Return to Mono Lake

Monday we drove up to Mono Lake and stopped for about an hour before moving on to Yosemite. The lake has a salinity way stronger than the Pacific Ocean, a process that really started when LA county began to take water from the streams that fed the lake. The water level sank, the salinity went up, fish died but other life forms, like the brine shrimp thrived. Now it's a huge and important sanctuary for birds and other forms of wildlife. It also sports an unusual attraction - the tufa. These limestones are the result of the mix of carbonate minerals, water and salt and look almost otherworldly.

Strange shapes.


Castles of limestone.


The dark you see in these pictures are thousands and thousands of tiny flies. The move like one when you come near, and depart like the sea before Moses.


On the path up to the car I spotted this little bird, with some food in his beak.


I then spotted a tiny nest in some brushes right by the path, where there were 2-3 baby birds. Awwwwww.