Some Mono Lake pics from a couple weeken ds ago

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This is Mono Lake about an hour or so after sun up, looking west towards the Sierra crest. A really cool strip of mist hovered alongside the steep mountains. Since Mono Lake is three times saltier than the ocean, it would take quite a bit to freeze this high-altitude desert lake.







I camped out in the snowy desert that night, and the temps were hovering around 10 degrees, which for this Sacramento kid is purdy darn cold. Let's just say the water in the dog bowl the next morning was harder than my own head. In this pic, the morning alpenglow hits the Sierra crest. I had to use a shutter release cable because my shivering hands would've shaken the camera. BrrrrRRrrrr!










This was taken even earlier yet, pre-sunrise with mist over the water. I have spent many quiet mornings waiting for the sun to pop up over the mountains to the east and spread its warm glow on the tufa towers and the whole basin. You can hear the excitement of the many gulls and various birds as the first rays of sun radiate on the lake. I've seen these tufa towers turn yellow, orange, stark white, pink, and purple depending on the light it is absorbing.”

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Ha ha! Here's a shot of my dogs, Heidi and Sierra, on the snowy shore of Mono Lake. Yes, I had to wipe wet-nose off my 17mm lens!”

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From Sacramento, even the drive to Mono Lake is really cool. People frequently ask me, "Why do you often drive 4-5 hours each way to hike when there are so many places nearby?", and my answer is that the drive itself is part of the experience. Driving to the eastern Sierra is part of the "end" and not just a means to an end. Sorry, got a little philosoophical there. This is I-80 near Emigrant Gap as I was making my way towards Donner Pass. I pulled over because I saw a cool scene with fog over a valley (not this pic, but the next one), but I took this one because I thought it looked cool how the sun was just a smear of light in the clouds.







I thought it was pretty how this cloud hovered over a fog-filled valley. It had just snowed, so there was still snow in the trees, and I was actually racing this other storm over Donner Pass. I won. It was a good feeling.







This was a scene right off Hwy. 395 as I drove back. It's continual stuff like this that makes the long drive worth it. Hwy. 395 is my favorite highway in the whole wide world of sports fans.”

“Buck, agreed, 395 is spectacular, mile after mile. I made the drive a couple weeks ago from Socal, it takes 3 more hours then 5 but it's worth the extra time. I'll be heading down as far as Big Pine in a few weeks when I do my annual Death Valley trip. The way I figure it, is that the trip starts when I leave my driveway.”

“I love 395 and the Eastern Sierra too! What seems strange to me is it is 3.5 hours from here to Lone Pine, Yosemite Valley and Cedar Grove...I guess Porterville is a regular geographical oddity...it's 3.5 hours from everywhere :)”

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I stood there shivering (brrrrrr!) waiting in a tufa grove for the sun to come up. There was a mist over the eastern part of the lake. If Mono Lake was a freshwater lake, surely it would be frozen, but being three times saltier than the ocean, there was only some slush on the surface here and there. As the sun was preparing to rise over the mountains, the sky turned orange, which in turn painted the surface of the lake. I used my cable release to snap the shutter because it was so freaking cccc-cccold I was worried I might shake the camera with my finger. Clickity click click click.”

“very nice and it came out great. sorry you almost froze trying to get the pic. but it was worth it.”