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CA 2016 Day 4 Sroda
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Day 4 Sroda

jazdy:

Komponenty:

        [godzina na szlaku]

Hole in the Wall  - Ivanpah - 1.5h

Ivanpah- Zzyzx 1h

Hole in the Wall - Zzyzx z pominieciem solarium - 2h, czyli oszczedzamy pol godziny

Zzyzx - Shoshone 1.5h - czyli 4h jazdy zanim wjedziemy do Death Valley

Shoshone - Mono Lake 5h

Atrakcje:

Mojave - kontynuacja [pdf z mapką Mojave]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_National_Preserve - no fee

http://www.nps.gov/moja/index.htm

Hole In The Wall - dziurawe klify (kamping, szlak) [PDF o szlaku]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_National_Preserve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8_VroXQsro - szlak numer 5 na mapce: http://www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/-hiking.htm 

http://www.desertusa.com/mnp/mnp_hole.html

Ivanpah Solar Generating System - opcja https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpah_Solar_Power_Facility 

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a concentrated solar thermal plant in the California Mojave Desert, 64 km (40 miles) southwest of Las Vegas, with a gross capacity of 392 megawatts (MW).[6] It deploys 173,500 heliostats, each with two mirrors, focusing solar energy on boilers located on three centralized solar power towers.[6] Unit 1 of the project was connected to the grid in September 2013 in an initial sync testing.[7] The facility formally opened on February 13, 2014,[1] and it is currently the world's largest solar thermal power station.[8][9]

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System consists of three solar thermal power plants on a 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) tract of public land near the Mojave Desert and the California—Nevada border in the Southwestern United States[16] near Interstate 15 and north of Ivanpah, California.[17] The site is visible from adjacent Mojave National Preserve, Mesquite Wilderness, and Stateline Wilderness.[17]

The facility consists of fields of heliostat mirrors focusing sunlight on receivers located on centralized solar power towers. The receivers generate steam to drive specially adapted steam turbines. For the first plant, the largest ever fully solar-powered steam turbine-generator set was ordered, using a 123 MW Siemens SST-900 single-casing reheat turbine.[18] Besides steam-turbine generators Siemens supplied instrumentation and control systems.[19]Final approval was gained in October 2010.[20] On October 27, 2010, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and other dignitaries gathered in the Mojave Desert to officially break ground on the project.[6] The project generated controversy because of the decision to build it on ecologically intact desert habitat.[21]

The project has received a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy.[22] The total cost of the project is about $2.18 billion.[23] The facility has contracts to sell about two-thirds of the power generated at Ivanpah to PG&E, and the rest to SCE.[24][25][26]

The largest investor in the project is NRG Energy, a generating company based in Princeton, N.J., that has put in $300 million.[11] The project has also received an investment of $168 million from Google,[27] but in November 2011, Google announced that they would no longer invest in CSP due to the rapid price decline of photovoltaic systems, and stopped its research on the project.[28][29][11]

A heliostat (from helios, the Greek word for sun, and stat, as in stationary) is a device that includes a mirror, usually aplane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating for the sun's apparent motions in the sky. The target may be a physical object, distant from the heliostat, or a direction in space. To do this, the reflective surface of the mirror is kept perpendicular to the bisector of the angle between the directions of the sun and the target as seen from the mirror. In almost every case, the target is stationary relative to the heliostat, so the light is reflected in a fixed direction. According to contemporary sources the heliostata, as it was called at first, was invented by Willem 's Gravesande (1688-1742).[1] Other contenders are Giovanni Alonso Borelli (1608-1679) andDaniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736).[2]

Nowadays, most heliostats are used for daylighting or for the production of concentrated solar power, usually to generate electricity. They are also sometimes used in solar cooking. A few are used experimentally, or to reflect motionless beams of sunlight into solar telescopes. Before the availability of lasers and other electric lights, heliostats were widely used to produce intense, stationary beams of light for scientific and other purposes.

Most modern heliostats are controlled by computers. The computer is given the latitude and longitude of the heliostat's position on the earth and the time and date. From these, using astronomical theory, it calculates the direction of the sun as seen from the mirror, e.g. its compass bearing and angle of elevation. Then, given the direction of the target, the computer calculates the direction of the required angle-bisector, and sends control signals to motors, often stepper motors, so they turn the mirror to the correct alignment. This sequence of operations is repeated frequently to keep the mirror properly oriented.

