I’ve been to this lake before and I had no idea what kind of lake it was. I drove all the way from Yosemite to that lake in order to “swim”. Once I got there I saw no one swimming , but I still grabbed my beach towel and approached the water. As i got closed to the water this nasty horrible smell started hitting me, then as I got closer a bunch of flies were all over the shore of the water and started flying towards me. It was sooo disgusting. I ran back to my car and just stood there looking at the lake. It was definitely not what I was expecting, but as I looked at it I started admiring it’s components. It was a truly magical experience, that lake is beautiful in its own way. This lakes makes you feel like you are in a different planet, it is so mysterious.
All Southern Californians should regard this most beautiful, generous, and resilient lake with more reverence, and be grateful for its life giving generosity!!... thank you so much for great documentary!👍🏽🏜
I’ve been blessed to visit Mono Lake on several occasions, twice as part of dedicated photography trips. It is my favorite place on this earth. It is magical, desolate yet full of life; as if it were a lake on the moon. Amazing place. Great video! Was pleased to support the Mono Lake Comittee by yearly membership for a few years, and that’s with living in Florida. Long Live Mono Lake!
The backside of the Sierras is the most Beautiful place on Earth. Mono Lake is a very special place. Take a slow drive up 395 sometime. If it's summer drive up to Tioga Pass. Just amazing. So it is of course worth preserving.
My wife and I and our dog drive by this lake from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe nearly every year! We have stopped shortly to see it and then moved on to our destination. Last time, we actually stopped and thought about making our next trip to this place! Week of October 10th we are visiting to learn and explore! We can not wait! Mono lake Story video is a great reminder to city people like us to help conserve! We are doing as much as we can even if it is minuscule in the grand scheme!
RIP & Thank you so much David Gaines, I remember those early days of saving Rush Creek, at that time my daughter was born when we were living in June Lake. All these decades later i now live on the shore of the dry Owens lake at Keeler beach, reflecting on the water that is no longer there. Being born down where the water now goes, yet ending up in my life at its source again is my own metaphor of life. Shundahai to all those who care..
Stunning images! The video is beautifully done. I'm glad the yt algorithm suggested your channel. It's wonderful that there's been so much rain and snow this year; 2023. Thanks for posting.
i went here in 97 with friends everything about owens valley is beautiful, mono lake, alabama hills and the ghost towns, have not been back due to a massive stroke, camping at alabama hills and exploring all the ghost towns again someday is my main bucket list
I remember going to Mono Lake for the first time on a college photography trip.. As we drove down the hill towards the lake I thought, "this is it?!?" 🤔 .. I was thinking why would we drive all the way here?!...whoa was I wrong!!!...it is absolutely incredible! Just so amazing and deserving of protection and admiration. I can't express how beautiful it was too photograph the tufa in the middle of the night with a countless number of stars in the sky... It's definitely worth a courteous visit. 😁👍
I live in Ontario, Canada but several years ago I visited this area. I didn't get to the tufas but spent a fine old time wandering Panum Crater. As a geology/vulcanology buff, this was amazing.
I was there last Summer and was supposed to go last Monday (but that didn't work out). It is such an interesting place. When the Sun goes down behind the Sierra's in the late afternoon, it feels so magical. I enjoyed it more than my first Yosemite trip the following day. Global conditions allowing, I will go after the last day of school in June (UC Davis).
By the way, Mono Lake smells FINE. I lived nearby for over15 years, knowing the entire creek network, swimming in that and every lake in the region, skiing, snowboarding, ( unfortunately having a hand in building some houses, which, when i realized what was being done, switched to solely repais!), some climbing, hiking, up most nearby mountains. Years later, when coming down from wilderness with the Wolf (who had tragically been born captive, and to whom i gave a decade of trying to give a life fulfilling for his species), we would encounter in Lee Vining and surrounds, people from around the world. The sole stench that occurs is from human perfumes, detectable from 100 meters and more along with cigarettes, same. The smells of life, death, nature, are not in the least offensive, especially when compared to the acquired odors humans put on themselves. The lake is magnificent in all seasons, and even the decrepit gold mining town of Bodie ( about 188_- 1930) ran ferries across the vaster lake to more easily access the Jeffrey Pine forest by the craters, and the shortened trail ( not having to top the 8000+ ft pass) The Mono Lake committee's efforts were the first onsite activists in memory, and aroused the support of so many in Mammoth and June area - they were the first environment group i ever supported, and did even inpire the efforts against the "ski circus" destruction of Sierra Nevada in the Mammoth and June Lakes area, now protected from it by wilderness designation of Upper Owens. Other recovery and prevention of destruction movements were informed and inspired by Mono Lake Committee work. So, not only the Mono Basin ( and the seasonally migratory Mono indians had netted and eaten those flies in recipes. Humans are descended from insectivores, and the peculiar rejection of nature found in some comments below are quite historically Unnatural, the theme underlying my entire comment.) but also both successful and unsuccessful work to preserve the entire Sierra region were inspired by MLC! ( i remember some visiting hollywood people, starlet saying "what's all this Momo Lake thing?" At least she asked)
Totally amazing and now i wanna visit for sure! This is how it gets done. Indigenous know the story - they have been on this continent for 1000s of years. thank you!
