Perspective

I have been incredibly lucky to call Lee Vining, CA home for the last 7 months. Aside from the fact that this is one of the most beautiful places in the world, I've met some remarkably wonderful, loyal, energetic and passionate people here. In ten days I'll be packing up my entire life, loading Sebastian to the gills, and heading up north to Montana for the month of December. And I know I'll start missing it here as soon as I lose sight of the lake in my rearview mirror.

I've spent a lot of time on this blog describing the places that I've seen and the adventures I've had but I have never quite been able to elucidate exactly what it is about this place that makes me feel at home. There's a particular comfort that you achieve once you reach a certain level of familiarity with any place and to me the Mono Basin has been special because that familiarity has been reached with places that are innumerable and hidden, yet easily accessible. I think just about every person here would have a different answer for the question, "Where is your favorite place in the basin?" and for all different reasons. There are so many possibilities, but unlike the unfathomable vastness of the Sierras or even Yosemite, the Mono Basin is relatively small and each place is remarkable for its own unique detail. There are grand vistas, certainly, but that comfortable familiarity comes with being able to note the minute differences in each vista, to recognize the new perspective that each angle gives, to increase the depth of your knowledge and understanding of the place.

This weekend my housemate Morgan and I made the trek up to the top of the Mono Craters, a place neither of us had been.

The Mono Craters are the youngest mountain range in North America and they run on a north-south trajectory almost into the south shore of Mono Lake. They also happen to fall in the rain shadow created by the San Joaquin gap, so the east side of the craters are covered in Jeffrey pines, the edge of the largest single stand Jeffrey pine forest in the world.

The trek to the top of the craters is a steep slog through very loose pumice sand which is quite the workout for the calves/quads/glutes/lungs, but the view from the top is absolutely worth the pain. A friend mentioned to me this summer that it is nearly impossible to see every piece of the lakeshore at any given place. Mono Lake is generally round, but has several little contours that keep parts of it hidden from most vantage points. The only place I've been that has an almost complete view is Warren Bench, though you're missing sections of the western shore that are almost immediately below you. The view from the Mono Craters is so close to complete that it makes you wish that second to last volcano hadn't erupted 1200 years ago. The only sad thing is that the lake is too big for my camera to fit in one frame. Here is the western shore.

From the top, you can see June Lake and Grant Lake Reservoir at the same time, something that I had never really thought was possible considering that they are at either end of a very narrow horseshoe loop with a mountain in between them. It also offers you a spectacular view of Pumice Flat and the Sierras. Sometimes living directly underneath these mountains, we forget how spectacular they are. This view reminded me that though the Sierras are the cause for our sun disappearing at 3:30 everyday, we are quite lucky that this is the view out our back window, not some freeway or industrial complex.

The top of the craters kind of looks like a moonscape with strangely shaped and colored rocks strewn over a surface of pumice sand. Additionally, there are large chunks of shattered obsidian lying around. It almost feels like the volcano erupted last week, not 1500 years ago. It's no wonder that the Kuzedika's chose this place as their home - the stockpile for arrowheads and spear points was inexhaustible.

I was glad to finally make it to the top of the craters. It's a great vantage point for most of the basin, and helps shed new light on the relationships between all these places I've visited countless times this summer while teaching my students the natural history of the basin. I highly recommend a trek to the top of the craters for any Monophile who is interested in a new perspective.

I'm coming to the end of my stay in the Sierra's. It's been a great run and I've enjoyed every moment of my time here. I'll be sad to leave this home place, but eager to explore and develop a new one when I move to Colorado in January.