Visiting Mono Lake is still better than….

Whilst we were on our Mammoth Lakes trip, we decided to swing by Mono Lake on our way back home, since we don’t often get over to the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Of all the things to do while visiting the east side of the Sierra Nevada’s, seeing Mono Lake is probably the last thing worth doing. Unless you enjoy walking through swarms of insects and smelling funky smells, that is.

Here is how you get down to the lake after parking and paying $3 (U.S.) a person. $3 a person, you say? Do they at least put bourbon in the lake for that much? Sadly, the answer is no.

Anyway, the boardwalk is about 1/4 a mile long, winding through the scrub brush. Watch out for snakes!

What sucks is that for all that boardwalk there isn’t one single hot dog stand or roller coaster.

However, there are big salt rock spires, called “tufa.” They are about as interesting as you would think a big, salt rock spire would be. Even calling them “tufa” fails to make them any more interesting.

Nevertheless, some of the tufa get pretty big. Here, some random tourists and what appears to be Matt in a pink polo shirt are standing between my camera and the tufa for perspective.

One thing I noticed is that most of the tourists visiting the lake are from other countries. Poor suckers, if only they knew before they came, they could have avoided wasting $3, using it at the nearby gas station (which contains a 5 star restaurant) to purchase almost a gallon of fuel for their rented Recreational Vehicles.

But despite this lakes amusement handicap, once you reach the shoreline you are greeted with pure delight.

Isn’t this quite a handsome lake? See the little black things on the shoreline? Can you guess what they are?

No, not volcanic rocks. Even better: Alkali Flies. And their larva! Bonus!

If ever there was proof that God isn’t always on top of his game, its this lake.

Delicious Alkali Flies! Delicious if you are some sort of bird, or perhaps a local Indigenous People.

Just look at the majestic tufa. Superb.

Truly, this is a $3 sight to behold.

Whats this? A bush covered with salt? Wow, thats got to be the coolest thing to look at. No, wait, whats that tall tufa over there?

Ah yes, a tufa that vaguely resembles an ogre’s penis. The highlight of the entire ordeal.

Never a better time for pictures by the dead, stinky lake!

This one is surely going onto the shelf! Man, am I glad I’m there. Just look at my hand! It’s clearly obvious that I’m happy to be there!

Overall, I enjoyed visiting Mono Lake. Well, not really.

Do you know that part of any shoreline (ocean or lake) where garbage builds up and it just stinks? You know, that one little inlet that isn’t quite as nice as the rest of the shoreline, and you pretty much just go around it and make sure its not in any of the pictures? There are usually dead fish floating around and you get an impending feeling of your own mortality?

That is what ALL of Mono Lake is like.