Mono Lake and the High Desert - October 25, 2015

"Mono Lake lies in a lifeless, treeless, hideous desert, eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is guarded by mountains two thousand feet higher, whose summits are always clothed in clouds."

"This solemn, silent, sail-less sea --this lonely tenant of the loneliest spot on earth --is little graced with the picturesque."

"It is an unpretending expanse of grayish water, about a hundred miles in circumference, with two islands in its centre, mere upheavals of rent and scorched and blistered lava, snowed over with gray banks and drifts of pumice-stone and ashes, the winding sheet of the dead volcano, whose vast crater the lake has seized upon and occupied."

The above quotes are from Mark Twain's "Roughing It".  He doesn't seem too enchanted with the place, but I was.  If you want to read his very entertaining experience at Mono Lake - this page is a good place to do it.

Maybe because he wrote of his experiences approximately 145 years ago and, well, things do change, but I didn't feel the same during my brief visit there in October 2015.  In fact, I'm dying to go again!

I had headed to the high desert for a few reasons...of course having to do with my camera:

• Get some shots of the sunrise (hopefully) over the tufa,
• Photograph some fall foliage, and 
• Visit a ghost town! Namely, Bodie. 

Well, I didn't get the sunrise because the drive was a liiiittttllleee bit longer than I had anticipated so I arrived just after sunrise.  And it was overcast.  

Which sucked.  Mainly because it wasn't overcast everywhere...mainly over the lake.  Of course.  haha

But I did get some awesome tufa shots.

  

The reflections on the highly-alkaline lake were stunning.

I didn't make it to the main tufa area which is located a bit further down the highway at Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve.  I wanted to get to Bodie at an early hour so I contented myself with the tufa at the Mono Lake Park.  It wasn't very hard as they are so varied and interesting no matter where located.

And the park and boardwalk were lovely too. 

Just because it's high desert, doesn't mean it isn't gorgeous.  Frankly, I think Mr. Twain might have had a screw loose.

Tufa are like clouds...you can see all kinds of shapes and things in them.  This one looks like a piggie.

And here we have a mushroom.

And this one...well...this one is either very phallic or looks like a munchkin with a bare butt. 

I think there is something wrong with me.  haha!

The sky was so dramatic at times!  So then I was glad for the clouds.  :-)

I did get a few fall foliage pictures although there was one beautiful spot filled with red and gold leaved trees with snowy mountains in the background that I wanted but didn't feel comfortable getting.  

It was seriously so beautiful that people were pulling over on the highway to snap pics, but I was going the wrong direction and would have had to cross lanes of traffic to get the good angles.  I just didn't feel comfortable.  

So I contented myself with the few I could get.  

This was really cool but doesn't fully translate to the photo.  There was a creek that ran down this mountain.  The creek was lined with birches which, of course, provided a burst of color in a vivid line.

And this is the same creek with it's thirsty birches, but closer to the lake.  I was on a hill overlooking it at this point and it's really bright against the desert tundra.

I'll finish with some more dramatic sky.  My current love is bare trees.  I think they look so amazing.  So I couldn't resist this shot that kind of sums up the high desert for me. 

Mono Lake.  What a treasure.  And to think we almost killed it by diverting water to Los Angeles.  I'm so happy that people realized.  Especially a young man named David Gaines, who pretty much save the lake.  You can read his story here.  What an inspiration he and this beautiful area are. 

I can't wait to go back.  

xoxo

Not So Wild Wildflowers! 2/20/16

Two posts ago I shared my amazing evening seeing Yosemite's Horsetail "Firefall"    That was how I ended my fun Saturday road-trip on February 20th.  This post is how I started it.  Or, at least my first stop of the day.

As I mentioned in my Yosemite post, I had originally intended to go to the Merced National Wildlife Refuge and possibly the nearby San Luis National Wildlife Refuge to photograph some wildlife.  But a different "wild" thing has also been on my mind lately...wild flowers.  

It's kind of early for wildflowers.  There are quite a few though because of the really warm weather we've had after all the much-needed rain.  So I've been thinking (and kind of worrying!) a lot lately because I'm afraid when they bloom, they won't last long.  And will I miss them??  Silly, I know.  

So when I saw a beautiful photo posted on my friend Cindy's Instagram of gorgeous wild daisies, I asked her where she had taken the photo.  It seemed to be a good omen when she said they were on northbound Highway 99 between Merced and Atwater!

It was foggy when I left Sacramento (not as early as I had intended) and then it got sunny.  But just before I got to Atwater, the fog took over again!  I drove all the way into Merced to get some breakfast and was a little dismayed because I didn't really see any flowers except for a small patch along the center median.  That wouldn't work.  And, they didn't look like the daisies that Cindy had seen.

After breakfast, I headed back North, but I stayed on surface streets near the highway, hoping to find some flowers.

Success!  

I found an interesting road surrounded by fields of beautiful flowers on three sides and rustic farms on the East. Photography Heaven!

It was still foggy and a lot of the flowers weren't fully awake.  But that only increased their beauty and the dew from the fog was amazing.

Ah. May. Zing. 

This tiny purple blossom was covered on every surface. 

To give you a better idea of what these little fields of flowers looked like...

I was a little suspicious, to be honest.  All these flowers were growing around areas that either were under construction or near construction. 

I had an inkling that the only true wildflowers in my photos were the mustard stems you can see in the photo below.  Not that I REALLY cared.  :)

The foggy farms were pretty interesting too.

But lest we forget that this is not a pristine field in the wild...

I really don't know how it was standing up like that.  But I didn't cross the road to look at the other side.  

I was wandering along the fence line, checking out the farm, when I noticed some feathered friends posing for me. They were not deterred me or by the fog.

I even had to dodge a Canadian fly by.

All these birds were making me anxious to get to the Wildlife Refuge, so I started to walk back to my car.  At one point a gentleman in a construction truck pulled into the dirt path where I was walking and asked if I was enjoying the flowers and if I had gotten any good shots.  

I said I was and hoped I had some good ones.  I said the flowers were amazing and he said that the city of Atwater air drops the wildflower blend seeds in construction zones to prevent erosion and make the projects looked more pleasing.  Smart idea!  I knew they weren't 100% wild!  

Again, I'm not complaining.  

So many colors!  And combinations!  I even found some Lakers colors.  :)

Which is not to say that the occasional white flower was overshadowed.  Not at all...still gorgeous. 

But one of the most unique flowers I found will end the post.  Loved this ombre-painted flower!  The vibrant purple and fuchsia fading into lavender and white were brilliant against the orange daisies in the background.  

I had so much fun walking around and photographing all the various "wild" flowers.  

Big thanks to Cindy and the city of Atwater!!

xoxo