Picks and Pans – Around Mono Lake

PICKS:

Mono Lake County Park

Our first stop at Mono Lake was actually on Los Angeles city property that is being leased to Mono County for use as a park. For those of you not acquainted with the decades long controversy surrounding Mono Lake, that may be confusing, so let me explain. L.A. has long had its sights set on Mono Lake as a water source, and, in an attempt to secure water rights, L.A. bought a lot of property around Mono Lake and began draining it in the early 1940s. From the time L.A. began draining Mono Lake via aqueduct in 1941 until 1982, the lake lost 31% of its surface area, endangering the entire ecosystem of the lake and turning the islands into a peninsula and a migratory bird buffet for coyotes, foxes, etc. Alarmed by the possible death of the lake, the Mono Lake Committee and the Audobon Society went to court in the late 70’s to protect the lake, winning some protection via state public trust laws. Additionally, in 1994, the California State Water Resources Control Board, influenced by political action, issued an order to protect the lake and mandated the levels return to 6,392 feet (close to the 1941 level). L.A. is still using water from the lake, but the amount siphoned off is greatly reduced and the people of Mono Lake continue their efforts to preserve the lake. So, to wrap up that tangent, we had a picnic lunch right alongside the lake and we greatly enjoyed our first steps on L.A. soil.

South Tufa

One of the reasons that people have worked so hard to protect Mono Lake is that its alkali waters create a unique ecosystem where springs bubble up from the lake bed, the spring water reacts with the lake water and forms craggy towers of rock called tufa. South Tufa has one of the largest concentrations of tufa formations on the lake and is easily accessible via a self-guided nature trail.

Panum Crater

Given the preponderance of hot springs and volcanic rock formations, it wasn’t a big surprise that the Mono Lake area has several huge volcanic craters. We visited Panum Crater and, although at first glance it was almost so unremarkable as to make us turn around, we ventured further down the Plug Trail to discover a pit filled with obsidian and pumice.

Camping on National Forest land near Parker Lake

Every national forest has a sign when you enter that declares “National Forests….the land of many uses.” We’ve taken this motto very seriously, and use national forests as much as possible for free, legal camping in some of the most incredibly beautiful places in the country. Near the Parker Lake trailhead, just off the June Lake loop, we found one of our favorite camping spots. We parked in a clearing of a brilliantly yellow-leaved aspen grove, cooked our dinner in the rosy light of sunset and then watched the new moon sink behind the eastern Sierras before going to sleep.

Latte Da Coffee Cafe in Lee Vining, CA

Located in the front office of one of the oldest hotels in Lee Vining, Latte Da has good coffee, a roomy porch (useful since the tables inside are a bit limited) and one of the more friendly owners we’ve come across in our extensive coffee shop patronage. Just make sure if you need some juice for your computer to bring a splitter and a coat because the only working outlet is out on the porch (and you will need to ask to have the outlets turned on from a switch inside).

Yost Lake hike

On the suggestion of a very helpful ranger at the National Forest ranger station in Lee Vining, we drove about halfway in to the June Lake loop to the Yost Lake trailhead and hiked the 3.8 miles up the side of a mountain to the secluded Yost Lake. The trail offered spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and the lakes in the valley below for nearly the entire hike and overall it was a pleasant warm-up for our Yosemite hiking.

Navy Beach

After the Yost Lake hike, we went down to Navy Beach on Mono Lake in hopes of finding a rumored hot spring. After wandering around for a bit, and getting quite distracted by the enchanting little tufa villages that were everywhere beneath our feet, we found the spring (which was more tepid than hot) and the sign forbidding us to swim in it, especially if said swimming was to be done in the nude. Apparently, naked hot spring goers have surprised one too many tourists and the park rangers have had to put the smack down.
Sean says: Do not miss South Tufa and the trail to Navy Beach. Go just before sunset for spectacular light. The tufas create these enchanted little kingdoms springing up out of the desert grass delighting the imagination like nothing I’ve seen since Bryce National Park.

2 comments to Picks and Pans – Around Mono Lake

  • Abby St. Lawrence

    I love that you went to Mono Lake and included the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) water rights fight over the lake in your blog post about your visit. The Mono Lake case was one of the first ones I read in my water law class, and it’s still a bedrock case on the public trust doctrine as applied to water rights. See, water rights is pretty cool!

    • Well, if you’re ever feeling under appreciated for water rights work, you’ll find some adoring fans in the Mono Lake area. These people take water rights very seriously. And it’s kind of gorgeous there too.

Leave a Reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>