On Friday, May 25 the fence in front of the Committee’s remodel was opened, allowing visitors in town for Memorial Day weekend to walk up the new steps and across the new deck into our Information Center & Bookstore. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and concrete specialists all worked hard to make this happen, and we were happy they did so.

We were even happier when we realized that we were celebrating an anniversary—on the very same day in 1979, the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore first opened its doors! What great serendipity.

Rose and Morgan enjoy the new front steps last Friday. Photo by Geoff McQuilkin.

I must start here with an apology for the tongue-in-cheek pun that is the title of this Mono-logue post, which is actually an update on the Mono Lake Committee’s Information Center & Bookstore storefront improvement project. I’m afraid that from my vantage point sitting in the corner of the building closest to the storefront construction project, it simply cannot be avoided. The warm spring combined with the daily activity happening within arms-reach and earshot of my desk chair means that our door opens out onto all the action.

One of the neatest things so far has been the installation of six large boulders around which the front steps are being built. The rocks were carefully drawn into the architects’ plans, so we’ve been excited about them the whole time, but actually making them happen has been unexpectedly cool. (more…)

With the Tioga road open to the high gate over the weekend and a clear forecast in the days ahead, it looks possible that Tioga Pass could open this week.

There are lots of rumors out there, and given the warm weather and sparse snow year, it makes sense. Here at the Committee we’ve heard that the official word is May 15. That being said, we (more…)

As of Friday, April 20 there is no official date on when Tioga Pass will open, and there is no update on where the park crew is along the road. However, CalTrans has cleared all the way to the Tioga Pass gate, and there is 3–4 feet of snow along the road depending on where and how you measure. Much of the snow is from the recent, significant storm of April 12–13. We have not heard when the lower gate will be open, but today I saw several groups of skiers making the trek by foot up and down the road. The recent stretch of warm temperatures brings a unique Tioga Road experience: tree rrogs singing in a ditch just below the blue slide.

Two views of Tioga Pass on April 20, 2012. Photos by Bartshe Miller.

Change is positive, necessary, and good. And change is what we’re about to see out in front of the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore starting tomorrow morning as the storefront remodel gets underway. Are you ready?

For the past few days I’ve been poking around out front taking photos to document what things look like before the remodel, and generally just getting used to the idea that this project, years in the making, is actually going to happen.

The Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore on the morning of March 27, 2012.

Today we took away all of the things we want to keep … the wine barrels for flowers, the river rocks that marked the garden areas, the signs from inside the kiosk out front. Yes, we kept the rocks.

Geoff McQuilkin and Rose Catron saving soil from the old planters before the construction crew arrives.

It’s impossible not to get excited for things like the new deck to welcome people into the store, the seating areas for visitors, the new greywater system, the ADA-accessible lift, and the drinking fountain and water bottle filling station.

A conceptual drawing of the storefront remodel. Drawing courtesy of Siegel & Strain Architects.

There’s a little bit of nostalgia too. I haven’t (more…)

When I went to bed on Friday night, the wind had calmed and the streets were completely dry here in Lee Vining. When I awoke Saturday morning I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was almost a foot of snow at my doorstep!

The Mono Lake Committee stays open in all sorts of weather. Come by and celebrate the snow with us!

Policy Coordinator Morgan Lindsay, Information Center & Bookstore Manager Jessica Horn, and I started off our day here at the office shoveling snow. We got about a foot and a half of snow overnight and it continued to snow all morning and into the afternoon.

The weather forecast for this weekend predicted up to nine (more…)

The forecast for the next five days shows rain and snow likely every day. If you are planning to visit the Mono Basin, pack a raincoat and a change of socks, as we will hopefully be getting some precipitation at last. And don’t worry—storm clouds make the basin even more dramatic and beautiful than usual.

Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

The clouds in the Mono Basin are varied and allow for a fun sport—cloud watching. If you are in the basin this week, see how many different clouds you can see (more…)

Mono Lake Committee Outdoor Experiences Manager Santiago Escruceria gives everyone a nickname. Beyer High School senior Tom Rydquist’s was “Mr. Muffin.”

In December 2011 the California Museum and Comcast announced that Rydquist won the Northern California Grand Prize in their Dreamers Challenge for a video he produced. His video “Funding the American Dream: Helping California Lead the Way in Water Reclamation”  suggests a fee on sewage utilities to create water recycling programs. You can see Rydquist’s video here.

Beyer High School senior Tom Rydquist, left, monitoring water quality at Mono Lake with his classmates. Photo by Santiago Escruceria.

Along with fellow Beyer students from Modesto and their teacher Kay Myers, Mr. Muffin (more…)

This past weekend the South Yuba River Citizen’s League (SYRCL) held their tenth annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City.

Mono Lake Committee staff at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City. Photo courtesy of Margaret Eissler.

Communications Director Arya Degenhardt, Education Director Bartshe Miller, Eastern Sierra Policy Director Lisa Cutting, and I were lucky enough to be able to go to this exciting event and see the world premiere of the Mono Lake Committee’s brand new film, The Mono Lake Story. The festival consisted of seven venues at a variety of locations in the town, which showed approximately 140 films from around the world. (more…)

When I hear the word “pika,” I think of a small, cute, rabbit-like animal. Native to cold climates and rocky mountainsides, the American Pika is a well-known wild animal in the Sierra Nevada. But recently something has been happening to their habitat.

An American Pika in rocky, high-elevation Mono Basin habitat. Photo by Elin Ljung.

According to an article in the Sacramento Bee, the State of California is now looking at putting the American Pika under endangered status. After being rejected for protection under the California Endangered Species Act in 2009, further research has (more…)