Mono Lake and Panum Crater - visiting a truly unique place in the Sierra Nevada

As Delta showed not too long ago the Mono Lake Basin is definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in California. It was on my to-do list even before I moved here. As a "local" it is now "just around the corner" (for US standards only!). On this weekend I combined the trip to Mono Lake with a hike to the nearby Robinson Peak and Sawmill Ridge on the following day (see here).

Mono Lake is a large, shallow saline lake formed approximately one million years ago. It is a terminal lake which has no outlet. The lack of such an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake (about 2 1/2 times the salt in the ocean with a pH of about 10!). It's mostly famous for the spectacular "tufa towers" (calcium-carbonate spires and knobs which are formed by the reaction of freshwater springs and the alkaline lake water) and the 1 – 2 million birds that feed and rest at Mono Lake each year. The nearby Panum Crater is a volcanic cone and is only about 600-700 years old. It not only offers a very nice view of the whole basin and the surrounding mountains, but is an interesting small crater with lots of Obsidian and Rhyolite laying around.

The most useful information about the area on the web I found on monolake.org.

For information about how to get to the interesting spots in the Mono Lake Basin you can also stop by at the "Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitor Center". Even though it is closed in the winter time, there are useful maps and information signs to help you get around and find the interesting places to visit in the Mono Lake Basin.

I walked around the South Tufa Area including the Navy Beach, did a short hike up the Panum Crater (a mix of the Plug and Rim Trail -> see my track), looked around Lee Vining and saw a beautiful sunset at the old marina. Usually there is snow in this area in the winter time. However, having a very extreme drought in California this and last year, no snow and even T-Shirt temperatures is what I encountered on this day.