Mono and Pyramid: Winter Excursions to Great Basin Lakes

Pyramid Lake, floating mountains, giant sky and tufa

Mono Lake tufa formations

Mono Lake sunset

Mono Lake panorama from Punam Crater

Perfect curves of Pyramid Lake shoreline and water marks

Circle of lake, mountain, and sky from Punam Crater

Placid morning on Mono Lake

Sand spit on Mono Lake freshwater entry point

Tufa and lake shore curve at Pyramid Lake

Tableaux of tufa formations at Mono Lake

Tufa, Mono Lake, midmorning

Pyramid Lake shoreline, calm

Pyramid Lake shoreline, active

The last few weeks of fairly mild weather and a strong desire to be near water (maybe I'm missing the ocean), have led me to make a couple of lake excursions: First to Pyramid Lake in Nevada and then to Mono Lake in California. They are sort of similar lakes in that they are saline, famous for their tufa formations, and that they are both terminal lakes. Terminal Lakes are common in the Great Basin, they are lakes where water sources flow in, but no water source flows out. Seasonally, inflowing water tends to form equilibrium with evaporation so lake levels stay stable, although they may fluctuate quite a bit over longer periods of time. In addition, in the case of both of these lakes, human activity has had very significant impacts: in the case of Pyramid, water diverted for irrigation projects caused the extinction of naturally spawning Lahontan cutthroat trout (they are now stocked), and diversion of water for Los Angeles caused Mono Lake to drop dramatically.

I know Pyramid Lake well, having spent much time there over the past few years of living in Reno (see my entries on Bicycling Pyramid Lake and Peregrination into the Desert, but every visit is a revelation. On a recent Saturday the pups and I went out and picked a new piece of shoreline north of Sutcliffe to hike along. It was a treasure trove of hidden coves and sculpted tufa. The entire eastern shore of the lake is now closed to vehicle visitors I have now heard, which I can understand, but also saddens me (and makes me glad that I was able to spend as much time at the Pyramid, Howitzer Slide, and the other great spots of the eastern shore, when I did).

Mono Lake I know much less well, and, taking advantage in the relative lull in the cold winter temps, Renee, Dusty, Coco, and I went down for a recent weekend and found a campsite along the lake. We mainly explored the south shore, including hiking in Panum Crater, walking the shoreline, and visiting the South Tufa formation. Camping in the winter was a little bit of a challenge as campgrounds are closed, dirt roads are a little scary, and most of the most common places are closed for camping. However, after a bit of diligent searching we were able to find a very nice spot with a great view of the lake to the east and the Sierra front to the west.

The other thing that I find similar about these lakes is their capacity to fire the imagination. They seem placid, desert bound on the surface, but upon inspection provide endless fuel for the soul.