way, if there's a spring here or not. We saw water trickling under the rock of the wall on this visit, but it might have been just groundwater after the heavy rains earlier in the week.
Frequently, an area of a creek where the water seems to bubble up will be called "springs" even if it's just creekwater responding to its enviornment and not a spring bubbling up from under the earth.
Photos by Ruby Jung. All rights reserved.
