A Weekend with Mono Lake

Adventure truly never sleeps!  However, keeping blogs current and up to date is another story for another time. With slightly over 2,500 unique visitors to Adventure Never Sleeps last year alone, we thought we owe it to you to get back on our horse and start pumping out another well written and highly innovative blog post.  We had taken a bit of a hiatus from both adventuring and blogging, but we are back with another semi-adventure. 

Work weeks are long and dreary, and weekends have turned into work preparation days, with laundry, errands, and shopping for groceries.  Life has determined that we must work and working.  We must devote time and effort in order to sustain ourselves.  The bright eyed and bushy tailed boys and girls of our youth are long gone.  The daily grind has almost completely replaced our sense of curiosity about God’s grand creation and the world around us.  As days turn into weeks and weeks into months, the pressing weight of living in a fast paced and moving society, one begins to slowly suffocate.  At first it grips our bodies, wearing us out and breaking us down.  Then it starts poking its long depraved fingers into our brains and hearts.  Leaving us beaten and broken with no will to do anything else other than, rinse, wash and repeat, and repeat, and repeat.  It is time that we tackle the beast, to take a step back and refresh and leave it all behind us. 

The high desert of the Mono Lake Basin had been calling.  Promises of sparse population and vast expanses of earth, along with low probabilities of rain was too much to decline.  I wanted to explore. To add the frosting on the weekend’s cupcake there is a lot of history in the area.  The ghost town of Bodie California sits overlooking the basin at 8,379ft.  Once a wild-west gold rush town, Bodie has since been turned into a California State park.  Mono Lake itself (its subsequently shrinking self), played a historic role in California’s water-mongering political history.  Mono basin is 801 square miles of desert drainage.  Historically the water levels in Mono Lake were much higher.  As California prospered more and more, more and more water was required to sustain life.  The water was diverted from its natural path of draining into Mono Lake causing the water level to decline.  As the water receded and the shoreline increased, large deposits of lime stone started to appear.  These deposits are created by natural hot springs that were under the water.  These deposits (called Tufa) are now a sanctuary for bird life and other biodiversity.  The alkaline water in Mono Lake is full or brine shrimp and “under-water flies” providing plentiful nutrition for millions of migratory birds every year.  Two islands, created from the Tufa, in the lake are closed most of the year to in order to protect hatch-lings. 

As mentioned previously in the blog, work life makes “fun” difficult, but at the same time, the monotony of a 9-5 makes “fun” a necessity.  The plan was simple: take Friday off work, after packing and planning throughout the week.  Finalize all packing Thursday night and get an early jump on the drive to Mono on Friday morning.  Like any well planned adventure, we were a few hours later than expected when we actually got to leaving Sacramento.  The route would take us on Highway 50 out of the Sacramento Valley, then on to Highway 89 near Tahoe before catching Highway 395 just south of Topaz Lake.  From there it was a simple and stunningly beautiful drive south to the town of Lee Vining.  Immediately south of Lee Vining is Highway 120.  As soon as we turned East along Highway 120, we never saw another vehicle.  We had found the silence and emptiness we were yearning for.  About 20 miles down Highway 120, the landscape began to look something like a foreign Martian land.  Darkness was fast approaching and we still were scouting for a camp site.  We turned off of 120 into the Inyo National Forest.  We were searching for a place called “Crooked Meadows”, although we never needed the 4-wheel drive, we proceeded through the national forest forestry roads at a spirited pace, too spirited some may say!  After getting lost and driving an additional 20 miles, we finally found our piece of peace.

Crooked Meadows, sits on the edge of the Inyo National Forest, there are a couple dispersed camping spots with fire pits and enough room to pitch a tent.  The meadow is a beautiful miniature valley surrounded by forest.  There are no showers, restrooms or even running water.  It was the perfect place to get away from it all.

When darkness falls in the high desert, the temperature likewise plummets.  Early the next morning as the sun was climbing and the coffee water was boiling, it was the first time we had the opportunity to really take in our surroundings.  If you can appreciate solitude, freedom and the quest for adventure then Inyo National Forest is the place for you and other than a very cold night, we had an excellent time together, away from everything and everyone. 

Some good tips for National Forest Camping:  If you want a fire (or to even use an open flame stove), you’ll need a fire permit.  You can pretty much camp wherever you want to, but don’t drive your vehicle off the roads.  Collecting wood for a camp fire is permitted, as long as it is “downed wood”, meaning wood that is found on the ground.  Bring LOTS of blankets, and layers, more layers, and more firewood than you think you will need!