Large installations such as solar-thermal power stations include fields of heliostats comprising many mirrors. Usually, all the mirrors in such a field are controlled by a single computer.

There are older types of heliostat which do not use computers, including ones that are partly or wholly operated by hand or by clockwork, or are controlled by light-sensors. These are now quite rare.

Heliostats should be distinguished from solar trackers or sun-trackers that point directly at the sun in the sky. However, some older types of heliostat incorporate solar trackers, together with additional components to bisect the sun-mirror-target angle.

A siderostat is a similar device which is designed to follow a fainter star, rather than the sun.

Large-scale projects[edit]

In a solar-thermal power plant, like those of The Solar Project or the PS10 plant in Spain, a wide field of heliostats focuses the sun's power onto a single collector to heat a medium such as water or molten salt. The medium travels through a heat exchanger to heat water, produce steam, and then generate electricity through a steam turbine.

A somewhat different arrangement of heliostats in a field is used at experimental solar furnaces, such as the one at Odeillo, in France. All the heliostat mirrors send accurately parallel beams of light into a large paraboloidal reflector which brings them to a precise focus. The mirrors have to be located close enough to the axis of the paraboloid to reflect sunlight into it along lines parallel to the axis, so the field of heliostats has to be narrow. Aclosed loop control system is used. Sensors determine if any of the heliostats is slightly misaligned. If so, they send signals to correct it.

It has been proposed that the high temperatures generated could be used to split water producing hydrogen sustainably.[3]

Small-scale projects[edit]

Smaller heliostats are used for daylighting and heating. Instead of many large heliostats focusing on a single target to concentrate solar power (as in a solar power tower plant), a single heliostat usually about 1 or 2 square meters in size reflects non-concentrated sunlight through a window or skylight. A small heliostat, installed outside on the ground or on a building structure like a roof, moves on two axes (up/down and left/right) in order to compensate for the constant movement of the sun. In this way, the reflected sunlight stays fixed on the target (e.g. window).

Genzyme Center, corporate headquarters of Genzyme Corp. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, uses heliostats on the roof to direct sunlight into its12-story atrium.[4][5]

In a 2009 article, Bruce Rohr suggested that small heliostats could be used like a solar power tower system.[6]Instead of occupying hundreds of acres, the system would fit in a much smaller area, like the flat rooftop of a commercial building, he said. The proposed system would use the power in sunlight to heat and cool a building or to provide input for thermal industrial processes like processing food. The cooling would be performed with anabsorption chiller. Mr. Rohr proposed that the system would be “more reliable and more cost-effective per square meter of reflective area” than large solar power tower plants, in part because it would not be sacrificing 80 percent of the power collected in the process of converting it to electricity.[7]

March 17, 2016 3:27 p.m. ET Wall street Journal

California regulators threw a lifeline Thursday to the struggling Ivanpah solar plant, which has failed to generate the electricity it is required to produce under contracts with PG&E Corp.

Zzyzx :D 35°8′35″N 116°6′15″W

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zzyzx,_California 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonopah_and_Tidewater_Railroad 

Zzyzx (/ˈzaɪzᵻks/ zy-zəks), formerly Camp Soda and Soda Springs, is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, United States, within the boundaries of Mojave National Preserve. It is the former site of the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa[1] and now the site of the Desert Studies Center. The site is also the location of Lake Tuendae, originally part of the spa, and now a refuge habitat of the endangered Mohave tui chub.

Zzyzx Road is a 4.5-mile-long (7.2 km), part paved and part dirt, rural collector road in the Mojave Desert. It runs from Interstate 15 generally south to the Zzyzx settlement.

The settlement is in area codes 442 and 760 and ZIP code 92309. The nearest town is Baker, California, 7 miles (11 km) north on I-15. Las Vegas, Nevada, is the nearest major city, about 100 miles (160 km) northeast.

Soda Springs, a natural spring, has long seen human activity. The area was a prehistoric quarry site, and projectile points and rock art can be found in the area. The Mojave Road ran past the spring which was guarded by the Hancock Redoubt in 1860, during the Bitter Spring Expedition and by Camp Soda Springs, garrisoned by the U. S. Army from 1867 to 1870. Later Soda Springs was the name of the station of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad that passed there. Remnants of a wagon road stop and railroad artifacts are readily seen. Evaporative salt mining and mill sites can be found here as well.

