Moon over Dead Horse Ranch: Camping and Condors and Spring Desert Flowers

A few days ago we went camping for two nights at Lee’s Ferry campground in Marble Canyon, AZ. It is a spectacular location along the Colorado River, several miles below the Glen Canyon Dam (~15??), and several miles from the start of the Grand Canyon (~30??). It is a very popular launching place for rafting the Colorado, and for fishing. It is one of my favorite places to camp in the Spring and Fall – it is too hot there, for me, in the Summer because the elevation is ~3200 feet (2000 feet below our home). This week many of the cactus were in full bloom, and there were many varieties of wild flowers blooming, some so small you could hardly see them. A few of them are below:

However, one of the most exciting parts of going there, for me, is to see the California Condors that are perching or flying around the Navajo Bridges at Marble Canyon. One or two can usually be seen in the mornings, perched on the lower cross-members of one of the two bridges (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Bridge). The “old” historic bridge is now a walkway between the cliffs with the river below, and an ideal location to get photos of the condors that perch on the new bridge. Later in the day the condors catch thermals and may be seen circling in groups (up to 10 or more) near the Navajo bridges or Lee’s Ferry, or, at the Vermillion Cliffs’ condor viewing area (http://www.wildlifeviewingareas.com/wv-app/ParkDetail.aspx?ParkID=197) which is ~30 miles west of Marble Canyon. They are amazing birds, but environmentally very sensitive, and the story of their recovery from only a few mating pairs in captivity, to their release into the wild with successful breeding in both California and Arizona (http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/california_condor.shtml) is even more amazing. Our latest photos, and the size-comparison sign (to golden eagles and red-tailed hawks) at the viewing area are below.

The same shot of two condors on the lower cross-member of the new bridge, while a truck is driving across to show perspective, zoomed/clipped and original size: