On April 19, 2011, the Lee Vining WebCam moved from its long-time home looking out the attic vent above the Committee’s front door to the top of the roof, about two feet below the anemometer. The vent will be closed as part of the remodeling of the front of the building, which will begin this week (watch for a Mono-logue post about that coming soon).
In its former location, the WebCam captured the gas station’s change from a Unocal station to a Shell station. It captured the tree near the center of the view over the years—as it leafed out, lost its leaves, and was heavily trimmed. The Yosemite Gateway Motel at the right edge of the view was a constant presence. And of course, the original purpose of the cam was the view of Mono Lake, in the background distance, with Black Point and Gaines Island on the left, and Negit Island and Paoha Island on the right, peeking up above the new airport fill deposited last year. Rising behind the lake were the Bodie Hills on the left and the Anchorite Hills on the right.
The new location is slightly higher and looks more to the north. It captures more of the town and less of the view beyond town. Prominent at the bottom of the view are the solar panels on the roof of the Committee’s “ice house” building, which we installed last year. Also visible are the solar panels on the roof of the Shell station, just right of center. Highway 395 covers less of the image but more of it is visible, and at the center of the view is its intersection with Mattly Avenue. The El Mono Motel is visible on the left, and across the highway and across Mattly from the gas station is Wise Guy’s Pizzeria. Right now, in mid-April, snow is visible on the hills around Conway Summit just above the motel, and the trees in town will soon leaf-out, obscuring the Bodie Hills in the background to the right. Of course, Mono Lake is visible above the gas station, with Black Point dormant on the far shore.
When the WebCam was originally installed, it was the “Mono Lake WebCam” until we installed the current Mono Lake Cam at the Scenic Area Visitor Center, and we renamed this one the Lee Vining WebCam. It became popular not for its view of Mono Lake, but of the town, weather, and road conditions. This new view keeps a piece of Mono Lake in the view (which is very important to us), but shows a better view of the town and highway—the reason most of you access the WebCam. And we are also happy that our renewable energy generation is prominently featured!
We look forward to your comments about the new view. Thanks for visiting. Click here to go see the current view (you must be logged in, and registering is easy!). Members of the Mono Lake Committee get access to the image history—thank you all for your support! These WebCams wouldn’t be possible without you.
I love the new view! I was shocked to see it when I went to the site tonight. It provides a great new visual perspective of Lee Vining and of course the new solar panels.
I like the new view.
What an outstanding view of the town. This location provides a clear panorama of the surrounding area. Nice job.
I think the previous view is much to be preferred. I loved lake and night views from that vantage point. PLEASE restore that perspective. I usually look at it from 5-10 times a day and one or two times at night.
Karen, thanks for your input. I’m sorry, but we can’t restore the old view. The attic vent the camera used to look out of is gone. And now there is a tree between it’s new location and the former view. We are definitely listening to all the comments we are getting. There is always the potential to move things around with some advance planning in the future.
At the risk of seeming like people who can’t handle change….. well, I guess we can’t. We have watched, as you say, the changes in the tree, seasonal and otherwise. The lights from the Shell station allowed us to check in at night and see weather etc. in our favorite town, Lee Vining. We will try to adapt, but if you get enough input about changing to a similar view to the familiar one, count us in. Thanks.
I miss the lake and the view of the mountains to the east, some times with dust blowing in the distance. At night the stars would shine. Now it’s a blue smudge on the right and some fuzzy street lights at night of some urban area. This is not what I signed up for. Did anybody really think this through?
This new Lee Vining Webcam position is absolutely fantastic! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! (From a 57-year-old 395 veteran forced–for now–to live behind the Orange Curtain and, with the help of intelligently managed Webcams, daydream of better days on the road.)
