Travelogue

Tufas and SierraDeath Valley was a pretty long drive for one day, so we decided to break it up by spending the night in Lee Vining, near Mono Lake.

We absolutely love Mono Lake. It is such a unique and otherworldly place with its mystical “tufa castles” rising from the lake, formed over thousands of years when carbonates in the water combined with calcium from freshwater springs feeding into the lake.

Normally they would just be hidden beneath the water, but as lake levels dropped, these extraordinary-looking knobs, spires, and minarets became exposed, some of them rising as high as 30 feet above the surface—and they do look like castles. Most of the towers visible in the lake are from 200 to 900 years old.

Herb awaiting sunriseThe largest concentration of them can be found along the southern shore of the lake at the South Tufa State Reserve, just ½ mile west of Navy Beach.

We got to Lee Vining too late to enjoy the sunset over the lake, so we decided to set our alarm clocks for 5:00 to catch the sunrise in the morning. I’m not a morning person, so this was a big deal for me.

While it was still dark we drove down 395, turned east on Highway 120, and made another left on the turnoff for the South Tufa State Reserve. I was surprised to see that we were not the first ones there.

Sunrise Mono LakeAs we got our stuff together to hike the short distance to the tufas, several more cars arrived. As They began unloading lots of camera and video equipment, we realized that they were all together and some kind of filming was going to be done. I asked them and they said that they were filming a nature documentary for the BBC.

Looks like we were in the right place for some pretty spectacular scenery.

The trail to the lake is only a mile-long, but there were plenty of interesting stops along the way. Because of the drop in lake levels over the years, there are quite a few land-based tufas along the trail. That, combined with the snow-capped Sierras in the background, made for a very lovely scene.

Sunrise Mono LakeIt was a frigid 37 degrees and my fingers, despite a pair of gloves, were freezing, making it difficult to hit the shutter on my camera phone.

Meanwhile more and more members of the film crew went by rolling suitcases filled with equipment. I hoped we wouldn't get in each other’s way. I didn't get up this early to have dozens of people in my photos. I'm sure they felt the same about us.

We got to a small beach on the lake and waited for the sun to make its appearance, right over the peaks of those beautiful snow-capped Sierras. What a difference some snow makes. The Sierra is always beautiful, but when it's covered in a blanket of snow, it is striking.

Sunrise Mono LakeFinally, at 6:35, right on time, the tops of the peaks took on an orange glow, as if a painter was starting his work. By 6:50 the show was in full force, with the mountains and the tufas all aglow - both in reality and in their reflections in Mono Lake. It was absolutely stunning.

We wandered a bit further along the lake trying to stay out of the way of the BBC crew, who were now flying drones over the entire area, capturing the Sierra, lake, and tufas from above. I wish I had asked when this documentary would be aired. I didn't even know what it would b e called.

Historic Benton Hot SpringsOnce the sun had risen and completed its light show, with frozen hands we went back to the car to continue on our way to Death Valley.

Although the shortest route was down 395 to the town of Lone Pine and then east on 190 towards Stovepipe Wells, we decided to take another more scenic and interesting route.

From the South Tufa Reserve, we continued east on 120 to the town of Benton, famous for its historic natural hot springs. No time for soaking now, so we continued on to the town of Tonopah, an historic Nevada mining town, before heading south of 95 towards Rhyolite and the Titus Canyon 4WD entrance into Death Valley.

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