My visit to Mono Lake and the Tufa formations

Mono Lake is a very unique large shallow lake in Mono County, California. The lake straddles the towering Sierra Nevadas near Yosemite on one side, the desert on the other. It sits in a basin at a surface elevation of 6,378′ . Mountain peaks reaching well over 10,000 feet serve as a beautiful backdrop. Mono Lake has a very high content of saline (salt). It was formed around 760,000 years ago. The lack of any creeks or rivers to act as outlets caused high levels of salt to accumulate in the lake.

Mono Lake has it's own extremely productive ecosystem. Brine shrimp thrive in the lake providing food while its waters, grasslands and unique basalt formations provides critical nesting habitat for over two million migratory birds annually. The majority being waterbirds of that 2 million 35 species are shorebirds. The birds feed on the brine shrimp and black flies. The flies feed on the shrimp. But what truly drives the life of the lake is its high population of single-celled planktonic algae. These vital plankton only thrive when spring and winter runoff brings nutrients to the surface layer of water.

From, a distance you could mistake this lake as being barren or not particularly magnificent compared to other picturesque lakes in the region. However, this is a mistake. Mono Lake is well worth the visit.

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Some of you may remember the days of "Save Mono Lake" The runoff water from the three main inlets was being diverted to Los Angeles and killing the ecosystem of the lake. This was finally partially halted due to public pressure in 1994. New lake levels were agreed on. It was a huge victory although the lake still suffers from diversion today. The pictures I took would have been underwater in 1941 prior to any unnatural diversions.

When you drive down to the road off 395 to get to the shores of Mono Lake the first stop you see is the Tufa State Natural Reserve. If you only have an hour and don't know what to see first this is the place to go. Just a short walk from the parking lot you are suddenly in a plethora of beautifully spectacular "tufa towers," calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. These formations protect the lake surface as well as the wetlands and other sensitive habitats.

Walking through these formations I felt as if I was walking on some alien terrain. In a humorous sense I felt as if I was on the set of Lost In Space and any minute the robot would appear and say " Danger Will Robinson". It is easy to lose your sense of direction walking amongst them. These pictures do not accurately reflect the sheer number of formations. In some sections it as if you're walking through a forest of them. It is a truly unique and beautiful place.

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