Oct 03 2006

On the southern shores of Mono Lake is an area called Navy Beach. As the name implies Navy Beach is a former recreation area for Navy personnel in the area. From the Navy Beach parking lot if you walk...east I guess...along the shoreline you come upon rows and rows of tufas ranging from a 1 foot to 4-5 feet tall. It's fascinating to get a close up look at these very delicate tufas, they look so fragile you are afraid to approach them. It's amazing to think how over time these tufas slowly grew from calcium pockets in the lake only to emerge as the lake level fell.

When the restoration of water levels of Mono Lake is complete this amazing field will most likely return back to the depths of the lake, a necessary byproduct of saving the lake. One of those bittersweet moments.