Don't drink it, most bitter water I've ever tasted, not even salty just bad. (obviously it's extremely salty but not like concentrated seawater/table salt)
Owens Lake has been replenished in 2023 due to all the rain. Los Angeles still runs the water there. I'll have to read up on what the plan is. Cadillac Desert, a book, is a good read about the destruction of Owens Valleys. v
Yes Mono Lake (mo-no, not mon-o) has been saved but only to a certain point. When I was a kid, back in the 50s, our family used to drive up 395 to go camping in Yosemite. I can remember seeing that lake completely full with boat docks, and sailboats out on the lake. It was a regular resort. Le Vining was a hopping little town. Over the years it got lower and lower and lower, and all the boat docks, resorts, sailboats were gone. The lake became a giant salt pond. I also remember Owens lake had water in it. Although the Mono Lake Committee has helped, it'll never be the same. Owens lake is a complete disaster! The entire L.A. basin is 10 times bigger, and more populated than when I was a kid growing up there. I live in N. CA now, and visit Mono Lake once in a while.
This is a very good video, beautifully shot, and for me, just the right amount of narration. The topic was on point, too, with water supplies becoming a global as well as a local issue. We are still in the throes of changing our perception of natural resources, and how short sightedness and self-centeredness can cause so much damage to our environment. This was encapsulated in the clip of the old film about the aqueducts and Owens Lake, when the narrator blithely stated that the diverted water would otherwise be 'wasted' going to the lake. I guess that the thousands of birds living by this 'barren' lake didn't register on anyone's awareness until they had all gone, and the drained lake bed, which really is barren, was exposed...
If visiting the Panum Crater, while turning onto the Mono Lake Basin Road off highway 395, set your radio to 93.7 FM to hear KSKS from Fresno knife-edge the signal over the Sierras.
I was just there today for the first time. The one thing I didnt expect was the smell to remind me so much of northern California beaches on the coast. lol. such a cool lake. I will be back to visit it again. only about 120 miles from home for me.
How's about reducing the mosquito/ fly infestation , by reintroducing the Desert Pupfish ? There were fish there before , and there should be again . .🙂
Realize that LADWP bought up the land for the water rights thereby limiting the population of Owens Valley and preserving the rural way of life everyone there cherishes--it was and is: "Import the people or export the water." We'd rather export the water.
@@Mrbfgray They live in much of Salt Creek and it's connected waters . They are already adapted to the conditions . .🙂 *Salt Creek Pupfish were successfully introduced to Soda Lake in 1980 .
@@Prof.Megamind.thinks.about.it. Ahhh...thanks for the info. I remember them from my youth in the 1970's, one particular character in Bishop made it something of his life's work to save the pupfish.
this story can be applied to many different areas west of the continental divide, all its watersheds and most certainly the Colorado River and points further west and south
It’s not everybody’s flavor but I regard mono county and all it’s attributes as one the of the prettiest, most scenic areas on the west end half of the continent. My summer days off are mostly spent there in Bridgeport or thereabouts watching the monsoonal thunderstorms. It’s unfortunate that LA has and will continue to do its best to destroy the entire area because some geniuses decided to build a mega city the the desert southwest and haven’t done anything to address the water needs thereof. (Aka storage of rainfall)
i believe the water was almost up to the highway before the LAPWD bought the land for the water all the way down the owens river valley from ranchers in the 20's to get all that snow melt to LA.
My great grandfather owned that lake back in the . Halstead was his last name . He bought back from 2 main who had stopped to pick their car at his body shop in San Diego. He only had it for a few yrs ,and sold to 2 men from los Angeles for 15000$ which in the mid 30s was a fortune . He made a killing ,considering he bought the title for 5k. He sold because ,after taking the family up. To see the prop.granma told to " sell this god forsaken land " because there were a couple of old ramshackle shacks,and it kinda smelled she said and so that is the rest of story as they say!
Who gave permission to those landowners to put up the locked gates on the Inyo National Forest dirt road #3N05 @ route 167 blocking my access to the public Mono lake ?
This is so sad and a terrible disastrous human FUBAR. I've been to Mono & June Lakes several times just to see the beauty. What's being done to restore Mono Lake back to a natural beautiful natural wonder? Along that line what about Owens Valley. Why not divert water from the canals to Owens and Mono lakes. It wouldn't have to be permanent just to help the two lakes renew themselves. Desalination plants for LA to use and give water from the canals flowing from northern California. Just look what happened to The Sultan Sea. It was once a beautiful vacation spot back in the 50s/60s then destroyed by water diversion and used farming water pumped into it. It turned into a garbage pit, all recreation was stopped and now it's a waste pit. During its hay day, there was fishing, swimming, and water skiing. One of the fish was Tilapia all the fish were killed off by the water diversion and the agriculture slurry.
Would you rather send some of your water to Los Angeles, or have Los Angeles come to your water? That's the question posed around here whenever it's mentioned. Building the aqueduct has done more to preserve NorCal environments than can be quantified. Even now, the East Bay is channeling as much water down there as they can spare in hopes of slowing what is ultimately an inevitable destruction of the entire area.
L.A. he's devastated the state enough. Water conservation is very behind the times in California. Among a Zillion other serious issues most people are leaving in droves and over populating other states. So their population is going down in Cali. Unless they still keep allowing immigrants to keep moving there.
I'm glad those red buildings are no longer there. I saw them when they were making that Eastwood movie. A very visual distraction from the beauty of the area.
Do a little critical thinking, let's see some credible photographs of mono lake before any water was diverted , a saltier than the sea tree less fly infested success story🤣🤣