The made-up name Zzyzx was given to the area in 1944 by Curtis Howe Springer, claiming it to be the last word in the English language. He established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa in 1944 at the spot, which was federal land, after filing mining claims for 12,000 acres (49 km2) surrounding the springs. He used the springs to bottle his water and provide drinks for travelers through the hot desert. Springer also imported animals from around the country to attract more families to visit his ranch. He used Zzyzx until 1974, when the land was reclaimed by the government.

Since 1976, the Bureau of Land Management has allowed California State University to manage the land in and around Zzyzx. A consortium of CSU campuses use it as their Desert Studies Center.

Lexicography[edit]

The name appeared as "Zzyzx Springs" in Dmitri Borgmann's 1967 book Beyond Language. In 1977 Borgman noted his source as being "an old, undated map of San Bernardino County published by the Automobile Club of Southern California" and repeated his description of the settlement as being "a hydrologic feature and privately owned spa in San Bernardino County, California, about 8.5 miles south of Baker, on the western edge of Soda Dry Lake, off the abandoned right-of-way of the old Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad."[2] After Borgmann's book, the 1973 Hammond Ambassador World Atlas began to show the place, labeling it as "Zzyzx" without the "Springs"; the 1976 Rand-McNally Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide followed suit.[2]

Zzyzx as a settlement, and Zzyzx Spring as a water feature, were approved as a place name by the United States Board on Geographic Names on June 14, 1984.[3] As is the case with the road, Zzyzx, California, is the USBGN's lexicographically greatest (alphabetically last, at least in Latin alphabetical order) place name.[4] It has frequently[not in citation given] been noted on lists of unusual place names.[5][unreliable source?]

Soda Lake 35.16519°N 116.07142°W 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_Lake_(San_Bernardino_County) 

Soda Lake (or Soda Dry Lake) is a dry lake at the terminus of the Mojave River[1] in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California. The lake has standing water during wet periods, and water can be found beneath the surface.

Soda Lake along with Silver Lake are what remains of the large, perennial, Holocene Lake Mojave. The waters of the lake, now with no outlet, evaporate and has left alkaline evaporites of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate.

Soda Lake is located on the southern side of Interstate 15, and can be seen at the Zzyzx Road interchange and the Oat Ditch bridge, as well as the Soda Lake bridge (signed as the Mojave River) looking south fromBaker.

Jezioro endoreiczne (z greckiego endo - wewnątrz i rhein - płynąć) – jezioro bezodpływowe, w którym dopływ wody równoważony jest przez parowanie, przykładem takiego jeziora jest jezioro Eyre w Australii.

Teoretycznie systemy endoreiczne mogą powstać w każdym klimacie, występują one najczęściej w gorących klimatach pustynnych. W miejscach, w których występuje dużo deszczu następuje z reguły erozja brzegu spowodowana ciągłym napływem nowych zasobów wodnych doprowadzając do stworzenia naturalnego odpływu wody. Przykładem takiego systemu jest Morze Czarne, które powstało jako niezależne jezioro i dopieroMorze Śródziemne przełamało bariery pomiędzy tymi dwoma zbiornikami wody.

Na gorących pustyniach, gdzie dopływ wody jest stosunkowo niski, a straty wody poprzez parowanie bardzo wysokie najczęściej nie dochodzi do utworzenia systemu odpływowego. Zamknięta natura obiegu wodnego często doprowadza do wysokiej koncentracji soli i innych minerałów ściągniętych z obszaru zlewni bezodpływowej i osadzonych na dnie jeziora po odparowaniu wody. Osady zazwyczaj stanowią bardzo płaską powierzchnię, która jest zazwyczaj bardzo twarda. Takie obszary są czasami używane jako pasy startowe dla samolotów lub naturalne tory wykorzystywane na przykład do prób ustanowienia rekordów szybkości pojazdów mechanicznych np. jezioro Bonneville w USA.

