Fingerprints of a once swollen stream surround a stone embedded in the flood plain of Muddy Creek. A land of extremes, the parched desert earth quickly becomes saturated by a brief thunderstorm. Sheets of rainwater funnel into narrow canyons and create a churning broth of mud and detritus that carves ever deeper. This process has formed the serpentine canyon of Muddy Creek. Segments of the canyon lie within the 31,400 acre Muddy Creek Wilderness Study Area.