POST #21-7

Exploring The Lee's Ferry Vicinity....

Subscribe to our Blog! 

Get E-Mail notifications about new posts!

Fill the CONTACT US TO SUBSCRIBE fields!

********

Tap any photo or video to enlarge/play.

Tap any underlined links to follow. 

********

Today, November 27th, we drove around and looked at interesting things nearby...There was a field of these balancing rocks...

An inset from the sign.....

Then we drove over to the Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River, just a short distance downstream from our campsite.  

Prior to completion of the first Navajo Bridge in 1928, one of the only Colorado River crossings between Arizona and Utah was located about 5 miles  upstream from the bridge site, at the mouth of Glen Canyon where Lees Ferry service had operated since 1873. That is right where we are camped.  The ferry site had been chosen as the only relatively easy access to the river for both northbound and southbound travelers. By the 1920s, automobile traffic began using the ferry service though it was not considered a safe and reliable crossing as adverse weather and flooding regularly prevented its operation.  Read somewhere at the end of the Lee's Ferry service the last crossing was with a Model "T" on board...the ferry capsized and the car, its occupants and the ferry pilot all drowned. The The newer bridge, finished in  1995, replaces the obsolete narrow bridge.  The old bridge is now used as a walkway for tourism.  Both are 470 feet above the water.  There is a sign that says "no jumping from bridge"...OK no problem!  This is an upstream view from the old bridge...

When we were on the old bridge we saw some California Condors roosting under the new bridge....

Had to zoom way in so the photos are not too clear...

Its 9 ft wingspan is the widest of any North American bird, and its weight is up to 26 lbs. The condor is a scavenger and eats large amounts of carrion. It is one of the world's longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 60 years.  Then one flew in...

We never expected to be able to see any of these birds...they nearly went extinct.  They were down to only 27 known birds.  These surviving birds were bred at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. Numbers rose through captive breeding and, beginning in 1991, condors were reintroduced into the wild. Since then, its population has grown, but the California condor remains one of the world's rarest bird species: as of 2019 there are 518 California condors living wild or in captivity.  It was cool to see them!

Tomorrow is our last day here at the Lees Ferry Campground.  We will explore some old buildings down by the river at the old ferry site...

Until Next Time!