Systemy endoreiczne mogą być stałe lub sezonowe. Z powodu zmiany klimatu niektóre jeziora bezodpływowe są praktycznie martwe, nie ma już żadnego źródła dopływu wody i jezioro istnieje tylko z nazwy. Nawet stałe systemy z czasem mogą w dramatyczny sposób zmieniać rozmiar i kształt w czasie suchego sezonu. Wpływ na ich wielkość może mieć także działalność człowieka poprzez budowę zapór czy akweduktów zmniejszających dopływ wody. W wielu krajach rozwijających się niektóre systemy endoreiczne znacznie zmniejszyły się z tych powodów, a to często doprowadza do zwiększenia zasolenia wody, większej koncentracji zanieczyszczeń i konsekwentnego zaburzenia ekosystemu jeziora.

Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad  - ZZyzx bylo przystankiem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonopah_and_Tidewater_Railroad

The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, the T&T, was a class II railroad extending roughly 200 miles through remote reaches of the Mojave Desert from the Santa Fe Railway railhead at Ludlow, California, throughDeath Valley and Amargosa Valley, terminating at the mining towns of Tonopah and Goldfield in the Great Basin Desert in Nye County, Nevada. The railroad was listed as a common carrier, however it was built byFrancis Marion Smith the "Borax King" and his Pacific Coast Borax Company primarily to transport borax to processing and market. The line is now completely abandoned.

Construction and territory[edit]

Grading began on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad - T&T line on July 30, 1905. 50- and 65-pound rails were laid starting on November 19, 1905. The line was completed on October 30, 1907, with the T&T tracks ending at Gold Center, Nevada. From Gold Center the T&T reached into Beatty, Nevada with joint trackage rights with the Brock Road Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad. The T&T also reached Rhyolite, Nevada over the Bullfrog Goldfield trackage via the connecting wye at Gold Center. From 1908 to 1914 the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad, which also serving the mines around Beatty, was combined into the T&T, and then combined again in 1918 after the demise of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad. The T&T owned and ran both lines under a "new railroad identity" from 1920 until January, 1928.

The T&T also had a 7-mile (11 km) branch that ran from its mainline at Death Valley Junction, California to the Lila C Mine with the station named "Ryan". At Horton, California the T&T separated from the narrow gaugeDeath Valley Railroad - DVRR. The DVRR ran for 21 miles from Death Valley Junction west to Devar, later renamed Ryan, and different from the Lila C. Mine's Ryan, via Colmanite and was abandoned in 1931. The T&T branch had 3 rail tracks (both narrow and standard gauge) from Horton to Death Valley Junction. The T&T branch was built in 1907 and the DVRR was built in 1914. The branch to the Lila C. was removed not long after all operations were transferred to Devar - Ryan.

Changes[edit]

Originally the railroad intended to build from Las Vegas to Death Valley but grading was terminated in 1905 due to rate problems with the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. The "San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad" was later shortened to "Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad," and is the present day Union Pacific mainline between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.

Once the mining boom ended, the railroad struggled to survive, as borax shipping came to comprise the majority of its business. After the borax mining and operations were moved from the Death Valley region to the Boron, California mine and facilities in 1927, the line relied upon whatever traffic could be found. Over most of its existence, U.S. Borax (USB) had made up the losses from the railroad's operations. A railcar was bought to replace the already worn out steam locomotives and to cut costs on running the T&T line. Discussions for cessation/abandonment were started as early as 1930. After the major flood of 1933, Ludlow was abandoned and operations ran north from Crucero, a Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad railhead. The 26 miles (42 km) of track between Crucero and the T&T's connection with the Santa Fe Railway at Ludlow was placed out of service on October 8, 1933. After the flood of 1938, applications for abandonment were pursued.

By 1940 the entire line was out of service and on July 18, 1942, scrapping began at Beatty and terminated a year later at Ludlow. Final abandonment with the I.C.C. was approved on December 3, 1946.

Preservation[edit]

After the T&T was abandoned and torn up in 1942, most of the rolling stock was scrapped or shipped away for the war effort. The only known pieces of rolling stock known to exist up till this day, are only a few rolling stock cars and a motor-driven railcar.

T&T Caboose #402 is known to be stored at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum, in moderate condition but sorely needing repair.

A boxcar and flatcar have also been preserved, they are now located at the Orange Empire Railway Museum at Perris, California.

