Too far to see too-fah ?

How far would you go to visit a place that interests you?

Well, if it is a place that tops our interest list and within our reach, we would spend some time to plan a trip. But, if it is something that falls into the "maybe nice to visit" category, we would visit only if we happen to pass by or live somewhere close to it. When we were about to shift from California to Texas, we thought of places that fell into the second category. A visit to Eastern Sierras to the east of Yosemite National Park was one of the things in this list. Mono Lake with its limestone formations called tufa (too-fah) is situated in this area. In the midst of packing and getting ready for the move, we planned a trip to see too-fah ... before we got too far to see it.

Tioga Pass road

It was September 2005, almost a decade back, when we drove through Tioga Pass, the road that heads east through Yosemite National Park. This road is open only for 6 months from late spring to late fall and closed because of snow for rest of the year. The winding road through the mountains was lined with huge boulders. A big part of our day was spent along this road, stopping at overlooks and hiking a few trails that gave spectacular views of huge granite mountains, beautiful lakes and vast green meadows.

The Porcupine Flat area was a welcome sight with a tiny creek flowing through a lovely meadow.

Porcupine creek

Our next stop was May lake, nestled under Mt. Hoffmann which claimed to be the geographic center of Yosemite National Park. A short trail lined with huge lodgepole pine trees led us to this beautiful lake.

Most of the lakes act as mirrors for the huge mountains that surround them. Though we did not catch any spectacular reflection at May Lake, the perfect mirror image of boulders in a small lake along the trail was quite interesting.

Mt. Hoffmann, the geographic center of Yosemite NP

Mirror image

Glacial erratics at Olmsted point

Olmsted point provided sweeping panoramic views of the famous half-dome and Cloud's rest. This area with fractured bedrock was strewn with huge boulders referred to as glacial erratic. It seems the boulders seen here are not the same type as the surrounding rock and were brought here by glaciers. I felt the trees that grow here are great examples of adaptation. They bend and  grow along rocks to survive the winds and stay rooted.

Views of Clouds' rest and Half-dome

A great example of adaptation !

As we continued the drive, the huge and beautiful Lake Tenaya made its appearance. This is one lake that can be seen from the road and accessed without much hiking.

Beautiful Lake Tenaya

At last, we passed through Tuolumne meadows area, known for its wildflower splendor. Though the wildflower season was ending, the vast sub-alpine meadow with spectacular mountain backdrop was still a delightful sight.

Along Tuolomne Meadows

As we headed out, we came across a tiny lake with beautiful reflection of trees and mountains. The darkening skies added to the effect.

Rain shadow of Sierra Nevada mountains

It was late evening when we crossed into the rain shadow area. Rain shadow was a topic I had only read in my geography text book. It was amazing to experience the cross-over from lush green meadows into bare arid land. It showed us how the same mountain can bring different results to the land around it. Refreshing the geography lesson, mountains have a windward and leeward side. The leeward side is cut off from winds which bring rain-laden clouds and thus create a rain shadow region. It did matter which side you are on!

Tufa towers on land

That day, there was no time to stop at Mono Lake. We headed straight to Mammoth Lakes, a popular winter resort which we found to be well worthy of a summer visit. After spending couple of days going around numerous lakes and Mammoth mountain, we headed back, stopping at Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve. This was in the city of Lee Vining. There may be some history behind this name but I thought "Lee" in the name could indicate it was on the leeward side of the mountain. A short trail at the south side of the reserve, Mono Lake South Tufa Trail, provided the best views of limestone towers named tufas. A tufa is formed below water and Mono lake is one of the areas where it is visible above the water level and also on land.
 

Tufas in Mono Lake

Over the years, the lake level had fallen dramatically, showing off tufas that gave the landscape an eerie look at dusk.

Mono Lake Tufa Reserve at dusk

Though these formations may look weird, it was amazing to see how nature creates different landforms, just like different artists creating works ranging from classic to modern. The location, climate and time cause each part of the earth to take a different form in the spectrum of nature's artwork.

 

A close-up view of tufas

As we headed back with pictures of contrasting landscapes in our minds and camera, we were glad to have experienced both sides of the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains.