On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether youâre traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
I’ve always wanted to see Mono Lake, so on my first fall color expedition I drove further north. Mono Lake is a terminal lake in an endorheic basin since it has no outlet. It is fed by surface water that flows from the Sierra and springs under the surface. Mono Lake is best known for it’s tufa tower formations at the lake’s edges. These are formed by the calcium rich water from the underwater springs. I arrived before sunset, but after the Sun had set behind the Sierra that rises at the west edge of the lake. The lake is also in a volcanically active area with both of the central islands being the result of eruptions in the last 1000 years with the most recent being 350 years ago.
Wide shot looking northeast, both islands(Paoha to the right and Negit at the center) are the result of volcanic eruptions as is Black Point to the far left.
The fufa reflected in the still lake waters. Negit Island is at the right and Black Point is to the left.
A tighter shot of the tufa reflected in the lake.
A wide shot taken right by the lake shore.
One of the tufa towers further from the shore.
Wide shot of the tufa towers far off shore with the red glow in the clouds from the setting sun.
Blue hour tufa, you can see both islands on the right and left side of the frame.
Van Buren
Earth has some really cool places. Great job,as always, capturing it.
Elizabelle
It’s such an otherwordly landscape.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Van Buren: Thanks, the eastern Sierra is a land of contrasts.
@Elizabelle: The tufa on the south side of the lake looks more interesting from the photos I’ve seen. I’ll head there on my next visit.
rikyrah
Fabulous pictures??????
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah: Thanks.
I’m hitting the hay, I had a very long day at the Home of the Orange Apron yesterday and early this morning. I was scheduled to return at 9am this morning, but the manager on duty said that I could come in at 11am, so I need to get some sleep. I may not respond to any additional comments until my dinner break.
Betty
What a fascinating landscape. Nature has so many ways to entertain us.
stinger
Doesn’t seem to matter which direction you point your camera — up, down, all around — you get amazing photos, Bill!
Steve in the ATL
@stinger: well said. Â The kid has talent!
Mike Mundy
I was at the Visitors Center in 1994, at sunrise.
martha
Bill these photos are so evocative. I love Mono Lake (and the whole eastern side of the Sierras for that matter). We hiked there in May and it was still and silent, except for the birds.
JaneE
The tufa forms underwater. The towers we can see today are a result of the lowering lake level. They have been trying to stabilize the lake level for decades, but it is always 2 steps forward and 1 (or 3) back.
cain
Fun story – I’m working on a project called ‘Mono Lake” it’s an open hardware platform created by Facebook. They use it in their data centers. There are other platforms like Tioga Pass and so on.
So it’s great to see pics of Mono Lake here to give it context – so thank you!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty: The whole eastern Sierra is a photographer’s dream.
@stinger: Thanks, we’ll be headed back for more fall color next.
@Steve in the ATL: I tried my hand at some deep space stuff last weekend, I think I’m getting the hang of it.
Ruckus
Bill, I used to visit the area a lot when I was in high school, as I’ve said before a good buddies dad lived in Mammoth. Have been to Mono lake a few times but not in a lot of years. Glad to see that it looks about the same as it did 55 yrs ago. Stunning. Both the area and your pictures.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mike Mundy: I was going to shoot the Zodiacal light from Mono Lake, but the drive was just too long, so I ended up shooting at the Alabama Hills, maybe next year. Nice shot.
@martha: Thanks, I love the eastern Sierra too. It was my second home the past few months(I was there last weekend).
@JaneE: Yup, it’s the calcium from the underwater springs. LA’s DWP was taking water from some of the surface streams feeding the lake, they’re doing less of that now(there were lawyers involved).
@cain: Glad you like the shots, it’s a great place to visit and I’ll be making a return visit.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: Thanks, the water level’s probably a bit lower. I’m headed back in the Spring, FSM willing.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Once again you’ve gotten me thinking about those years when I’d be up in that area as much as possible. I remember my buddies dad, he never went anywhere without a beer but I also remember never seeing him ever take even a sip. His son was the hairiest person I’ve ever known, he had to shave every day of high school. Once he and his dad walked into a casino in Laughlin NV to get something to eat and his dad ordered a beer and got carded. He ordered one and didn’t. He was 17 at the time but it was summer and he had a full beard. Took him about 2 weeks to look like a normal middle aged man living in the wilderness for 6 months without shaving. He laughed about that for a number of years. Dad was unamused.
way2blue
Great photos. Â Thanks for posting. Â Do you know whether water from Lee Vining Creek still feeds Mono Lake? Â When I was an undergrad, its water was being diverted to Los Angeles, and Mono Lake’s shoreline was shifting lowerâputting bird nesting sites on the islands at risk from coyotes… Â (And environmental activists kept ‘compromising’ the water diversion.)
stinger
I keep coming back to look at the sky in that top photo. Wowza. Like my favorite roses and tulips.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@stinger: Actually that color is from the smoke from the fires to the southwest.
Chris T.
I’ve been to Mono Lake a few times myself (it’s a nice stop on the drive through the Sierras from the Bay Area to the east side). Never realized the islands were that recent: infants, geologically speaking!