Dar Spain is right! We will miss being able to see stuff by shell station light. Can the night cams be focused better, so we can see the weather? The daytime pix are great. can we get both views? Ed
Ed – We’ve had a lot of wind lately, which now–in its new location–can cause the camera to shake slightly and look a bit blurry at night. I just reviewed the hourly archive for last night, and before midnight it is blurry. Starting at midnight the image is quite clear, and shows a lot more of the highway and town than the old image, and the gas pump looks almost identical, although it is 17% smaller due to the greater distance. If it is blurry at night, you will know the wind gusts are over 25 mph! But we’ll have to keep an eye on this, and if it is bad enough, consider moving the camera to a less windy location.
Ron – I’m sorry, those “stars” (at least over the past ten days that I just carefully reviewed) are flaws in the camera, and are in identical places on the old and new image at night and at different times at night.
So far, our tally of those of you who like and dislike the new view is tied! If you haven’t commented yet, please share your thoughts! And thanks to all of you who care about this view!
Hello all, while I enjoy the new view of town and the highway what I really want to see is more of the lake…especially on days where I’m wishing I could slip away to the East Side. :)
i have mixed feelings. i enjoy seeing more of the town, but miss seeing the llarger ake and the tree. (by the way, i was always curious if the committee had something to do with its trimming, since it obscured the lake when it leafed out in the summer. it’s a poor picture of its former self) anyway back to the cam. maybe some of this angst could be allayed if the lake cam were enhanced to both enlarge the picture and sharpen it.
that’s “larger lake view” =^)
Though it is interesting to see a new view, I really miss the full lake and gas station view. It was always special, dawn, sunset, rainbows over the lake, clouds. The new view is not special, and just looks like anytown-cluttered view. I want the old view back!…there must be some way. I always preferred it to the Visitor’s Center view.
I miss the old view!
Well…..I was surprised at first to see the new view. Yes I enjoyed peeking in to see how Shelly’s was doing, mostly during inclement weather. The new view does tell us “more” about the town. (And yes, I grumbled to Greg when the “Weather and Roads” button was redesigned. Change – while good – is hard at times.)
One suggestion: would it be possible to zoom the camera out just a bit more so as to see more lake?
Since the weekend the comments have been overwhelmingly asking for a bit more lake. So by popular demand, I’ve rotated the camera slightly to the right. Once the tree fully leafs out, we can re-evaluate. Thanks again for all the comments!
There is far too much fuss about the past and the view of old… People need to get used to the new and discover all that this view will bring….
Thanks for rotating the camera. I’ll be interested to watch the tree leaf out.
View looks great. When the tree leafs out, it will block the Shell station signage – it’s a good thing. It’s too bad an oil company’s sign has to be in the foreground of a beautiful lake. But a bit of a lake view is better than none at all.
If you upgrade to a HD webcam, we could make out how expensive the gas is at the Shell station. I may not want to know. Is it above $5 yet?
Love the new view. Nice to see more of Lee Vining! I LOVE to visit here every year. Nice to see Mono Lake, too. THANKS!
Well done!
Yeah, Greg! A (bit) better view now! Thank you. Pleasant sunset tonight, yes? Gratefully, Bonnie
I love the new view.
Hello Greg
I agree with Bonnie “The new view is not special, …..” Let’s cut down the tree between it’s new location and the former view and restore the old view.
John
I like to use the web cams to check out weather conditions at Mono Lake. The new more northerly direction increases the area of the sky that is visible and does not duplicate the view from camera at the Forest Service visitor center as much as the old view.
An upgrade to the red streaked images form the visitor center would be nice. For the wishlist a camera that looked across part of the Lake to the Sierra would be great.
Hi Dick,
Have you seen the Mill Creek Cam? Your wish to look across the lake at the Sierra is granted! And we too would like to replace the Mono Lake WebCam at the Visitor Center so those red streaks disappear, but these cameras are not cheap! But we’ll keep our eyes open for special deals.
Definitely enjoyed looking at the distant mountain range versus the road between The Shell Station and Pizza Cafe.