Bodie Off The Beaten Path

Brine flies practically covered the surface of the shallow of Mono Lake. In the past, protein starved Mono Indians harvested and ate the larvae, giving them the name Mono - meaning "fly eating".

While Mono Lake is an extremely serene looking place, the overwhelming smell of the salt water and seagull poo in the desert heat and the thought of eating fly larvae all combined to make my visit to Mono Lake a very short one.

Tufa towers begin their life underwater. Freshwater calcium-bearing springs come up through the bottom of Mono Lake. The calcium chemically combines with carbonate-rich lakewater to form calcium carbonate, or tufa. This solid material settles out, forming towers, with the spring water pushing up inside them. The towers cease to grow as they are exposed to the air by the declining lake level.

Mono Lake is located just a few miles out of the town of Bodie. It is a beautiful lake, made up of salty lakewater combined with underground freshwater springs.

The lake is a circle of life in the true sense of the word. Algae within the lake capture the sun's energy, then become food for brine flies and tiny shrimp which, in turn, are then eaten by birds. Bottom dwelling bacteria decompose dead plants and animals into detritus that fertilizes the algae, and the cycle renews itself.

Just thought of sharing this pic.
I saw these close to the parking area, even you'll find more old stuff within Bodie...It might not so interesting but it's a part of Bodie. Anything what you've found within the park strictly not allowed to bring home,..well what can I do with that can.

Some of the towers can be up to 6 feet tall. They are a very peculiar sight, rising up out of the water like giant statues.

Spring in town! There's still snows in Bodie, those are what you see in whites, No wonder how cold and snowy it is here in the winter, and probably hot in the summer due to less shadow and no trees.