Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 1 mile loop
Time: 30-60 minutes
Accessibility: year round
My friends and I decided to celebrate Valentine's weekend by going on a #roadtrip to our favorite area in #California, the Eastern Sierras. The Eastern Sierras are an explorer's dream with so much to see and do. On this #trip we wanted to check out as many spots as possible so we loaded up our trip itinerary. We camped nearby in #Bishop and made our way to #Mono #Lake in the Lee Vining area in the afternoon. We had a nice picturesque lunch at Mono Lake South Tufas where there are picnic benches.
The term Tufa refers to the interesting variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals that surrounds this area of the lake. Mono Lake is also one of the oldest lakes in North America (over a million years old). The lake has no outlet and is 2 1/2 times as salty as the ocean and very alkaline. If you want to #camp around the mono lake area, dispersed camping is allowed on public land in the Mono Basin. #Camping is allowed on the exposed lake-bed surrounding Mono Lake by permit only. Dispersed camping is prohibited in developed recreation areas such as South Tufa, Navy Beach, Old Marina, and County Park.
We had a great time #exploring the lake-bed and taking in the beautiful and unique #landscape. It's no wonder Mono Lake is a photographers favorite. The #view is gorgeous, especially at sunset with the colors reflecting off the calm and tranquil water.