Mono Lake

The correct pronunciation of the lake's name is mOnO with long O sounds. It does not mean "single" as our English word "mono." The word "Mono" is an ancient Indian term for "fly eater" and refers to ancient tribal people who were often called the "Mono's" because they harvested and ate the fly larvae which hatched in the tufas just below the water's surface of Mono lake. These larvae contain many times more protein than anything else its volume. It kept the people healthy.

This is a picture of some of the tufas that today rise out of the water. Since 1941 the Lake has been drained to less than half it's previous level. Conservation efforts are now in process to preserve any further draining of the lake.

The tufa formations that rise from the lake today draw photographers from all over the world to photograph these "other worldly" structures against a gorgeous Sierra background. The lake is located just below CA Highway 89 at Lee Vining California. The three days I was there right after Christmas 2006 the streets were snowy and icy. The highway was divided by a crest of snow in the middle of the road all the way through town. Not that the town of Lee Vining is very big.

Most of the pictures you will see in this gallery were taken at the south tufa formations. They were taken on four different occasions. Some were taken on windy and stormy evenings. Others were taken on two different early mornings. The latter images in the gallery were taken on a beautiful winter morning looking west from the lake toward the eastern Sierras.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. If you would like a print of any of these photographs please contact me at alvance@charter.net. All images on my site are for sale.