Unique California: Mono Lake Canoe Tour

On our recent trip to Mono County, my family and I were fascinated to take a Canoe Tour of Mono Lake.  You won’t see speed boats or fishing on this lake.  No one is water skiing or wake boarding.  You won’t throw your towel on the shores and sunbathe here.  The Mono Lake Committee offers a guided Canoe Tour out of Navy Beach.  Here you meet your guide, suit up in life vests and learn how it’s very different at Mono Lake than any other lake.

2 times the salt content of the ocean, this saline sanctuary supports a unique and productive ecosystem.

Home to trillions of brine shrimp, alkali flies, and absolutely no fish, freshwater streams feed Mono Lake  supporting lush riparian forests of cottonwood and willow along their banks.  From the shore you are intrigued by the limestone formations known as tufa towers that stand jagged from the waters.

Tufa is something only my husband knew about. It’s bizarre and strange and something we had never encountered, let alone in a lake. It’s prehistoric appearance had us staring and asking questions of our guide.

Underwater springs rich in calcium mix with lakewater rich in carbonates, and as the calcium comes in contact with carbonates in the lake, a chemical reaction occurs resulting in calcium carbonate–limestone. The calcium carbonate precipitates (settles out of solution as a solid) around the spring, and over the course of decades to centuries, a tufa tower will grow. Tufa towers grow exclusively underwater, and some grow to heights of over 30 feet.

Millions of migratory birds (eared grebes, Wilson’s phalaropes, and red-necked phalaropes) visit the lake each year, often nesting high in the tufa and feasting on the alkali flies.

Our 9:30am tour had us gliding over mirrored waters that just made the entire tour smooth and the surroundings so perfectly photogenic!A little history:

From 1941 until 1990, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) diverted excessive amounts of water from Mono Basin streams. Mono Lake dropped 45 vertical feet, lost half its volume, and doubled in salinity. In 1978, The Mono Lake Committee was founded and led the fight to save the lake with cooperative solutions. Protection, restoration, and education efforts are made today with the support of 20,000 members and in 1994, after over a decade of litigation, the California State Water Resources Control Board ordered DWP to allow Mono Lake to rise to a healthy level of 6,392 feet above sea level–twenty feet above its historic low.

The reason visitors see so much tufa around Mono Lake today is because the lake level fell dramatically after water diversions began in 1941.  Since 1978, the Committee has achieved many accomplishments in the fight to protect Mono Lake. Working with the public and an extraordinary coalition of government agencies and non-profit groups, the Committee has brought negotiation, legislation, and litigation to Mono Lake’s support.

About the halfway point, plastic cups are given to collect and view some of the lake water and to check out the brine shrimp (my youngest’s favorite part).  Sandals can be worn on the canoe, but barefoot is better especially if you don’t want to ruin your shoes.  The salinity of the water leaves white marks and dries out shoes as we experienced with our flip-flops, anything more expensive you may want to go barefoot.

The Mono Lake Canoe tour is about an hour long and so worth the time and education you get about this unique California landmark! Our 3 kids still bring up the facts and experience they had a month later, so I’m glad we had the experience.  For more information on Mono Lake or to book a canoe tour visit, http://www.monolake.org/.

Our tour was hosted as part of our media trip, gratuity and opinions all our own.