Old Railcar #99 was reused as a maintenance vehicle for the Ferrocarril Sonora-Baja California Railroad. It was cut in half after its frame was cracked at some point, and it worked until 1967 when it was retired and stored away at the old railroad shops at Benjamin Hill, Sonora, and is currently awaiting a buyer to preserve it.

Death Valley [mapka pdf] $20

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/death-valley-bursts-life-rare-super-bloom-180958194/?no-ist 

biały podróżnik: http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=961

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cichorioideae

Wazne przystanki (wybrane, bo jest ich mnostwo):

        Salsberry Pass - 1010 m

Ashford Mill Ruins

Badwater - najnizszy punkt -86m

Lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is a surreal landscape of vast salt flats. A temporary lake may form here after heavy rainstorms. Do not walk on the salt flats in hot weather.

Earth’s Lowest Elevations

The salt flats in Badwater Basin cover nearly 200 square miles, among the largest protected salt flats in the world.

Salt of the Earth

Sodium Chloride—better known as table salt—makes up the majority of salts on Badwater Basin. Other evaporative minerals found here include calcite, gypsum, and borax.

Intense Concentration

The source of Badwater’s salts is Death Valley’s drainage system of 9,000 square miles—an area larger than New Hampshire. Rain falling on distant peaks creates floods that rush ever lower. Along the way, minerals dissolve from rocks and join the flood. Here, at the lowest elevation, floods come to rest, forming temporary lakes. As the water evaporates, minerals concentrate until only the salts remain. After thousands of years, enough salts have washed in to produce layer upon layer of salt crust.

Crystal Power

The vast, surreal salt flats of Badwater Basin change constantly. Salt crystals expand, pushing the crust of salt into rough, chaotic forms. Newly formed crystals ooze between mudcracks, sketching strange patterns on the surface of the salt flat. Passing rainstorms wash off windblown dust and generate a fresh layer of blinding white salt.

Floods create temporary lakes that dissolve salts back into solution, starting the process all over again.

Natural Bridge

Massive rock span across interesting desert canyon. From the trailhead, the natural bridge is a ½ mile walk. The spur road is gravel and often rough. Located off Badwater Road.

Devil’s Golf course

Immense area of rock salt eroded by wind and rain into jagged spires. So incredibly serrated that “only the devil could play golf on such rough links.” The unpaved road starts on Badwater Road and is often closed after rain.

Objazd Artists Drive

Scenic loop drive through multi-hued volcanic and sedimentary hills. Artist’s Palette is especially photogenic in late afternoon light. The 9-mile paved road is one-way and is only drivable with vehicles less than 25 feet in length. Drive starts from Badwater Road.

Golden Canyon - opcja

Hikers entering the narrows of this canyon are greeted by golden badlands within. An interpretive pamphlet is available. Hiking optionsinclude either a two-mile round-trip in Golden Canyon, or a four mile loop that returns via Gower Gulch. Trailhead located on Badwater Road

Harmony Borax - opcja

Although this borax refinery operated only from 1883 to 1888, it is important as the birthplace of the famous Twenty Mule Teams. Adobe ruins and an original wagon hint at the industrial activity that once was. Interpretive signs along the short, paved trail tell the story. Located one mile north of Furnace Creek on Hwy 190 west.

Harmony Borax Works was the central feature in the opening of Death Valley and the subsequent popularity of the Furnace Creek area. The plant and associated townsite played an important role in Death Valley history.

After borax was found near Furnace Creek Ranch (then called Greenland) in 1881, William T. Coleman built the Harmony plant and began to process ore in late 1883 or early 1884. When in full operation, the Harmony Borax Works employed 40 men who produced three tons of borax daily. During the summer months, when the weather was so hot that processing water would not cool enough to permit the suspended borax to crystallize, Coleman moved his work force to the Amargosa Borax Plant near present day Tecopa, California.

Getting the finished product to market from the heart of Death Valley was a difficult task, and an efficient method had to be devised. The Harmony operation became famous through the use of large mule teams and double wagons which hauled borax the long overland route to Mojave.The romantic image of the “20-mule team” persists to this day and has become the symbol of the borax industry in this country.

