Mono Lake, California Area

Found a place to camp off Owens River Road 

Tuolumne Meadows

Can you spot the climbers?

Half Dome view from Olmsted Point

El Capitan

Red Cloud Mine

Bodie State Park

Aurora 

Mono Lake is a majestic body of water covering about 65 square miles. It is an ancient lake, over 1 million years old -- one of the oldest lakes in North America. It has no outlet.

Throughout its long existence, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams. Freshwater evaporating from the lake each year has left the salts and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2 1/2 times as salty as the ocean and very alkaline.

Mono Lake is an oasis in the dry Great Basin and a vital habitat for millions of migratory and nesting birds. 

Osprey nest

Navy Beach

A secret military installation operated by the US Navy was located along the south shoreline of Mono Lake. During the 1950's and 1960's several branches of the US Armed Forces utilized this test facility to conduct various research.

Mono Mills 

To meet the ever increasing demand for lumber and cord wood the Bodie Railway and Lumber Company was formed in February 1881.  Timber was harvested from various tracts to the south.  It was milled at this site and then shipped to Bodie on the railroad.  

 Panum Crater

A rhyolitic volcanic cone close to Mono Lake. Geologically, it is very young, just 600–700 years old.

We choose the plug trail which took us to the top overlooking Mono Lake.

Hot Creek

With its geothermal activity, rugged scenery and thriving wildlife, Hot Creek is a destination for anglers and geo-tourists. You'll see a variety of birds, including bald eagles, heron and egrets, while the hot and cold springs bubbling up in the creek foster a rich bug population and a healthy trout habitat. Hot Creek is open year round for catch-and-release fishing with barbless hooks.

Down stream we have campers and cows enjoying the hot water together.

The upper part of the creek is home to the first warm water hatchery in the state. The Hot Creek Hatchery originally opened in 1941, but local clubs started raising trout at Hot Creek in 1928.