Bridgeport, CA - Mono Lake

Mono Lake is just on the east side of Yosemite, near the Tioga Pass entrance. We went down one afternoon after work to see the "tufas". The lake is high in alkalinity and almost 3x as salty as the ocean. The tufa towers are made of a calcium-carbonate substance that bubbled up from underneath the water. When they started to divert the lake's water to quench the growing Los Angeles population, the water levels dropped exposing these tufa formations. Some of these formations are now high on land, while others remain in the water or underwater.

This lake is also very popular for birds and birdwatchers. It is on the migratory paths of several birds. One, the Wilson's Phalarope, starts from Canada, flies to Mono Lake to molt and bulk up and then flies all the way (3,000 miles) to South America for the winter - and they do this flight in 3 days! Here's a picture of the American Avocet...
...and a green-back swallow on a tufa...
I don't know what kind of bird this is, but all of those little dots around him are alkali flies. If you click on the picture to enlarge, you might see them better. And there are thousands to millions of these flies around the lake. The birds feed on them. And when a bird, or Andy, starts chasing them around they swarm in a big, dark cloud and make an incredible buzzzzzing sound. Like a hornet's nest. The good news is is that they don't bite...they just bounce off of your legs when you walk by.Next to Mono Lake is Panum Crater. We took the Plug Trail up and into the crater. Inside we found all of these fantastic rocks that were part of the molten lava eruption. The textures, formations, and colors were so varied. From the top of the pile we could see parts of Mono Lake below us. Andy almost lost his favorite hat when it blew off his head and into one of the deepest, darkest crevices between all of the jumbled rocks. The black hole was like a magnet they way it quickly sucked in his hat. It was funny. But a big stick and with a little stretching and shimmying around, he was able to retrieve it before it fell even further down the volcano.
We had decided to skip the hike to Black Point, another volcano on the edge of Mono Lake, but later learned that the fissures are really worth seeing. So, we'll have to put that on our list for the next time we come through. That and the road bike ride down Twin Lakes Road in Bridgeport.