The Harmony plant went out of operation in 1888, after only five years of production, when Coleman’s financial empire collapsed. Aquired by Francis Marion Smith, the works never resumed the boiling of cottonball borate ore, and in time became part of the borax reserves of the Pacific Coast Borax Company and it successors. On December 31, 1974, the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For many people, nothing symbolizes Death Valley more than the famous Twenty Mule Teams. These "big teams" pulled massive wagons hauling borax from the Harmony Borax Works near Furnace Creek to the railhead near Mojave, a grueling 165 mile, ten day trip across primitive roads. Although the teams only ran for six years--1883 to 1889--they have made an enduring impression of the Old West. This is primarily due to a successful advertising campaign promoting 20-Mule-Team Borax Soap and the long-running Death Valley Days radio and television program. Today the twenty mule teams are only a fond memory, but you may see two of the last remaining wagons here in Death Valley. One is in front of the Furnace Creek Ranch and the other is at Harmony Borax Works.

Boraks rodzimy (tinkal) – minerał z gromady boranów, zbudowany głównie z uwodnionego boranu sodu. Na2[B4O5(OH)4] x 8 H2O

Najczęściej tworzy skupienia ziemiste, zbite i naskorupienia. Kryształy mają pokrój tabliczkowy, słupkowy – czasami widać wyraźne pionowe prążkowanie. Jest kruchy, przezroczysty, charakteryzuje się słodkawo-cierpkim smakiem, jest rozpuszczalny w wodzie. Na powietrzu mętnieje, traci wodę i przechodzi stopniowo w tynkalkonit [Na2(B4O5(OH) 4 x 3 H2O)], który otacza go coraz to grubszą warstwą i niszczy kryształy.

Zastosowanie[edytuj]

Salt Creek Trail ?

This stream of salty water is the only home to a rare pupfish, Cyprinodon salinus. Springtime is best for viewing pupfish; in summer the lower stream dries up and in winter the fish are dormant. The wooden boardwalk loops ½ mile through stands of pickleweed and past pools reflecting badland hills. Wheelchair accessible.

Devils Cornfield

Devil's Cornfield is just east of Stovepipe Wells. Most visitors to the park have driven right through Devil's Cornfield, which is split in half by the road. Of course, corn doesn't actually grow in this cornfield, but rather these are unusual looking arrowweed bushes.  There are a couple of places along the road where you can park and walk around to explore the area.  To find some really big crops, park near the sign which you pass when you are driving east, and then walk out to the south for about five to ten minutes.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Tawnydunes smoothly rising nearly 100 feet from Mesquite Flat. Late afternoon light accentuates the ripples and patterns while morning is a good time to view tracks of nocturnal wildlife. Moonlight on the dunes can be magical, yet night explorers should be alert for sidewinder rattlesnakes during the warm season.

Wedrowka przez Mosaic Canyon

Mosaic Canyon is a showcase of geologic features as well as a beautiful example of one of Death Valley’s many canyons. Located 1/4 mile west of Stovepipe Wells Village, the 2 mile gravel access road climbs 1000 ft. to the parking area. From here an easy 1/4 mile walk leads into the canyon narrows, where the surrounding rock walls are composed of smooth, water-polished marble. If time permits, you can continue hiking for another 1-1/2 to 2 miles before the way is blocked by a dry waterfall.

The canyon formed because a system of cracks, known as faults, developed in the area millions of years ago. Running water has been channeled into these faults for centuries and has gradually carved out the canyon to its present size. Mosaic Canyon is the drainage for the northern flank of Tucki Mountain, and channels water from a 4.3 square-mile area. Periodic flash floods continue to bring down sand, gravel and rock from the surrounding hills. This debris is deposited just past the canyon mouth. Over time, this continued deposition has built up the large wedge-shaped alluvial fan that extends down toward Stovepipe Wells.

Mosaic Canyon was named for a rock formation known as the "Mosaic Breccia." Breccia is the Italian word meaning "fragments". This formation is composed of angular fragments of many different kinds of parent rock, and it can be seen on the floor of the canyon just south of the parking area. The most common rock formation in the canyon is the Noonday Dolomite. This limestone is rich in magnesium and formed 750 to 900 million years ago when the area was part of the Pacific Ocean. This sedimentary material was later buried to great depths by younger materials and was subjected to pressures and temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, much of the limestone was altered, or metamorphosed, into marble. Subsequent uplift and erosion have since re-exposed these metamorphic rocks.

