After I finished my day’s data collections of stream flows for Mill Creek, I took the time to explore the Mill Creek bottomlands and the Black Point Marsh at the lakeshore. I eagerly hiked down the stream, bushwhacking through sagebrush, stopping to closely observe wildflowers, and frequently crossing the creek to observe curious Killdeer through my borrowed binoculars. Suddenly, completely out of the blue, I stepped onto the pumice sand of the beach and I was in a new world.

Where Mill Creek's water meets Mono Lake.

Not only had I had never seen Mono Lake from this angle, but following the trickle of Mill Creek water into the lake gave my weekly flow measurements and data collections new meaning. I am monitoring (more…)

The Urban Semillas group reaches the top of Lembert Dome. Photo by Michael Clausen.

“Take small steps,” said Santiago Escruceria, the Outdoor Experiences Manager, “that’s the trick to hiking on a steeper slope without losing lots of energy,” and the group took it to heart, suddenly looking like the experienced hikers that we knew they could be.

The group that came to participate in the Mono Lake Committee’s Outdoor Experiences program during the first week of July was composed of high school graduates and kids in their early-20s from Los Angeles. They were all a part of a program called Urban Semillas, a young adult program that teaches students about water and trees, people’s relationship with nature, where their water comes from, and that nature isn’t something that you just see on TV—it’s real—and when they visit places like Yosemite and Mono Lake, it’s ALL around them.

We were hiking to Lembert Dome and Dog Lakes, two places that neither I nor the group had ever been to, so we were all (more…)

The pay phone at the Tioga Gas Mart, at the corner of Hwy 120 and Hwy 395, is the only pay phone “in” Lee Vining.

When I arrived in Lee Vining 15 years ago, there were at least five pay phones in town (there were also about four restaurants that no longer exist). Cell phone reception is (more…)

At this point, with the National Park Service beginning plowing only yesterday, there is no way anyone can know what the opening date will be this spring. But we are getting lots of calls and emails, so we figured it was worth posting what we do know.

The average opening date is at the end of May, and this April’s snowpack water content is slightly above average at 112% at Tioga Pass, 96% in Dana Meadows, 102% in Tuolumne Meadows, 92% at Tenaya Lake, and 134% at Gin Flat. Plowing typically begins (more…)

Here in Lee Vining we wait for calling California Gulls, melting snows, and warming temperatures to tell us that spring has arrived each year. But there are other signs of spring as well, and among the most eagerly-awaited is opening day at the Mono Cone!

Arya, Lisa, Greg, and Erika bask in the warm sprintime sun after a big Mono Cone meal! Photo by Elin Ljung.

Shasta Lake, shrunk to 60 percent of its long-term level by three years of drought. Photo courtesy of National Geographic.

Today I sat down to my lunch with the April 2010 issue of National Geographic magazine in front of me, fresh from my mailbox. This month’s magazine is devoted to water—it’s beauty, life-sustaining power, spiritual force, and most importantly, its shortages. If you don’t already subscribe, find a copy at your nearest bookstore or browse the issue online. It’s well worth the read.

National Geographic takes a global approach to water in this issue, focusing on shrinking Himalayan glaciers, East African drought, a 20-acre swimming pool in Chile, and California’s heavily plumbed and piped (more…)

Natalie Holt enjoying a Sierra stream. Photo courtesy of Natalie Holt.

Two years ago, Natalie Holt spent much of her summer volunteering for the Mono Lake Committee—leading tours and helping with a variety projects in the office. More recently, for her senior high school project, Natalie created  a seven-minute film called “Environmental Identity,” featuring our very own Communications Coordinator Elin Ljung!

In the film Natalie interviews Elin, a park ranger, an Earth First activist, and the owner of a green products store, asking what motivates, inspires and concerns (more…)

The film “Sympathy for Delicious” was one of the “15 buzziest films at Sundance,” according to online news source The Daily Beast. You can see an image from the movie, which stars actor Orlando Bloom.

One might ask … how does “Sympathy for Delicious” relate to Mono Lake?

Well, just about one year ago, the Mono Lake Committee got a call from the set, requesting a large order of our stainless steel klean kanteen water bottles. Director Mark Ruffalo had seen a bottle owned by the costume designer, and wanted to provide his cast and crew with an alternative to plastic water bottles. A few days later, we saw photos on the internet of the actors with our bottles!

Watch for “Sympathy for Delicious” coming to your local theater, and see if you can spot a bottle either in the movie or in the credits.

Could these Wilson's Phalaropes be a few feet from a shadow biosphere?

Last week the Royal Society in London hosted a discussion meeting about the detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society. During the symposium/discussion Dr. Paul Davies (University of Arizona) presented a webcast lecture The eerie silence: are we alone in the universe? In this webcast he discussed the progress of SETI and the continuing, albeit thus far, quiet search for intelligent life beyond earth. But what of any (more…)

Deer tracks on the Lee Vining Creek trail. Photo by Rose Wilson.

Over the last few days the Mono Basin has really shown us a full range of weather and light—deep poconip, light dustings of snow, and brilliant sunshine glinting off the lake. Each morning I wake to a new story told in the windblown snow, the story of the little, quiet animals that creep about the basin at night while most of us are sleeping. There are the rabbit tracks in the alley, scooting from their cozy snow caves in search of food. Outside my door a pair of raccoons wanders almost nightly, leaving teeny, human-like prints in the snow. Best are the bird tracks, big and small, marking where they sheltered from the wind or alighted before heading for the trees. I never see these creatures—by the time I creak open the door they are long gone, scurrying at the sound of my footsteps. But I love knowing they were there before me—the footprints of deer on the Lee Vining Creek trail or the minuscule trace of mice feet and a dragging tail on the fresh snow behind the visitor center. One thing I’ll really miss come spring is the story these wandering footprints tell.