Eastern Sierra Workshop part 6

Since ‘our spots’ on Mono Lake are only about 20 minutes away we get to sleep in.  We are on the road by 515.  It is not nearly as crowded as last night.  In fact there are fewer than 10 vehicles in the parking lot with our group making up 5 of them.

Mono Lake is a large very old lake that has no outlet.  Consequently the salt levels are high; approximately double the level of the ocean.  The pH levels are approximately 10, very alkaline.  This combination means there are no fish living in Mono Lake.  Instead the lake is famous for brine shrimp, not for humans but for the resident and migrating shore birds.  The tufa formations you see around the lake is a variety of limestone that is formed from springs in the area below the lake.  Go to http://www.monolake.org for additional information.

We are on-site to catch the last of the dark skies and you can see the Big Dipper in one of the images above the tufa formations.  After I shot from a few of my initially scouted locations I moved on to other spots on my list.  Having a little bit of light from the impending sunrise also helped with finding my way around.

Working to Jack’s schedule really showed how well we were prepared.  We were all on-site for the sunrise and the ever changing colors of the sky.  There were any number of photographers on their own or as organized groups that showed up halfway through the light show.  I made note of this for when I went to Yosemite in a few days.

We concentrated on the light across the lake but again when we turned around the light was glistening off the flora in the area.  A few of us moved over to catch the morning light there.

After an hour or two we stopped in at Nicely’s for breakfast to fill up before going on to the next location.  We all walked away full and ready for our next adventure.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark