A portion of the boardwalk at South Tufa received a long-awaited facelift—the cracked and weather-beaten section was replaced with a new, sustainably-sourced redwood walkway.
The old wooden boardwalk, first assembled in the early 1990s, was originally part of the David Gaines Memorial Boardwalk near Old Marina. It was moved to South Tufa in 1999, when the upper section of trail was paved; the lower boardwalk was expected to be a temporary fixture until Mono Lake rose to submerge the lower portion of the trail. But the lake hasn’t yet risen to the management level, and a portion of the boardwalk had deteriorated beyond repair and had become a tripping hazard.
A community collaboration, the replacement project was initiated by retired State Park Ranger Dave Marquart and completed with support from the DeChambeau Creek Foundation (DCF). The wood was purchased by DCF and the hardware by State Parks. The installation was completed in late April using tools, know-how, and labor from about 20 people representing Mono County, Friends of the Inyo, State Parks, the Inyo National Forest, the Mono Lake Volunteer Program, and the Mono Lake Committee. The old boardwalk planks were made available to the public to salvage and reuse.
This post was also published as an article in the Summer 2021 Mono Lake Newsletter. Top photo by Elin Ljung.