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Seagull in Mono Lake
Wading among the limestone tufa outcrops in the concentrated, salty waters of Mono Lake, a California gull (Larus californicus) is at home for the summer.
High in California’s Eastern Sierra – between 1945 metres (6,380 feet) and almost 4000 metres (13,061 feet) – the Mono Basin perches at the north end of the Mono–Inyo Craters volcanic chain. This endorheic drainage basin was created over the last five million years by repeated volcanic activity and the forces of tectonic movement on the earth’s crust.
The hauntingly beautiful Mono Lake, a vast inland sea extending more than 168 square kilometres (65 square miles), sits surrounded by volcanic craters and sagebrush at the heart of this basin. As a terminal lake with no outflow, the collected waters from the surrounding mountains have endured millennia of evaporation to become saltier than the oceans and as alkaline as household ammonia. This has lead to unique endemic species: single-celled planktonic algae, Mono Lake brine shrimp, alkali flies, and a number of nematodes. These attract migratory birds, many of whom nest here in summer. The lake hosts one of the largest California Gull rookeries in North America, as well as countless other shorebirds, waterfowl, songbirds, and raptors.
This is an area of unique and rugged grandeur – and no stranger to continued volcanic activity, with eruptions occurring every 250 to 700 years. While Mono Lake was formed at least 760,000 years ago – and up to 3 million years ago, depending whom you read – much of Paoha Island, the island in the middle of the lake, was uplifted by eruptive activity only 130-260 years ago.
I was visiting a friend who lives part of the year in this magnificent area. We had explored the South Tufa Area of the lake, with its otherworldly tufa towers of limestone rising out of the salty waters the evening before (see: Evening over the Tufa Towers).
On this particular summer morning, we were driving to various overlooks, checking out the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center, and walking in search of gulls in a different section of the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve.
Come along!
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Sagebrush and Mountains
The Mono Basin is a high plateau, bounded by the High Sierra mountains to the west.
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Overlooking Mono Lake
The basin is bounded on the east by the Cowtrack Mountains.
Lee Vining Canyon
A number of waterways feed into Mono Lake from the surrounding mountains.
Hills above Mono Lake
Rubber Rabbitbrush – Ericameria Nauseosa
This is desert country, and rubber rabbitbrush thrives in the coarse, alkaline soil here. It is a source of food for animals, and some Native Americans people used the flowers for dye and the stems for baskets.
Burned Trees
I don’t know if this is from a controlled burn or a previous forest fire: fires race through these areas regularly.
View from the Visitor Center
Back at Mono Lake, we stop in at the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center.
About the Tufas
Displays inside the centre explain how the tufa towers in the lake are formed.
Basket Art
Other exhibits show off arts and crafts from local products.
‘Mono Lake’ by Ansel Adams
Yosemite National Park and the Ansel Adams Wilderness are very close by here. Ansel Adams (1902 -1984) is known to most photographic students as the man who helped establish photography as a fine art, and who promoted the conservation of these American wilderness areas.
More Rubber Rabbitbrush and Sage
Back outside, the heat takes my breath away: …
Mini-Tufas in Mono Lake
… this is a high-altitude desert, with daily and seasonal temperature extremes, and much of the annual precipitation falling in winter as snow.
Grasses
As we walk around the lakeshore, the vegetation changes dramatically.
Tiny Tufas
The tufa towers – built up when calcium-rich freshwater springs under the lake bubble up and react with the carbonates in the water to make calcium carbonate, or limestone – are not as tall on this side of the lake as the ones we had explored in the South Tufa Area the evening before (see: Evening over the Tufa Towers) …
Seagulls on the Tufas
… but the California gulls are at home amongst them.
Gull and a Moon Rock
Some writers have compared this terrain to Mars, but it made me think of the moon, in all its rugged glory.
Gulls among the Tufa Islands
The surface of the dense waters is thick with alkali flies – one of the reasons birds are so happy here.
Brewer’s Blackbirds – Euphagus Cyanocephalus
Nature’s Artworks: Sculptured Rock
Gulls are thick on the crags in the background, where we (and predators) cannot go.
People on the Shore
In spite of the noise of the birds, there is a real feeling of ‘quiet’ about this place.
Giant Blazing Star – Mentzelia Laevicaulis
These beautiful plants are well-loved by bees, moths, and birds. The roots, seeds, and leaves had extensive uses in Native American medicine.
Shimmering Landscape
As we head back up into the hills, the lake retreats into a heat haze.
It truly is a magic landscape, where the light and colours are constantly changing.
Thanks to the concerted efforts of the non-profit Mono Lake Committee to preserve Mono Lake, and the consequent formation of the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve in 1981, the area is protected.
This however, is no match for climate change and years of drought. Like so many other uniques landscapes, the area is at risk.
I’m glad I got to visit it before it is damaged further.
Until next time!
Photos: 19July2013
