Mono Lake is somewhere I have been past but I had never been able to explore. This time it was a part of our schedule. Fortunately, our earlier activities had taken a little longer than expected so we ended up at the lake in the early evening. Consequently, the light was a lot more appealing and only got more so while we were there. Plenty of other people were taking advantage of this too.
I had seen pictures of the tufas before but had never appreciated the scale of them. For those unfamiliar with Mono Lake, it has shrunk considerably over the last fifty years as a result of water diversion to Los Angeles. The water that drains into it from the surrounding ground carries minerals and, when it permeates into the bed of the lake, these minerals get deposited around the outlet point. They are a bit like stalactites in reverse. When the water level fell, these mineral deposits became visible and they are known as tufas.
They come in all shapes and sizes. Walking amongst them is very cool. They are surprisingly tough although thinking about it that should be such a shock. As the sun drops down, the light rock picks up the warm glow beautifully. The low sun angle really helps the shapes come into relief.
We headed off after quite some time there. As we walked off, Nancy commented on how many photographers were heading in and joked at how they would be laughing at me leaving! The light was certainly turning into something special. However, I had thoroughly enjoyed the time there.
Ski resorts are great places in the summer because they have an available way to the top of the mountains to enjoy the view. Mammoth Peak was no exception and a trip in the gondola too you via a mid station to the top of the mountain at 11,000′. While people were making the trip, we were outnumbered by the mountain bikers who rode up in the gondola and down on the bikes. Seems like a good idea if you want to focus on the fun part rather than the lung busting part – particularly at that altitude.
There was a bit of haze in the air but it was pretty clear so I could see a decent distance in all directions. I imagine the mountains look great when covered in snow but it was still a lovely place to be for a while.
