Thirst Quenched at Moonshiner's Arch - Part 1

The rain actually stopped for a little while when I was on the unofficial Douglas trail down in Kentucky.

The trail starts at the parking area for the Osborne trail on the other side of the concrete bridge.  Just look for it at the river's edge, it's easy to find.  It follows the river for a couple of miles but I only went half mile.  You'll know that you're getting close to Moonshiner's arch when you come to this spot you have to cross where the water is coming out of the hillside.  On the way in I went straight across the rocks, but on the way back out it was easier to go around closer to the river.

take your time crossing!

Just ahead on the left about 0.3 mile from parking lot is Moonshiner's Arch, where I got my thirst for adventure quenched.

I climbed right on up in there and discovered it was a large cave like opening.  Moonshiners used the arch, the hole in the ceiling acting as a flue for the smoke.

I really enjoyed the view out to the river and had a hard time pulling myself away.

When I went out the back opening of the cave I discovered it was easy to get up on top and have a look around.

The flue opening went through pretty thick rock, makes you wonder how a "plug" of softer stone that eroded easier ended up in there like that or did something else happen?

And the view from the top wouldn't have showed the sandstone cliff on the other side of the river or the river itself in the summer.  There were the remains of a fire on top, not to mention a few beer bottles so while I had it to myself and I was sober it looks like alcohol might still be the main attraction here to most folks.

The real adventure quenching came when I was looking around on top of the arch and discovered more features to investigate along the river...