"A CURSED LAKE"
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The Mono Basin of California lies between the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and the Rocky Mountains. California’s 14,491-foot Mount Whtney is the highest mountain in the continental United States, ranking second to Alaska's Mount McKinley. The basin is near famous U. S. national parks and forest parks such as Yosemite, Redwood, and Sequoia Kings. John Muir, a naturalist and writer, founded the famous wilderness club known as the Sierra Club to preserve many of these sites.
The Basin is more specifically located in Inyo National Forest next to the Yosemite National Park. The basin lies between the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and the west side of the Rocky Mountains. Here hot air from the Nevada Desert is cooled by currents coming from snowy mountain peaks to create the uniquely dry climate of the Mono Basin. The basin’s central feature is Mono Lake. Spire-like tufa formations tower in unusual and even bizarre ways above the water. Calcium-rich fresh water from springs that bubbled through the lake’s carbonate water created the whitish-colored limestone formations.
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Highway 395 runs east of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range The route offers beautiful views of both the lake and mountains. It runs west of the Desert. From Reno, Nevada the highway reaches Los Angles. En route, I enjoyed stopping at small towns with art galleries and restaurants. The only eastern access to Yosemite National Park from Highway 395 is via U.S. Route 120 that is kept open in summer time. The Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are not accessible from the east side. The main access road is U.S. 5 located west of Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Indeed, it is difficult to reach the remote "back country" of California. Photographers have publicized the attractions of this region. They are particularly fascinated by the tufa formations at Mono Lake. The lake is viewed by them as a veritable sculpture gallery.
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It was named for Native Americans living in the area. In the1850's explorers named the area and people for Native Americans known as the Monache or Mono. The lake is the oldest one in North America. It is said that the lake was formed about 760,000 years ago. Its water has a mineral content of about ten percent. Although fish can not live in this salty water, the lake supports alkali flies and migratory birds. Also it has brine shrimp.
By 1941, the state of California was diverting water from the lake to meet the needs of the fast-growing population of Los Angles. The water level of the lake fell, exposing the unusal limestone formations The formations were like monuments or tombstones memorializing the spirits of the lake to protest the human assault on them. About forty years later, Americans appreciated the need to protect the lake. But once the lake’s bottom began to dry up, it was not very easy to restore it to its former state.
On my second trip to the lake, I woke up early one morning to photograph the
sunrise. It was still very dark and quiet. I felt uneasy as though walking in
a cemetery. Suddenly, nighthawks flew away from a bush near my feet. The flapping
sounds of their wings broke the silence, and my heart beat fast and I breathed
heavily. My legs had a cramp from the tension. I strained my eyes to see the
limestone formations in the early morning light. They looked like skeletons
in the black lake. It was also as though hundreds of silent eyes were glaring
and blaming me for the human abuse of the lake. Soon the eastern sky turned
bright, and the sunrise became almost blood red in color. I had never before
seen such a red sky. It seemed as the sun, too, was bleeding and crying about
what seemed to be a "cursed lake."
Some times nature reveals a special kind of "wisdom." On the day of
myvisit at the lake nature seemed to warn a conceited humankind about its abuse
of the earth.
Infomation
The Mono Basin Visitor’s Center
P.O. Box 429, Lee Vining, CA 93541
Phone: 760-873-2408
www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/