On the side of a mountain: Company Departs / Canyon Running / What It must Have Been Like

All good things must end . My sister departed to go back to Fl , my other friends have went to Deming to deal with the challenge of getting their house built . Back to the daily routine of discovery and exploration of the high desert . I did get the chance to show my sis the incredible beauty and different plant and life forms on the high desert . Bob , Sis and I loaded up one day for the trip to Sierra Vista AZ. by way of Douglas and Bisbee , the trip narrated by Bob , with his volumes of knowledge of the area was nice for me too . It was a good ride , particularly as I didn't have to drive , the local fauna cooperated with antelope coming within a few yards of the highway to show off their summer colors , through the pass to Douglas some white tail deer leaping through the thickets made for a pleasant surprise . Traffic , thankfully was light and with no one to pressure us we had a leisurely trip over and back . Bisbee is all that you would expect from an old mining town built onto the side of a mountain , with the great open pit mines with their gaping maw there to remind you of what mining is all about . It ain't pretty but it is an awesome sight , especially if you think about the technology that was available when these monsters were in full swing .

Sierra Vista is not all that old and bears a striking resemblance to every other bedroom community in America , lots of big box stores , lots of franchise eateries , lots of traffic , I was a wreck by the time came to return home . I realize these places are necessary for people to exist , but I don't have to like it ! At any rate a safe return to Rusty's was accomplished and after an application of Shiner Bock , my jangled nerves were settled and we spent a pleasant evening sitting on the deck and let the desert whisper it's secrets to us .

Yesterday I undertook a little canyon running . I started up at the far end of cave creek and slowly worked my way back to Portal , a quick stop for a coffee , and I went down State Line Road , I wanted to get some more photos of the old Pullman car that sits abandoned out in the desert just south of Rodeo
as I was cruising the stretch of road leading to the old car , I spied the Sulphur Canyon Road and having met a couple of folks who lived back in there , I went to explore . There are a good many trails back up in the canyon but I decided not to beat the van up anymore and parked and with the aid of my walking stick made it in quite a ways to get a few shots ;

While I didn't set out to be gone the entire day I found that canyon running on my messed up legs makes for some slow going . What would have been a short trip some years ago , turned into a two and a half hour journey and just about beat me up . It was worth it !

My next stop was down on Stateline Road . This old Pullman car really intrigues me , no telling how long it has been sitting out in this field . No one seems to know , it is quite a distance from where the tracks were and still has it's trucks underneath it . What kind of stories this old car could tell , cattle barons ? Perhaps some native Americans riding it to their imprisonment to Fl ? Families coming west to settle ? Tired cowboys , making the trek back to the ranch after a hooraw in El Paso ? Miners going to Douglas or Bisbee ? I may have to write a story on this one .