Time For Some Tufa

If you remember the last post I had of documenting the Lake Tahoe-Yosemite road trip from last May was driving through scenic Highway 395. Well, along this pretty scenic road is Mono Lake and the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve. Tufa what? Tufa is defined as a porous rock composed of calcium carbonate and formed by precipitation from water, e.g., around mineral springs. I suggest you check out their website here for more information.

Anyway, the last time we were around these parts of the state, we went only as far as the visitor center and not because we lacked time, but because we didn't know there were something else to see here. I know, those were the days.

This time around we purposely skipped the visitor center and went straight to the where the south tufas are located. Along the road you can clearly follow the signs. It was middle of the day when we arrived and the sun was very intense and it was difficult if not stupid to stay under the sun as long as we wanted. There were no shaded areas to be found.


Take your pick.


Stay on the trail or else the uber vigilant park ranger will give you an earful.


The grasses were tall in spring.

It's incredible what Mother Nature has in store for us to enjoy and all we have to do is go outside and look for them.



















My Flick'r album on the tufas is here.

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