The gate on Highway 120 west, three miles west of Highway 395.

According to Luke Summerfield of Yosemite National Park, the work of clearing Highway 120 West through the park is well under way. He was unable to provide an estimated opening date, but indicated that this was the fifth snowiest winter since they’ve been keeping records. The late snowfall and chilly spring weather have also contributed to the difficulties faced by work crews on the road. Mariposa Grove is now open and charcoal is being spread at Olmstead Point, but in certain areas the crews will have to wait for some snow to slide before they can proceed. Hopefully the warm weather predicted for this week will help things along. We’ll keep you posted!

It’s now easier than ever to keep in touch with Mono Lake! For the latest updates on everything from local weather and road information, to upcoming events, to current lake level and stream flows, follow our posts on Twitter (@Mono-Lake or @MonoLakeCmte) or Facebook (Mono Lake or Mono Lake Committee).

Travel in the Mono Basin is getting easier as the snow begins to melt. The June Lake Loop (Highway 158) is now open all the way around, providing access to Silver Lake and several great hiking trails. Highway 120 East is open from Highway 395 to Benton. Highway 120 West over Tioga Pass is, of course, still closed, and the Tioga Pass Entry Station is recording nearly 150 inches of snowpack. Stop by the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore between 9:00am–5:00pm daily or call us at (760) 647-6595 for the latest news on local roads.

This year, the Andrea Lawrence Award for passionate engagement in community and the land will be presented to the Eastern Sierra Audubon Society in recognition of its critical efforts to support the Owens Lakebed Master Plan.

Eastern Sierra Audubon has worked with great dedication to initiate the Owens Lakebed Master Plan process, which seeks to generate a collaborative vision for the future of the Owens (more…)

The April 29 Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner will now be held in the Parallax Restaurant at McCoy Station, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. It’s easy to find: just park at Main Lodge and take the gondola up to McCoy station, where you’ll be able to enjoy beautiful views of Banner Peak, Mt. Ritter, the Minarets, and Mt. Andrea Lawrence itself while you dine. The dinner will start at 6:00pm and the gondola will begin running at 5:30. Please reserve your seat by April 11; tickets are $50 and can be reserved by calling (760) 657-6595 or emailing Julia.

Please visit this page for more information about the event.

We hope we’ll see you there!

View of Mt. Andrea Lawrence from Mammoth Mountain Ski Area's Parallax Restaurant on May 20, 2010. Photo by Greg Reis.

The Mono Lake Committee building buried under new snow.

Today is the first day of spring. You wouldn’t know it to look around Lee Vining, where a swift winter storm dumped over 18 inches of snow between the hours of 10:00pm and 9:00am. When I tried to leave my house this morning I was briefly stymied by the thigh-high drifts piled against my door—I have a broken right arm and wasn’t sure I’d be able to shovel myself out one-handed. Luckily I devised a system of using my cast as a fulcrum against the shovel’s handle, a trick that came in handy when I arrived at work and had to shovel my way in.

Those of you who have visited us know that (more…)

The Mono Lake Committee invites you to a special event…

the Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner
6:00pm on Friday, April 29, 2011
Mountainside Conference Center
Main Lodge, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

The dinner will feature a keynote address by Ron Nichols, new General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, followed by the presentation of the Andrea Lawrence Award to an organization whose environmental work deserves special recognition. The evening promises to be one of good food, good friends, (more…)

Snow-covered hills above Highway 395.

As a Mono Lake Committee Project Specialist, my duties are many and varied. From working in the Information Center & Bookstore to drafting grant proposals to pulling invasive weeds, I never seem to be doing the same thing for more than a few hours at a time, and each new project is an exciting surprise.

Last week our communications team gave me an interesting assignment. Every issue of the Mono Lake Newsletter features a “benchmark”—a pair of photos, one old, one current, showing a before-and-after snapshot of a particular site in the Mono Basin. This time we had the “before” photo, a shot taken by Burton Frasher in 1938. But the “after” photo (more…)

After six weeks of warm, dry weather, winter has returned to the Mono Basin with a vengeance. The storm started late Tuesday night and continued through most of Wednesday, accompanied by fierce winds and leading to road closures and chain controls throughout the region. The biggest dose of snow came Friday night, delivering 16 inches of light, fluffy powder in just a few hours. Local ski areas are reporting 76 to 92 inches of snow, just in time to cater to Presidents Day Weekend visitors.

This week the sun is shining and the storm’s aftermath is revealed: acres of blinding white surrounding a bowl of deep Pacific blue. Although the temperature remains well below freezing, now is the perfect time to head out with skis or snowshoes and enjoy the particular beauty of a high desert winter.

The forecast is clear for the next few days with a chance for more wintry weather toward the end of the week. Here at the Committee our fingers are crossed for another big storm — after all, more snow means more water for Mono Lake!

A corner of Mono Lake's northwestern shore. Photo by Julia Runcie

The Mono Lake Committee has recently signed up as a member of eBay’s Giving Works program. Now, anyone selling an item on eBay can choose to donate any portion of the final sale price to the Mono Lake Committee: you can do a good deed and get rid of your old junk at the same time! You can learn more about how the program works, and easily make a donation to the Committee at our new eBay page.