Sunday 29 July 2018
Once again we rise early. Today we drive to Mono Lake for our canoe tour which begins at 8 am. O and I are in a canoe with Allison from the Mono Lake Committee. She tells us how a group of undergrads realized years ago that the Department of Water from Los Angelos was diverting every drop of water from 4 tributaries to Mono Lake, having bought the water rights from landowners. In so doing, they were causing the lake to die. Mono Lake had been a major stopping point for migratory birds. The undergrads mobilized many people in LA and the surrounding area to fight this use of the water and to save the lake. The case eventually worked its way to the California Supreme Court which ruled that having water rights did not entitle the Department to destroy an entire ecosystem. Over the following years a system was worked out to continue supplying some water to LA, while requiring that the lake be kept at a sufficient level to sustain the briny ecosystem. In addition educational efforts in LA saved billions of gallons of water.
Allison tells us she has never before been out on the lake and been unable to see the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance. Today, it seems we are paddling into a void due to the smoky haze from the fires. (We later learn that the increased smoke is due to light winds failing to disperse the haze and to additional containment fires set to reduce the amount of fuel for the Ferguson Fire.) As we paddle, we learn about the brine shrimp in the lake which eat algae growing there. Migratory birds feed on the shrimp. Water flies also eat the algae and provide food for the birds.
The strange tufa formations in the lake grow as spring water containing calcium bubbles up from below. The calcium is precipitated out into tufa towers by the carbonates in the water. Tufa can only be formed underwater, so all the tufa above water level indicates how high the lake’s level used to be. As we paddle we observe a family of nesting osprey on top of one of the tufa spires.
After our canoe tour we find an RV park where we can shower. We then have breakfast and drive south to Devil’s Postpile National Monument, hoping for less smoky air… instead it gets smokier. There is a new small fire, started by a lightning strike near Mammoth Lakes. We do the short hike to the postpile anyway. O stops to ask the ranger when they light the fire for the Devil’s “smokepile.” Without batting an eye she replies, “4:30 every day. Didn’t you read the brochure?”
Devil’s Postpile is a basalt formation. It was created about 100,000 years ago when a molten lava flow was dammed by a moraine from a previous ice age. A lava lake 400 feet deep was formed. As the lava slowly cooled, cracks developed which eventually resulted in tall hexagonal columns. During the last ice age, overlying sediments were removed and the tops of the basalt columns were exposed and polished. O and I hike around and over the unique formation. Then we return to Mammoth Lakes for dinner at Mammoth Lake Brewery, after which we drive north, back to Tuolumne. It is very smoky here tonight, but from reports I’ve read, it seems the firefighters are making progress. We are hoping for clearer air over the next few days. We wish for the safety of the firefighters as well. The work they do is incredible!
On our return to camp we find a little note from Jeremy and Sarah, two young rock climbers with whom we had been sharing our campsite. They have had enough smoke and are heading to Lake Tahoe.