Yesterday in my post about my spur of the moment trip to Bodie, I mentioned being mesmerized by Mono Lake.
The time I spent in Mono Lake was heart opening.
I’ve only been able to get to the lake a few times in my life, but the stunning imagery of the place has always stuck with me. The landscape there is very surreal, breathtaking, and feels somewhat alien, like it is not quite of this planet, or of this time.
Even though the lake sits very close to a main highway, Highway 395, that runs north/south on the eastern side of the Sierras, it feels so isolated. Mono Lake is one of the most fascinating landscapes in the US and probably the only one that people would love to have disappear.
The spires of tufa rock jutting up through the water and along the beach were formed by calcium carbonate deposits in the lake. You can look at the tallest spire, which is over your head and know that the water level of the lake used to be at least that high. There are water markers all along the path to the lake that show the years and the water levels of that year and the slow, retreat of the water line. The water that used to feed this lake has been diverted to other projects, such as watering our almond trees and spinach, or making sure that people in Southern California can take showers. It’s very political.
My favorite times at the lake are sunrise and sunset. Through out the day the colors of the lake and the rock would change – reds and golden in the early morning hour sunrise and blues and purples at night and during the rest of the day, the light and colors would change depending on the sky.
Below are the images I took with my iPhone 4. There are more that I took with the dSLR that I have yet to process.
