After spending two night in Yosemite, I proceeded eastward on the Tioga Pass for Mono Lake. I learned about Mono Lake when National Parks Services sent me a few blank greeting cards in the hope that I would donate. A photo of the unusual lake depicted fiery reflections by the sunset against the waters. I was instantly smitten and immediately went to Mapquest.com to see how far the drive would be. Unfortunately the drive would take almost 7 hours, which would be too much for my '96 Lexus to handle. I had to wait until I got a more dependable car. Fast forward to about 3 years later from first seeing that image of Mono Lake, I decided to include the lake as part of my trip to Yosemite. No more vicarious visits through online image searches! Time to see the real deal.
After finishing the drive on the Tioga Pass, I reached the small charming town of Lee Vining, which is the gateway town to Mono Lake and home to rip off gas prices. Compared to neighboring Yosemite, the mountain scenery is unattractive against a barren, yellow desert backdrop. The air is arid and hot. No where close to what I envisioned. Maybe because Mono Lake's longitude runs closely to that of San Francisco, I had the image that Mono Lake would be cold and nestled in a green forest of pine trees.
My first stop was the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitor Center, where a young cute boy supplied me with useful camping info. He didn't recommend June Lake, and he wasn't too thrilled about suggesting the campsites along Lee Vining Creek. I forgot what exactly he recommended, but I ended up camping by June Lake.
I also asked the cute boy where to drive to get a good sunset photo. He directed me the 120 east into the South Tufa entrance.
Since I wanted to photographed Mono Lake at sunset, I drove up north to Bodie to kill some time, then back into Lee Vining for lunch at Nicely's Restaurant.
About a 10-15 minute drive down south I set up my tent at Oh! Ridge Campgrounds. Trying to get some rest in my tent was like melting away in a sauna.
At 6:00 pm I drove upwards to capture the fabled Mono Lake sunset.
Although I have heard people describing Mono Lake as ugly and unimpressive, I was enamored by the calcium carbonate towers that are known as tufas. I'm a sucker for geology. To me they look like desert ice castles or huge melted candle sticks.
I woke up the next morning to capture the sunrise to see the difference compared to sunset. The sunrise is more dramatic, and just as beautiful!
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| View of Mono Lake from a turnout on the 395 |
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| Mono Lake Committee Information Center and Bookstore. A great place for camping info and things to do. Staff is exceptionally helpful and friendly. |
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| Nicely's Restaurant in Lee Vining. |
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| A lonely road to Mono Lake |
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| Typical desert scene in the Mono Basin. |
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| Tufas, calcium carbonate formations. |
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| I made it! |
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| Moments before sunset. |
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| Ahh the sunset! |
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| Fiery light against the tufas. |
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| More tufas. |
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| No shortage of photographers during sunset. Come early to grab a tripod spot. |
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| The sun has left. |
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| Time for sunrise! |
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| More sunrise! |
Like always, nice pictures! The dryness (I think) is because the water in the air is drop at the mountain (Yosemite), so the air coming down from it is dry. Do you know if people can touch those rock formations or tufas?
ReplyDeleteThanks and yes! There are many Tufas on land and accessible to touch, as long as you don't take a chunk off as a souvenir. There is a beach where swimmers and kayakers are permitted into the water, however I'm not sure if swimming toward the island Tufas are permitted.
DeleteThe water has descended greatly because the lake once supplied water to the citizens of Los Angeles. But through actions, that has fortunately stopped.
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