Hot August Nights 2012 - August 9

We left the Desert Rose RV park in Fernley, NV this morning on Alt. Hwy 50 south through Silver Springs then west to Carson City. At Carson City we picked up Hwy. 395 south to Pleasant Valley County Park, about 10 miles north of Bishop, California.

While there was some road construction, Hwy 395 is quite pretty; it is one of California’s scenic byways. We stopped at the Mono Lake Vista point and could see smoke in the distance. A stop at the Visitor Center confirmed there was a forest fire which started on Wednesday by lightening. We learned that it was already up to 5000 acres. After the High Park Fire just west of Fort Collins earlier this summer, we were not too anxious to see another forest fire!

There are two large islands in the 6390 foot deep lake which were formed by volcanoes. Paoha, the larger island is white and does not look volcanic. It was formed about 300 years ago when magma rose from under the surface and pushed up the sediment from the bottom of the lake. Negit, the black island, was formed by volcanic eruptions between 300 and 1700 years ago.

We continued south from the visitor’s center, then took Hwy 120 five miles to the South Tufa Loop at Mono Lake. It is well worth the drive and we had our national parks pass, so the admission was free. There is a nice trail down to the lake with informational signs explaining the history of the lake and current day usage of water by the city of Los Angeles. Mono Lake is on the western edge of the Great Basin, and like the Salt Lake on the eastern edge, it is a salt lake. It is 2.5 times saltier than the ocean and 100 times more alkaline!

Tufa is a type of limestone made when calcium rich springs from the bottom of the lake flow up and mix with carbonates in the water, forming calcium carbonate. When the lake water levels drop, the exposed tufa stops growing.

Penny took a little walk into the water, but did NOT like the salty feeling!

After our stop at Mono Lake, we continued south past Mammoth Lakes and found our campground next to Owens River. The water is moving pretty fast, but we put the harness on and let her go swimming. She is loving it – but the mosquitos are loving me! Tobey took her for another walk and they found another area on the river for her to swim and large blue heron took off not from from them and startled Penny – but only for a minute. She had a great time and is ready to settle in for the night.