Mosaic Canyon is considered a geologic "outdoor museum", and as part of the National Park System, all of its features are protected by law. Enjoy the area, but please leave it undisturbed for future visitors. NO ROCK COLLECTING!

        

Towne Pass 1511 m

Darwin Falls - chyba nie, za daleko

A miracle in the desert, this spring-fed waterfall flows year-round in a narrow gorge. Its lush streamside thickets of willows ring with the song of migrating birds in springtime. Located just west of Panamint Springs via a 2.5 mile unpaved road. Although there is no formal trail, the mostly level, one-mile walk to the falls involves rock scrambling and several stream crossings.

Father Crowley Point

A landscape of dark lava flows and volcanic cinders abruptly gives way to the gash of Rainbow Canyon below this viewpoint. Walk the dirt track east of the parking lot for a grand overlook of northern Panamint Valley. Vista located west of Panamint Springs on Hwy 190.

Aguereberry Point

1000 feet higher than Dante’s View, this viewpoint gives a perspective over Death Valley from the west. Along the gravel road is the remains of Pete Aguereberry’s camp and his Eureka Mine. The last climb to the point may require a high-clearance vehicle. Located in the Panamint Mountains off Emigrant Canyon Road.

O roslinnosci

Death Valley: The name is forbidding and gloomy. Yet here you can find colorful badlands, snow-covered peaks, beautiful sand dunes, rugged canyons, the driest and lowest spot in North America, and the hottest in the world.

On any given summer day, the valley floor shimmers silently in the heat. For five months of the year unmerciful heat dominates the scene, and for the next seven the heat releases its grip only slightly. Rain rarely gets past the guardian mountains, but the little rain that does fall is the life force of the wildflowers that transform the desert into a vast garden.

Despite the harshness and severity of the environment, more than 1000 kinds of plants live within the park. Those on the valley floor have adapted to a desert life by a variety of means. Some have roots that go down 10 times the height of a person. Some plants have a root system that lies just below the surface but extends out in all directions. Others have leaves and stems that allow very little evaporation and loss of life giving water.

Wildlife has also learned to deal with the heat. Animals that live in the desert are mainly nocturnal. Night, the time of seeming vast emptiness, is actually the time of the comings and goings of innumerable small animals. Larger animals, such as the desert bighorn sheep, move to the cooler higher elevations.

With elevation gain, moisture increases until on the high peaks there are woodlands of juniper, pinyon pine, mountain mahogany, limber pine, and even bristlecone pine. In winter months, the peaks surrounding the valley are often snow-covered.

Included within the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve, Death Valley is an active world of contrasts and extremes. It is much more than its name.

Manzanar National Historic Site - obóz 110 000 Japończyków podczas II wojny 36°43′42″N118°9′16″W 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanar

http://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm 

Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valleybetween the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is approximately 230 miles (370 km) northeast of Los Angeles. Manzanar (which means "apple orchard" in Spanish) was identified by the United States National Park Service as the best-preserved of the former camp sites, and is now the Manzanar National Historic Site, which preserves and interprets the legacy of Japanese American incarceration in the United States.[8]

Long before the first incarcerees arrived in March 1942, Manzanar was home to Native Americans, who mostly lived in villages near several creeks in the area. Ranchers and miners formally established the town of Manzanar in 1910,[9] but abandoned the town by 1929 after the City of Los Angeles purchased the water rights to virtually the entire area.[8] As different as these groups were, their histories displayed a common thread offorced relocation.

Since the last incarcerees left in 1945, former incarcerees and others have worked to protect Manzanar and to establish it as a National Historic Site to ensure that the history of the site, along with the stories of those who were unjustly incarcerated there, are remembered by current and future generations. The primary focus is the Japanese American incarceration era,[10] as specified in the legislation that created the Manzanar National Historic Site. The site also interprets the former town of Manzanar, the ranch days, the settlement by the Owens Valley Paiute, and the role that water played in shaping the history of the Owens Valley.[7][10]

