Plus it sports bizarre (and bizarrely named) 'tufa towers' along its Southern shore (see photo). These formed over thousands of years around underwater springs, where the encounter of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) with sodium nitrate (salt) formed limestone (I'll have to double check the chemistry...).
The ecological destruction of Mono Lake began when Los Angeles decided to source water from the area in the 1940s, piping water from the lake's tributaries via an aqueduct over 350+ miles to LA. By the 1970s the level of the lake had dropped by 20+ feet<check> with a related increase in salinity and alkalinity, and the lake's ecosystem of brine shrimp, flies and birds was in peril. The lake is the main breeding ground of the California Gull, as well as the only stop over on some other birds' 5000+ mile migrations. Not only were changes to the lake's mineral concentrations threatening the shrimp (food source for the birds) but the drop in water level meant what were once island breeding grounds for the gulls were fast becoming peninsulas, accessible to coyotes and other predators.
Thankfully David G and a band of concerned citizens noticed what was happening, and with some pro bono legal help, managed to barter an agreement whereby LA would draw less water from the area, and agreed to restoring the water-level of the lake to 1960s levels by 2012 <check stats>.
+++++
The Save Mono Lake Committee <check name> has done a great job -- achieving what it has, practically and politically, and continuing to keep the public informed. There's an info center in the town of Lee Vining, and a dedicated park center overlooking the lake, as well as an informatively sign-posted trail through the tufa towers on the lake's south shore.
+++++
Camped off of 120E (the road into Yosemite) at a small site with toilets but no running water (aside from the river). Went to bed under the thickest blanket of stars; awoke to the greenest of fir/pine trees. Took a 1/2hr walk along the wooded river and back through the scrub-land. So lovely to be oudoors; such clean clear morning light. Breakfast of fruit (down to our last mango now) and did some yoga stretches. Shame about the RVs and their generators.
Got a tea fix at the organic cafe in Lee Vining and perused their Andy Goldsworthy coffee table book. Ah, so that's the kind of stuff he does: leaves and stones and ice; color and contrast and translucence; improbable and delicate balance; perishable, fleeting, impermanent. Love it.
Browsed the bookstore & info center; then (noon) drove down to the parks center and caught their movie on Mono Lake; and finally (1pm) visited the lakeshore and meandered through the forest of tufa towers.
Hit the road about 2.30pm and decided to make what turned out to be a 44mile detour at Bishop (where we stopped for sandwiches from the Bakkery about 4pm) to view the local petroglyphs at three different sites along a gravel road that runs parallel to Hwy 6. Mostly pacman-esque scratchings (circles with crosses, globular shapes), but the last site did have some stick figures. Beautiful 'painted' mountain range off to the East (grays and pinks and blues and golds, as though they'd been powdered with pastel dust).
Filled up on gas at 6.30pm and W put the foot to the pedal down Hwy 395. We switched in Johannesberg (there's a Randstad nearby...) and around 9.30pm I blew through Barstow where we'd planned to stay the night, and we've ended up in Ludlow, domain of long-haul truckers and midnight migrants like (or not so like) ourselves.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
No comments:
Post a Comment