Mono's Name

"Mono" means flies in the language of the Yokuts, the Native Americans who live to the south of this region. The Native Americans who lived in the Mono Basin, the Kuzedika or the Mono Lake Pauite, collected the abundant alkali fly pupae and used them as one of their main food sources. They also used the kutsavi (alkali fly pupae) to trade with the Yokuts for acorns. The U.S. Cavalry obtained the name for the area from their Yokut scouts.

Mono Lake's Water

During Mono Lake's approximately one million years of existence, it has never had an outlet. During the last Ice Age, however, it overflowed once. The Ice Age Mono Lake was about 700 feet higher than the present level. For thousands of years, minerals and sediments have washed into the lake from Sierran streams and fresh water has evaporated from its surface. Such a great deal of evaporation has produced a very alkaline and saline lake. Because of the high concentrations of dissolved salts, the lake creates a delightfully buoyant swimming experience.

Although no fish can live in Mono's waters, the lake abounds with life. Brine shrimp and alkali flies have adapted to the salty and alkaline water and reproduce by the trillions. They provide food for millions of migratory birds and waterfowl that visit the lake each year.

Tufa

The tufa (pronounced too-fah) tower formations exemplify what nature can do with a few basic elements. The unearthly spires and knobs are formed when fresh water springs containing calcium bubble up through the carbonate rich lake water. The mixture of these waters produces calcium carbonate, a white limestone deposit that forms the tufa structures.

Volcanoes

Mono Basin has an impressive history of volcanic activity. The Lake is surrounded by volcanoes on three sides. Both the Bodie Hills to the north and the Anchorite Hills to the east are old (millions of years) volcanic formations. To the south, the Mono Craters form the youngest mountain range in North America. Panum Crater, the northernmost of these craters, erupted about 600 years ago. Panum Crater is easily reached from Hwy. 120, three miles east of Hwy. 395.

In addition to the volcanoes surrounding Mono Lake, both of its islands are volcanic. Paoha Island is a mere 230 years old. Hot springs and steam vents in the basin and around the lake show that it is still volcanicly active.

Scenic Area Designation

The first National Forest Scenic Area was designated by Congress in September, 1984 in order to protect the natural and cultural resources of the Mono Basin.

Interpretive Activities

Naturalists lead walks throughout the year at the South Tufa Area, and offer a large variety of activities during the summer. Ask at the Scenic Area Visitor Center about scheduled walks, talks, evening programs, and special children's activities.

Private Property

Many parcels of private property are in the Scenic Area; please give them the respect you would like given to your own property.

Camping, Driving & Boating

There are no campgrounds in the Scenic Area, but the Forest Service and Mono County maintain campgrounds nearby in Lee Vining Canyon, in Lundy Canyon, and in the June Lake Loop. Dispersed camping is permitted in some areas. Ask for more information at the Ranger Station or Scenic Area Visitor Center.

Many of the dirt roads in the basin are too sandy for conventional vehicles. Use caution pulling onto the shoulder. Off-roading is not permitted in the Scenic Area. Please stay on designated roads. When in doubt. ask for information before planning your route.

Mono's unpredictable winds make boating hazardous. Stay close to shore. Do not try to cross the lake after mid-morning or when the wind is rising. The islands and the water within one mile of the islands are closed to public use from April through July to protect the bird nesting sites.

Facilities

The Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitor Center is located on Highway 395, just north of Lee Vining. A variety of activities and exhibits introduce the natural and human history of the Mono Basin; enjoy a twenty minute film, an interactive exhibit hall, two art galleries, and a book store. The center's staff can help you plan your explorations of Mono Lake and the Eastern Sierra. Open daily in the summer; hours vary during winter months, (619) 647-3044.

The Lee Vining Ranger Station offers permits and information and is open Monday through Friday, (619) 647-3000.

South Tufa: self-guided nature trail, interpretive exhibits, toilets and picnic tables Panum Crater: trails and interpretive exhibits Mono Lake County Park: restrooms, playground, picnic tables, boardwalk trail to the tufa towers. Handicapped access Black Point: interpretive exhibit Lee Vining: pay phones, lodging, groceries, restaurants, souvenirs and dump stations

Emergency: Dial 911 for Fire, Sheriff, & Ambulance

Take Only Pictures

Tufa, pumice, and obsidian are protected by State and Federal laws; please do not collect, climb, or destroy tufa.

Ecology of Mono Lake

A"Dead Sea"? In his novel, Roughing It, Mark Twain referred to Mono Lake as "the dead sea of California." Close inspection,- however, reveals that Mono Lake abounds with life. Although the types of animals that live in Mono's strange and alkaline waters are few, those that have adapted, flourish.

Algae

Occasionally as the wind blows across the water, the whole lake reflects a pea soup color. In the spring, the water is a murky green with visibility rarely over one meter. These colors indicate the presence of green algae, microscopic one-celled plants which are the basis for the food chain in Mono Lake. These tiny plants only need decayed organic matter and sunlight in order to reproduce, to grow, and to make food for the next step in the food chain.

