Hey Reader,
Have you been watching the Olympics? I've been trying to, but I feel like I've spent almost as much time seeing the pretty aerial views of Marseille as I have watching Olympic sailing. But that is the nature of sailing; you can't race if there isn't wind.
One of my favorite parts of visiting the National Parks is the wildlife. From bison to bears to birds, I love seeing wildlife, particularly wildlife I haven't seen before.
One of my most exciting sightings was my first California Condor. Condors are not the most photogenic birds, but they are certainly the largest in the United States.
I was road tripping through Utah and the Grand Canyon. I stopped at the North Rim and did some hiking. I found a nice place to eat lunch with a sweeping view of the canyon. I saw a pair of birds flying in the canyon. I wasn't sure until I saw the white triangle on the wings, but there is no mistaking that.
Seeing a Condor flying free in the wild was a tremendous sight, even to this day, because by all rights they should be extinct.
They were actually extinct in the wild in 1990 when I was born. Thanks to a radical plan, the last 22 California Condors were caught and brought into a captive breeding program. The goal of this program was to breed the birds and hopefully raise enough to release them back into the wild.
Today, there are almost 350 California Condors flying free in Arizona, Utah, Baja, and California, some of whom are wild-born to wild-born parents.
Still, to this day, nothing makes me happier than seeing a California Condor in the Southwestern National Parks.
Happy Adventures,