Some might remember the 1975 released Pink Floyd album of the same name.
The back of the record cover showed a diver at
Mono Lake, a saline lake that hasn't got an outlet and hence is very... salty. It feels soapy to the touch and tasts salty and bitter, as per first hand experience.
One of the fun facts of this waters is the presence of an 'alien species' called
GFAJ-1, a bacterium that seems to able to substitute phosphorus (one of the six life elements: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus) with arsenic to grow. Cool, if you ask me.
Those Tufa sculptures were created by underwater springs rich in calcium mixing with the carbonates in the lake water.
Those towers grow exclusively underwater, hence the now landlocked formations were once below sea level.
Those eerie things make for fantastic motives. And once again the weather played along on cue.
Today the lake is being kept at a constant water level to ensure protection and survival of the local wildlife species, mainly birds.
A boardwalk and a path leads through the strange landscape, with signs explaining the geology and biology of this place, information which I thankfully absorbed.
What a wonderful world we live in. We were glad to have discovered this roadside attraction on our way to Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite Nationalpark is yet again different from all we have seen before.
We climb higher and higher to cross over Tioga Pass at the elevation of 9945 ft.
It was a tad bit nippy but dry. We learned that only one week later the pass got closed due to snowfall. But we were lucky once again.
Although adjacent to Long Valley, nature's architects preferred water and ice to shape this wonder.
Unfortunately the air was quite hazy due to managed wildfires.
Those granite sculptures look marvelous, but we had a hard time to get a prime spot to snap a few pictures.
Although it doesn't look like it, the park was packed with people, climbers, hikers, and drive-thru tourists like us. Everybody wanted to have a piece of this fairly accessible park.
Hence we decided to move on, anticipating that there wouldn't be any affordable accommodation close by anyway, and had this day end at a reasonably priced hotel in Fresno.
This is a location one has to re-visit off season for sure, that is if such a thing exist here.
No food pictures as we were just having dinner at Chili's, hence nothing to write home about.
Ah, Yellowstone, someday I hope to see its marvels but like you wonder if ever its not chock full of people. I liked the last pics the best.
ReplyDeleteDom
Redleg's Rides
Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner
Wonderful shots of the tufa. I enjoy the eastern Sierras and used to go backpacking and x-country skiing there often (occasionally at the same time). I've never been through Tioga Pass though as you needed to have reservations on the hiking trails in that area. Your photos of Yosemite do bring back memories. Did you go into the valley?
ReplyDeleteBTW, I still have that record...
Richard
@RichardM: We lined up to visit the valley as well, but traffic was crazy. The whoe valley seemed to be a parking lot, hence we moved on...
ReplyDeleteOnce again, gorgeous photos Sonja.
ReplyDeleteYou have an eye for capturing the beauty of the land.
Like Richard, I still have the music. Old farts etc.....
ReplyDeleteYou do visit some strange and wonderful places! Did you plan all of the route before leaving Canada or did you plan the major bits and do the rest on the fly? I'm asking because I seem to swing between both ends of the scale depending on where we're headed!
@Charlie6: ...Yosemite. Yellowstone is that other one ;-)
ReplyDelete@Trobairitz: I would say the camera does a darn good job. I only aim and press a button.
@Goeff James: Except for Grand Canyon, and visiting friends at the end of our journey, nothing was really planned to detail. We more or less looked at the map the evening before (old fashioned, but we didn't have always internet), figured out a route, and found our hotels on the fly.
excellent!!! i love these roads and am happy that you were able to enjoy them too!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great way to travel.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the pictures of the Lake and the Tufa sculptures. Thanks for introducing me this.
Thanks for sharing your travels Sonja. I doubt whether I'll ever have the chance to travel that extensively in the West.
ReplyDeleteAmazing eerie Mono lake - imagine it on a moon lit night!
ReplyDeleteDon't feel shy posting photos of Chili's food - I have never been to one so am curious...
Wow those pics of the granite hills are simply magic. Was it good motocycling roads in this area?
ReplyDelete@Circle Blue: Keith, it is such a wonderful country to explore, and I want to see more of it.
ReplyDelete@David Masse: Oh, don't say that. I have been waiting about ten years to make this travel possible ;-) So, it is doable...
@Nikos: Chili's is just a family restaurant offering American food with a bit of Mexican twist (throwing some Guacamole, Cilantro and Chili peppers in...) If there were choices we would have gone somewhere else...
@Chillertek: You might find a few roads of the trip a bit too straight, but Yosemite certainly had to offer a few nice twists and turns.