Thursday September 26, Hwy 120, Lee Vining

Mono Lake towards the Sierra Nevada's

Woke this morning to -3 Celsius, frost all over the ground but the sun was shining, waited until the heater had warmed the van up before we crawled out of the warm bed. Ever so grateful of the wool blanket that I have been knitting, big enough now to be of some use.

Chatted with Alan, a firefighter from Stockton who was on a bike and had camped in a tent over night. He borrowed our axe and saw last night to try and get enough wood for a fire, and this morning he said how cold it had been. I don’t envy him. He was going hiking with some mates today, but everything at this altitude is hard work until you adjust to it.

This mornings drive east along the Tioga Road was still in Yosemite National Park, and the scenery was fabulous, driving through granite  rock and views across to the more mountains. Just loved the trees that had managed to grow in this rocky terrain.  There had been snow overnight which was covering the hill tops and was still visible along the roadside.

The scenery this morning was stunning.

Coffee stop at Tioga Lake

We left the park at the top of the pass, almost 10,000 feet then it was a pretty steep grade as we descended on the other side before arriving at the small town of Lee Vining on Mono Lake. Picked up a few supplies and called into the Information Centre and found out the best way to see the lake.

Mono Lake is about three times the level of salt as the ocean and since the 1940’s when Los Angeles started diverting four feeder streams to the lake, it had been dropping 18 inches a year. It is known for its bizarre Tufa formations along the lake shore as well as for the huge number of birds that come here.

We walked along the lake shore which felt like being in a moonscape and the trigger finger on the camera didn’t stop, just amazing. While the sun was shining a snow storm seemed to be happening in the Sierras. Loved every minute of it.

The tufas and scenery at Mono Lake...surreal.

Dispersed camping (freedom camping to kiwis) is available in the area around the lake so we found a spot in the trees overlooking the lake, the snow was still covering the ground in places! Had planned to drive back down to the lake and photograph the sunset on the Tufa’s but the temperatures dropped to 5 degrees with a wind so decided to flag it (I know you would have been there Lynn Clayton)!

It was 4 degrees tonight when Ian went out at 6pm to grill a piece the steak for dinner….he didn’t stay long, it was quite rare! I managed to get some emails briefly today and heard the miracle didn’t happen on San Francisco Bay, feel really sorry for our guys, they did so well. No blog loaded for days, will try in the morning.