Friday May 16, '14

I woke up in Bishop kind of late--about 7:30.  So by the time I showered (with the pump doing it's job nicely), had breakfast, washed dishes, emptied black and gray water tanks, loaded up equipment, and did my preflight checks it was 9 am and getting warm.  I headed up 395 (and I do mean UP in elevation, from about 4000' to above 7000') to Mammoth and saw a "closed" sign on the Devil's Postpile signpost (the Postpile is some really amazing columnar basalt in the middle of the Sierra granite).  So I stopped at Mammoth's great visitor center and started asking questions about what in the eastern Sierra region was open, what was closed, and why.  The "Why" turned out to be snow in every case but one (one of the lakes is closed because of high CO2 emissions from volcanic vents).  So, no visit to Red's Meadow where Marge and Pop and I stayed in the greatest A frame cabin.  No visit to the Postpile.  I could drive by Toulomne Meadows because the road is plowed, but there would be no stopping.  None of the places I was thinking about camping were open yet.  Very strange going from too late in the season to too early!

So . . . I went grocery shopping at Von's in Mammoth for fresh fruit, veggies,  milk--all of the non-Kmart stuff.  Had lunch, did not buy gas.  Three stations all had regular 87 octane priced at $4.64.  I paid $3.59 in Kingman AZ two days ago, and had half a tank left--about 250 miles worth of gas remaining.  I checked gas prices at Lee Vining (at Mono Lake where the highway across the top of Yosemite runs into 395).  Their gas was $4.79.  Bridgeport, the next little town north, was $5.09!  Obviously I didn't recognize a good deal when I saw it at Mammoth.  I'm waiting for Reno suburbs, about 25 miles away.

With so many places closed, I ended up having a great time at Mono Lake.  I first went to a site on the south coast of the lake.  The last mile or so of the 5 mile road in was gravel, but in pretty good shape.  I took it nice and slow after Livy's carsickness over yesterday's roller coaster of a road.

I stopped in the middle of the road!  You can see the nearby tufa deposits and the volcanic dome islands
 out in the lake.

The islands you see in the lake are the result of volcanic activity.  The white island is lake bed that was pushed up by a lava dome, and the black island is a dome that formed above the lake bed.

The water in Mono Lake is 10% salt (the Pacific is about 3.5%).  It is a sister of Salt Lake, formed in the same way, in the same Basin and Range region--Mono is on the far west side and Salt Lake is on the far east side of the geologic region.

They had some great explanatory plaques.

Basically, the fresh water that comes into the lake arrives underground.  As it filters up into the lake water the calcium in the fresh water bonds with the CO2 in the lake to make rock called tufa.  The tufa rocks formed in lines along the flow of the fresh-water underground streams.

The mile long loop trail takes you through the formations
that are now landlocked down to the lake.

The stuff is amazing to look at--full of little holes that fresh water must have kept open while the formations were growing.  Now those holes have all kinds of bugs living in them.

From the colors you can tell other minerals beside calcium
were carried into the lake too.

I made it a bit farther down the trail and found the plaque talking about the state's decision in 1994 to control the amounts of fresh water that used to flow into the lake that were being rerouted for human use. I was here during the fall of 1994, while the heated debate was going on.

This plaque stands at the 1964's lake edge.  It is now about 1/4 mile from the lake.

For all of the debate, this environment is critical to migrating birds and supplies a unique living space that is matched only by Salt Lake.  The brine shrimp alone are fantastic!

Whatever you think about water wars, it is an amazing place.

I also spent time in the visitor's center.  They had some good displays about the lake.  In addition, they had some very interesting displays on the native Americans who lived in this area.  I did buy one book:  The West Without Water.  What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us About Tomorrow.  Can't wait to read it!

I'm in a beautiful place tonight--Meadowcliff Resort near the town of Walker (and not far from the Nevada border at Reno).  I'll post the pictures tomorrow when I have some morning sun pictures to go with the evening sun pictures.

I'm planning to make it to Mt Lassen tomorrow.  Wish me luck on snow levels!