As you travel to the Eastern Sierra for the Fourth of July holiday this year, this handy traffic tool can show you the best times to avoid the masses while driving through Yosemite National Park.

As always, drive safely during your visit—watch for other visitors and wildlife along the road. When you get through Yosemite to the town of Lee Vining, stop in at the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore so we can help you make the most of your visit. We look forward to seeing you this week!

“A lone peak of high point is a natural focal point in the landscape, something by which both travelers and locals orient themselves. In the continuum of landscape, mountains are discontinuity—culminating in high points, natural barriers, unearthly earth.”
—Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Dave Dore laying out the 13-foot Sierra silhouette.

The improvements to the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore storefront continue to take shape … and actually, one piece is taking a very beautiful, and familiar, shape right at this very moment. Just north of the front steps and the concrete map of Mono Lake is a (more…)

If you are in the Venice – Los Angeles – Southern California area and want a taste of the Eastern Sierra, come on over to the Eastern Sierra Land Trust’s event this weekend. I’ll be there Sunday July 1 as part of a Eastern Sierra discussion panel, and there will be great art and conversation. Here are the details: (more…)

We are proud to announce the recipients of the 2012 Mono Lake Committee Scholarship: Cory Forbes, Natasha McCullough, and Alek McKee of Lee Vining High School, and Cavanagh Gohlich of Coleville High School all wrote essays that won them each $500 to help with their education expenses.

The 2012 Mono Lake Committee Scholarship winners, from the top left: Cory Forbes, Alek McKee, Natasha McCullough, and Cavanagh Gohlich (with Mono Lake Committee Office Director Rosanne Catron).

Students respond to one of these two essay questions: How has Mono Lake or the Mono Basin influenced your life and your choice to go to college? What do you expect to do to change the world for the better with particular regard to solving natural resource issues?

From Cory Forbes’ essay: “The lake is an ever-changing being (more…)

PRBO researchers Kristie Nelson and Nora Livingston tally California Gull nests in May 2011. Photo by Russ Taylor.

Every Memorial Day weekend, PRBO Conservation Science and Mono Lake Committee volunteers count California Gull nests on Mono Lake’s islets as part of a study that has taken place annually since 1983. This year, PRBO’s Kristie Nelson reported that over three days, the group counted 20,056 nests, which was much better than last year’s tally of only 16,700 nests. However, it is still below the long-term average of 23,000. (more…)

Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted a record number of nature enthusiasts who flocked to Lee Vining for the 11th annual Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua.

Quick, everyone look over here! Photo by Rose Catron.

Two hundred and sixty-three nature appreciators of all ages attended over 80 field trips, workshops, and presentations. There were plenty of walks focused on bird appreciation, but plant, flower, dragonfly, butterfly, mammal, geology, astronomy, photography, art, nature journaling, and story-telling events were also very (more…)

Take a look at Mono Lake from above, courtesy of Venue, a new project of the Nevada Museum of Art.

Over the next fifteen months, Venue will travel around North America exploring the continent. The project aims to provide venues for exchanging ideas in rural places since so many interesting ideas, people, phenomena, projects, and places can be found far from cities … just like Mono Lake!

Take a look at the Summer 2012 Mono Lake Newsletter online.

It’s packed with informative articles about the Committee’s work, contains updates about local issues, and has a map of the area to help you during your visit.

Happy reading!

Have anything planned for this coming Sunday at noon? How about a picnic and free concert at Mono Lake County Park? It’s a perfect way to kick off your summer—come have lunch, relax in the shade of the cottonwoods, and enjoy live music.

You can bring your own lunch, but a really tasty lunch will be for sale for $10 per meal at the park: chicken and veggie kebabs with mango-barbeque or pineapple-teriyaki sauce, cilantro- (more…)

Check out this recent Los Angeles Times article for the latest news from Owens Valley, Mono Lake’s sister lake to the south:

Water war reignites as LA resists fixing some Owens Lake dust

Los Angeles Department of Water & Power staff at Owens Lake. Photo courtesy of Al Seib, LA Times.