Road Trip - Mono Lake, CA

If you're ever looking for a place that's other worldly, look no further than Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve (scroll down for 3D photos). Mono Lake is an ancient lake located just south of the town of Lee Vining, California on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve

The lake is an oasis in the desert that supports a huge variety of wildlife. Nearly two million birds, including 100 different species, use Mono Lake as a feeding stop-over on their north-south migrations. In the spring and summer up to 60,000 gulls, 80 percent of the state's population, return to Mono Lake each year to nest and raise their young. Unfortunately, their populations have declined drastically with the loss of wetland habitat due to humans diverting water to Southern California.

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve

The main attraction of the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve is the tufa formations formed over thousands of years by springs flowing up through the lake bottom and calcium in the water bonding with carbonates in the lake. Unfortunately, the tufa formations have also been drastically affected by the diversion of water from the lake to Southern California.

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve

Currently, efforts are being made to restore Mono Lake. On September 28, 1994, a victory was achieved when the California State Water Resources Control Board issued an order to protect Mono Lake and its tributary streams. Hopefully these efforts will reverse the damage of the past and help preserve Mono Lake.

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve

Road Trip - Lee Vining, CA

Spent the second night of our road trip in Lee Vining, CA. I've driven through Lee Vining many times but never actually spent a night there. Lee Vining is known as the gateway to Yosemite. However, this time of year, there wasn't much going on.

None the less, Lee Vining is an interesting little town. Biggest surprise was the Mono Basin Historical Society Museum which has a great collection of old mining equipment

and the "Upside Down House" which was built in 1956 by Nellie Bly Bryan who was inspired by the children's tale, "Upside Down Land". The house was originally located along Hwy 395 south of the Mono Inn. 

After Nellie's death, the house fell into disrepair until it was moved to its current location in 2000.

Road Trip - Burney Falls, CA

Burney Falls

On the second day of our road trip to southern California, we paid a visit to the McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park. Established in 1922, McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park is the second oldest park in the California State Park system. The park is best known for the spectacular 129-foot tall Burney Falls.To the people known today as the Pit River Indians, Burney Falls, or 'uts' i mi' wa, is a sacred place. Some say that President Theodore Roosevelt called the falls "the eighth wonder of the world." The McArthur family believed so strongly that the falls should be protected that they purchased the land and water rights and then sold them to the state for preservation as a park.