Mono Lake at Sunrise

A place I have wanted t visit for many years, Mono lake, is a fascinating place. This alkaline lake is an abundant source of brine shrimp and alkali flies. These, in turn, support the roughly two million migratory birds that visit this place each year. In the past, native americans ate the pupae of the flies. Thus, this unlikely place, in a desert landscape is a highly productive place for life.

This lake is also noted for the formation of this strange towers. From Wikipedia we learn how these form:

Mono Lake is a highly alkaline lake, or soda lake. Alkalinity is a measure of how many bases are in a solution, and how well the solution can neutralize acids. Carbonate (CO₃^2-) and bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻) are both bases. Hence, Mono Lake has a very high content of dissolved inorganic carbon. Through supply of calcium ions (Ca²⁺), the water will precipitate carbonate-minerals such as calcite (CaCO₃). Subsurface waters enter the bottom of Mono Lake through small springs. High concentrations of dissolved calcium ions in these subsurface waters cause huge amounts of calcite to precipitate around the spring orifices.^[8] The tufa originally formed at the bottom of the lake. It took many decades or even centuries to form the well-recognized tufa towers. When lake levels fell, the tufa towers came to rise above the water surface and stand as the majestic pillars seen today.

I arrived just after sunrise to see a place teaming with birds. I never got close enough to any of them to identify them. The pink from the eastern horizon and the blue mist from the surrounding mountains combine to give this place a magical feel.

In places the tufa towers are quite tall. Part of what makes this a special place is that it is an endorheic basin, a lake without an exit, only inflow. This concentration and evaporation-only exit contributes the alkalinity of the water.

This is a fascinating place. As you can see I stood in one place and took photos. There really was no reason to move around.

I'm sure the the people who live around here are quickly bored with the lake because it part of their everyday lives. For me, it is endlessly captivating.