We crossed over into the final state of California on a short ride of 29 miles. With only 220 miles left to San Francisco we will be off on holiday the next three days. Today we drove down the eastern side of the Sierras and visited Mono Lake. This area is still in the Great Basin so the lake has been formed because it receives water from five streams coming out of the mountains but has no outlet. As a result it is salty and has a very unique ecosystem. It is an important layover spot for the Pacific Flyway of migrating birds. In the 40’s LA started diverting water and so the lake level has dropped 45 feet. In the 80’s and 90’s there were many law suits to reverse the situation and a compromise was reached to raise the level significantly. Tonight we are staying in June Lake, a small local resort area that has a ski area and in the summer trout fishing in numerous lakes and streams nearby.
No comments:
Post a Comment