See the TURTLE of enormous girth!

[AZRedhawk44]

I found the end of the Beam yesterday, apparently.   

The other end with the Bear was much more interesting.  I was a bit too preoccupied at the time to get pictures, though.





His shell is about 15" from end to end.  My shoe is a bit over a foot.





Somebody or something tried to crack his shell at some point.  Big old hole in it, appears to be semi-healed, but with a cavity.  There's a second smaller crack with a rock wedged into it towards the front.





Big old earth-mover claws for digging up stuff.  He hid them when I came up to him.  No sharp beak, which I was initially concerned about while stepping around him.  He's a grass-grazer.

I went hiking on Sunday just south of Canyon Lake, in the Superstition Mountains.  I've never seen one of these before, and it was a treat.  He was a BIG specimen in comparison to what Wiki has to say on the subject.  This particular guy was about 2 miles from the lake, and 800 feet above it.

[makattak]

Very nice pictures. My wife will love them.

One note: I believe he is a tortoise, not a turtle.

http://www.reptilesofaz.org/Turtle-Amphibs-Subpages/h-g-agassizii.html

[AZRedhawk44]

Yeah, he's a desert tortoise... I was borrowing from Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

[makattak]

Yeah, he's a desert tortoise... I was borrowing from Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

Ah... Stephen King. There's a "literary" reference I will never recognize.

[Gewehr98]

My wife always asks me why I keep referring to "The Beam" when going down the Interstate.   

[Balog]

What Stephen King work is this referring to? Not familiar with it myself.

[AZRedhawk44]

The Dark Tower series, and also It.

See the TURTLE of enormous girth!
On his shell he holds the Earth.
His thought is slow but always kind;
he holds us all within his mind.

On his back all vows are made;
He sees the truth but mayn't aid.
He loves the land and loves the sea,
And even loves a child like me

See the TURTLE of enormous girth,
On his shell he holds the earth.
If you want to run and play,
Come along the BEAM today.

During the final conflict with the It-beast in It, the main hero character (was his name Ben?) is flung through space and time and flies past the empty shell of the great Turtle.  During a preceding battle with It when he was younger, he spoke with it briefly.

The Turtle is named Maturin and is one of the 12 Guardians that watch over the 6 Beams that support all of creation.  The Dark Tower is located at the nexus of the six Beams.  Finding a Beam is not easily done, but Roland's quest in the Dark Tower series requires him to do so and follow a Beam to the Tower.  He finds the Beam guarded by the Turtle and the Bear.

I think there's more Turtle references elsewhere in King's work, but they all revolve around the Dark Tower as a mythological hub.