Mono Lake - Lee Vining, California

I can't believe that it's been over a month since my last blog. It's crazy how time can get away from you, isn't it? The below average cold weather we've been having for the past few weeks has had me longing for the warm California sunshine that we enjoyed this past summer on our vacation. One of the coolest places that we visited while in Yosemite National Park was Mono Lake. While in the high country of Yosemite, we headed out a day trip to visit this interesting lake. It took well over an hour to get there from our campsite, but it was well worth it!

photo by dturner

Mono Lake is 65 square miles and is between 700,000 and 1 million years old. It is one of the oldest lakes in North America. Unlike most lakes, Mono Lake has no outlet. Streams from the High Sierra wash into the lake bringing salts and minerals. Over time, freshwater evaporation from the lake leaves the salts and minerals behind. Mono Lake is 2.5 times saltier than the ocean and very alkaline!

photo by dturner

At one time the city of Los Angeles, hundreds of miles to the south, began taking water from Mono Lake to meet the growing demands for water. That diversion cut the lake volume in half and added to the lake's alkalinity and salinity. An extended court fight stopped the water diversion and Mono Lake is starting to grow, but the process is VERY slow.

photo by dturner

Mono Lake is a geologist's paradise. It is ringed by volcanoes--new and old. Two of the islands on the lake are volcanic domes. No area volcanoes are active at the moment but the area shows many signs of potential eruptions.

What I love the most about Mono Lake are the tufa (pronounced "toofah") towers that line the shoreline. These towers are made from calcium carbonate that comes into the lake from underground springs. The calcium and carbonate combine to form limestone which builds up over time around the lake bottom spring openings. Declining lake levels have exposed the tufa towers that you can see today. Some of these tufa towers are up to 30 feet high.

photo by dturner

photo by dturner

When you visit Mono Lake, it seems a little desolate as far as an ecosystem goes. As I read the signage on the interpretative trail, I learned that Mono Lake supports a simple but amazingly productive food chain. At the bottom of that chain are microscopic, single-celled algae. The algae serves as food for two other species--brine shrimp and brine flies which, in turn, serve as the major food source for literally millions of water birds. It's estimated that some 85% of California's seagulls start their life at Mono Lake. There are at least 80 species of water fowl that call Mono Lake home.

photo by dturner

As we were walking several feet from the shoreline of Mono Lake, my wife was telling me a story about the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, UT. She recalled watching a program about that lake that talked about the millions of brine flies that lived there too. She remember that it looked like a black cloud over the lake when the brine flies were flying. She walked the shoreline right next to the lake. The brine flies were there by the masses! She said she couldn't help it...she had to walk through a swarm.

As she walked the shoreline, the flies moved out of her way by the thousands! The flies didn't land on her, they just simply moved out of the way. She said that the sound of the flies as they took off in one black cloud around her was really neat. I trusted her on that one...I didn't want to see for myself. She kept walking through the fly swarms over and over again - all the while trying to get me to do the same. The picture below gives just a snapshot of the black flies that pile up on the shoreline of Mono Lake.

photo by dturner

Mono Lake is one of the coolest lakes I have ever seen. It's story is really unique, and I am really glad that we took the time to visit it. We didn't swim in the lake, but I read that many people do. Because of the high salt concentration, people are very buoyant when they swim. Many people claim that the high salt concentration has healing power...just don't get it in your eyes - ouch!