March 21 -- Another Pullman Car, And Odd Stone Structures...

Thanks to a tip given to me by a friend here, I knew the location of another Pullman car -- and there wasn't a fence around this one as there was around the other one that I saw near Rodeo. It was in the area where the White-tailed Kites had been seen, so it was serendipitous that I could check for both. Heading down there, there were a few good "things" along Stateline Road -- 

Gambel's Quail

Red-tailed Hawk

An intent look...

I went down the stretch of Highway 80 where I'd seen the Golden Eagle; alas, nothing. The road leading to the Kites and Pullman car is gated, so that plus its isolation means there's no one on the dirt road besides the very occasional resident, of which there are perhaps 5 at most. I drove down the road west for about 2 miles, then saw it, half hidden in the tall grass. It looked in worse condition than the other one. It was pretty far off the road; how do I get to it? Not through the grass; it's at least the beginning of snake season. I found a very faint track that led in its direction, and before I arrived at the car saw some stone structures. My informative friend had mentioned something about a stone labyrinth... but first, the Pullman car. I had to walk through the grass to get closer to it, carefully looking for snakes. The car, though in terrible condition, was certainly in a more photogenic area than the other one near town --

It was lonely out there, but not desolate. In fact, it was, to me, downright beautiful, with the backdrop of the Chiricahuas and the desert grassland setting. I was able to get right up to the railway car --

but I was NOT going to go inside. With all the rotted wood and having been out there for at least 50 years, who knows what critters were living in it. And a few moments later, I saw at least one resident, when a Barn Owl flew out from a large hole in the top of the car; apparently I'd disturbed its daytime snooze. It was an understatement to say it startled me when it shot out. It was big, and it flew off to a far tree snag where I could tell it was waiting for me to leave so it could continue its siesta. You can see the BO in the following photo, a dot in the distance above the green area that appears to be at the foot of the mountains --

Rats, I didn't bring any of my big lenses with me. Guess I'll just have to come back again...I apologized for my intruding on his sleep time, and thanked him (I always do that after I've encountered a bird, or for that matter any animal, except for scorpions or snakes ;o) ) As I walked away, it flew off its perch and back into its area inside the top of the car.  Now it's time to go back and check out those stone structures... My knowledgeable friend had mentioned a labyrinth. This first one didn't look like that, but was still quite unusual --

I looked at it from all angles (which watching out for snakes) and came upon this view. It looks like it's a rock rendition of the mountain behind it. See how it peaks in the middle, and has a ravine in it, just like the mountain? Or maybe my imagination got the better of me, but it has to represent SOMEthing. Anyway, that's my interpretation.  And then I came upon the labyrinth --

That's a 5-photo panorama of it. It circles around, until you end up in the center. Whoever constructed it must've spent a lot of time doing so --

I later find out, once again from my friend who first informed me of them, that they were made by a previous owner of this tract over 15 years ago. He was an Englishman (probably a bit eccentric) who would come over here once a year for several weeks and build these structures. The stones he used were from a large structure, possibly a granary,  that had formerly been there and had collapsed. Pretty cool stuff!  And all in the middle of "nowhere". But that seems to be the norm for this area -- dig a little, and you'll find things of interest. And it still blows me away that all of this is within easy distance of Faranuf...