Paria Canyon - Seep spring with hanging garden

Up a side canyon in lower Paria Canyon. Precipitation seeps down through the sandstone layers until it encounters an impermeable shale layer - then it moves laterally til it reaches a face where the rock layer is exposed - where it becomes a seep spring. Ferns, mosses, and other rare plants take advantage of the rare moisture, forming "hanging gardens" - particularly, as here, where the rock face faces north or east, resulting in cool shade.
Visible at the lower-left is a clump of white Columbines [Aquilegia coerulea James var. ochroleuca].
We backpacked Paria over Memorial Day; it was already warm to hot. The main water source is Paria Creek, which is muddy and was also kinda warm - after being filtered, it wasn't all that appealing. After five days of heat and warm water, we were longing for an ice cube. So these rare seep springs merited a long stop to fill our water bottles - a water bottle set under one of the fastest drips is visible in the lower center [hint - always carry wide-mouthed water bottles - better for catching seep drips in summer, easier to fill with snow in winter].
Having been in this arid area during the warm season - not unlike the climate of classical Greece and Rome - these cool seep springs were magical places. I could understand why the ancients worshiped springs, and why they would pour a libation for the gods.
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