September 30 and October 4, 2021
We stayed for a week in Lee Vining, California which is on the shore of Mono Lake. One of our first stops was to the Mono Basin Scenic Area Ranger Station and Visitor Center.
At about a million years old, it’s one of the oldest lakes in North America. Streams from the Sierra Nevada Mountains carry salts and minerals to the lake. There is no outlet from Mono Lake so as water evaporates the salts and minerals intensify. Mono Lake is two and half times as salty as an ocean.
Freshwater springs well up into the lake. Their calcium-rich water interacts with the alkaline water in the lake forming a limestone known as tufa. We visited tufa formations near the visitors center on a sunny day and then visited formations on the south side of the lake on a smoky day.
The flies were numerous at the shore line but didn’t seem attracted to us humans.
2 Comments
Alice Mcgregor · October 23, 2021 at 12:49 am
I saw the beat cub immediately! Also love the photo with the reflection! Very cool👌
Susan · October 25, 2021 at 11:58 am
Interesting rock formations