Mono Lake

Mono County, California. A saline, landlocked lake fed by streams flowing eastward off the Sierra Nevada. The curious pinnacles and ragged outcrops are tufa, a freshwater limestone typically deposited by springs, altho it can also result from algal growth in agitated water. Looking east. Mono Lake had dropped dozens of feet by the latter 20th century due to diversions by the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power. Its level has recovered significantly as diversions have been restrained by court order. The inset shows the boardwalk(!) out to this point, over marshy and tufa-filled ground.