Mono Lake is a true wonder. With its stark, otherworldly appearance and other attributes, it is by far one of the most complex and unique ecosystems in the American West.
It is, at the same time, a desolate high desert lake and a vibrant, living, special environment teeming with unusual lifeforms and formations.
Located about three hours southwest of Fallon via U.S. 50 and U.S. 395, Mono Lake traces its beginning to more than 700,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest bodies of water in North America.
Fed by melting glaciers, the lake once measured five times its present size of about 60 square miles (geologists believe the lake covered about 338 square miles and reached a depth of 900 feet).
In addition to having direct ties to the Ice Age, the lake also has been the site of extensive volcanic activity, starting about 13,000 years ago, which helped shape its current state.
For example, the rounded black hills to the south are remnants of giant, uplifted volcanic craters. At one, Panum Crater, easily accessible from Highway 120, you can hike to the dome and rim of a long-dead volcano.
The area's volcanic heritage is also evident at Black Point, at the lake's north end, which features large fissures you can walk through, and at various hot springs and steam vents found in the basin.
The lake's trademark tufa formations, however, are its most impressive and unusual landmarks. At various places around the lake, you can find clusters of these towering calcium spires and plugs
Tufa is the stone formed when calcium-bearing freshwater springs bubble up through alkaline lake water that is rich with carbonates. When the two combine, limestone deposits develop, which can, over years, grow into large towers.
Tufa formations, however, can only grow beneath the lake’s waters. When the lake level falls and the tufa is exposed to air, it ceases to grow.
A number of interpretive trails lead to patches of tufa formations located around the lake, including a large selection near the Mono Lake County Park, at the northwest end, the Scenic Area Visitor Center in Lee Vining, and the South Tufa Area at Navy Beach (accessible from Highway 120).
The latter contains some of the largest and most impressive tufa. Dozens of the gnarled, knobbed, and rippled tufa towers line the southern lake shore.
Visitors can wander along the beach, wandering through the maze of formations, which, depending upon the light and your mood, can assume exotic and mysterious shapes.
While the lake appears dead, it is actually an alkali soup of strange but fascinating lifeforms. Both the brine shrimp and brine flies flourish on its algae-laden waters.
Additionally, the lake is popular with many species of birds (who eat the shrimp and flies), including the California gull, the eared grebe and snowy plovers. In fact, 90 percent of the state of California's population of California gulls is born at Mono Lake.
Swimming is permitted in the lake and, because it is more than 1,000-times as salty as the Pacific Ocean, an interesting experience because you float much easier. However, rangers warn that you should keep the water out of your eyes or any cuts because it will sting.
When you feel the lake's water you find it thicker than normal lake water. Mark Twain once wrote: "Its sluggish waters are so strong with alkali that if you only dip the most hopelessly soiled garment into them once or twice, and wring it out, it will be found as clean as if it had been through the ablest of washer woman's hands."
Despite its unique qualities, it's a small miracle that Mono Lake continues to exist. In 1941, the City of Los Angeles began diverting water from four of the five streams that feed the lake.
During the next few decades, the lake level dropped 40 feet and doubled in salinity. Fortunately, using legal tools, environmentalists and local community groups were able to work with the city to start the process of restoring the flow of water to the lake.
For more information about these ongoing efforts, go to: www.monolake.org.