Alkali Flies

The most visible insect at Mono Lake is the alkali fly (Ephedra hyans). Although related to the annoying kelp flies on ocean beaches, these flies will never bite or even land on humans, they prefer the algae that lines the wet shoreline and floats on the water.

The alkali fly's life cycle begins as the female walks under the water and deposits her eggs on submerged rocks near the shoreline. After a few days, each egg hatches into a tiny worm (the larva stage) that crawls among the rocks grazing on algae. After several weeks, it attaches itself to a rock and its skin begins to harden. This stage corresponds to the cocoon stage in a butterfly and is called the pupa. When the pupa case breaks open, within 1 to 3 weeks, an adult fly will emerge, mate, and begin the cycle again. This cycle may take from 2 to 6 months, depending on the temperature. The colder it is, the longer the cycle.

Brine Shrimp

The brine shrimp (Artemia monica), another animal that lives in the waters of Mono Lake, numbers in the trillions. Perhaps in the distant past these brine shrimp were identical to others, but over thousands of years of evolution and adaptation they have become unique to Mono Lake.

In the spring, as the water begins to warm, the cysts and immature shrimp, who spent most of the winter in the lake bottom mud, begin to develop. They will develop through 14 molts in 8-12 weeks before they reach full maturity. Mature females will mate and then give a live birth. When these second generation females mature, they will lays cysts that drop to the lake bottom, and continue the cycle. During the peak season, approximately 4 trillion (4,000,000,000,000) brine shrimp provide a great source of protein for the birds.

The fact that there are no fish in Mono's alkaline waters actually benefits the lake's bird population. If fish were able to survive Mono's harsh waters, they would compete with birds for shrimp and flies and therefore eliminate the abundant food supply that makes Mono

Lake a haven for birds. Even a fresh water lake with fish provides far less food for birds than a lake like Mono.

Birds

The next step in Mono Lake's food chain is the birds. Mono Basin supports about 80 species of birds and waterfowl during a full year, and over 300 species have been catalogued. Although not all of these birds depend on the shrimp and the flies, the birds that arrive here in the largest numbers, such as the California Gull, the Eared Grebe and the Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes, do depend on them.

In order to return to their nesting grounds, the California Gulls fly over the snow-covered Sierra Nevada and arrive at Mono Lake in March. By May, about 50,000 gulls fill the lake. They will mate, build nests, lay eggs, and raise their young over Mono Lake. By September the young will be ready to cross the mountains with their parents, but will not return until their fourth year when they are ready to reproduce. As the gulls feed, they pluck brine shrimp from near the surface of the water with a "sewing machine" motion. They also walk the shoreline eating flies and grubbing in the mud for alkali flies and larvae. They carry this food to their nests and regurgitate to feed their chicks.

The Wilson's Phalarope approaches Mono Lake in a flock of several thousand tiny birds flying, diving, turning, and swooping in unison.

The flock lands and begins feeding on their main food source, the alkali fly. Not only do they pick flies off the ground, but they also jump and pluck them out of the air. Soon after the arrival of the Wilson's, the Red-necked Phalaropes join them at the lake. They mainly feed in the open water, often swimming in tight little circles, which create a vortex that brings the fly larva within range of their one inch beaks. Once the phalaropes have consumed enough fuel, about double their body weight, they will continue their migration. The Wilson's Phalaropes will fly to Bolivia and Argentina and the Red-necked Phalaropes to the southern oceans. This forms a non-stop flight over 3,000 miles long which requires about sixty hours of flying time.

Some believe that during the peak of the Eared Grebe migration in September and October, Mono Lake looks as if one could walk across the lake stepping from the back of one grebe to another. During this season, nearly one million of these little diving birds cover the lake. These birds will often consume the remainder of the adult brine shrimp because of their great numbers and because they are able to reach the deeper, underwater shrimp that other birds cannot.

The food web within the lake is a very simple one. The basis is the bacteria that nourish the algae, which is then consumed by the alkali flies and brine shrimp, who feed the birds. One damaged link could cause the whole system to collapse.

Around Mono Lake

Many other birds stop at Mono Lake during their fall migrations. Waterfowl such as Pintail, Mallard, Cinnamon and Greenwing Teal, Canada Geese, and Tundra Swans will remain into the winter. Feeding on the abundant insects and seeds, many land birds use the Mono Basin as a stop-over during their migration. A large and diverse population of land animals including mice, squirrels, skunks, and porcupines, make their homes in the sagebrush scrub surrounding the lake. Predators, including Great-horned Owls, several species of hawks, Golden Eagles, weasels, and bobcats prey on the birds and mammals in the basin. The area is kept neat and tidy by the scavengers such as magpies, ravens, and California gulls.

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