After the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Government swiftly moved to begin solving the "Japanese Problem" on the West Coast of the United States.[45] In the evening hours of that same day, theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested selected "enemy" aliens, including 2,192 who were of Japanese descent.[46] The California government pressed for action by the national government, as many citizens were alarmed about potential activities by people of Japanese descent.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the Secretary of War to designate military commanders to prescribe military areas and to exclude "any or all persons" from such areas. The order also authorized the construction of what would later be called "relocation centers" by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) to house those who were to be excluded.[47] This order resulted in the forced relocation of over 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were native-born American citizens. The rest had been prevented from becoming citizens by federal law.[48][49] Over 110,000 were incarcerated in the ten concentration camps located far inland and away from the coast.[46]

Manzanar was the first of the ten concentration camps to be established.[50] Initially, it was a temporary "reception center", known as the Owens Valley Reception Center from March 21, 1942, to May 31, 1942.[50] At that time, it was operated by the US Army's Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA).[51]

The Owens Valley Reception Center was transferred to the WRA on June 1, 1942, and officially became the "Manzanar War Relocation Center." The first Japanese American incarcerees to arrive at Manzanar were volunteers who helped build the camp. By mid–April, up to 1,000 Japanese Americans were arriving daily, and by July, the population of the camp neared 10,000.[52] Over 90 percent of the incarcerees were from the Los Angeles area, with the rest coming from Stockton, California; and Bainbridge Island, Washington.[52] Many were farmers and fishermen. Manzanar held 10,046 incarcerees at its peak, and a total of 11,070 people were incarcerated there.[8]

Climate[edit]

The weather at Manzanar caused suffering for the incarcerees, few of whom were accustomed to the extremes of the area's climate. The temporary buildings were not adequate to shield people from the weather. The Owens Valley lies at an elevation of about 4,000 feet (1,200 m).[53] Summers on the desert floor of the Owens Valley are generally hot, with temperatures exceeding 100 °F (38 °C) not uncommon.[53] Winters bring occasional snowfall and daytime temperatures that often drop into the 40 °F (4 °C) range.[53] At night, temperatures are generally 30 to 40 °F (-1 to 4 °C) lower than the daytime highs, and high winds are common day or night.[51][53] The area's mean annual precipitation is barely five inches (12.7 cm). The ever-present dust was a continual problem due to the frequent high winds; so much so that incarcerees usually woke up in the morning covered from head to toe with a fine layer of dust, and they constantly had to sweep dirt out of the barracks.[54]

"In the summer, the heat was unbearable," said former Manzanar incarceree Ralph Lazo (see Notable Manzanar incarcerees section, below). "In the winter, the sparsely rationed oil didn't adequately heat the tar paper-covered pine barracks with knotholes in the floor. The wind would blow so hard, it would toss rocks around."[55]

Camp layout and facilities[edit]

The camp site was situated on 6,200 acres (2,500 ha) at Manzanar, leased from the City of Los Angeles,[8] with the developed portion covering approximately 540 acres (220 ha).[56] The residential area was about one square mile (2.6 km2), and consisted of 36 blocks of hastily constructed,[57] 20-foot (6.1 m) by 100-foot (30 m) tarpaper barracks, with each incarceree family living in a single 20-foot (6.1 m) by 25-foot (7.6 m) "apartment" in the barracks. These apartments consisted of partitions with no ceilings, eliminating any chance of privacy.[58][59] Lack of privacy was a major problem for the incarcerees, especially since the camp had communal men's and women's latrines.[58][59]

"...One of the hardest things to endure was the communal latrines, with no partitions; and showers with no stalls," said former Manzanar incarceree Rosie Kakuuchi.[57]

Each residential block also had a communal mess hall, a laundry room, a recreation hall, an ironing room, and a heating oil storage tank, although Block 33 lacked a recreation hall.[59] In addition to the residential blocks, Manzanar had 34 additional blocks that had staff housing, camp administration offices, two warehouses, a garage, a camp hospital, and 24 firebreaks.[56] The camp also had school facilities, a high school auditorium, staff housing, chicken and hog farms, churches, a cemetery, a post office, a cooperative store, other shops, a camp newspaper, and other necessary amenities that one would expect to find in most American cities.[58]

Manzanar also had a camouflage net factory, an experimental plantation for producing natural rubber from the Guayule plant, and an orphanage called Children's Village, which housed 101 Japanese American orphans.[58][60]The camp perimeter had eight watchtowers manned by armed Military Police, and it was enclosed by five-strand barbed wire. There were sentry posts at the main entrance.[56][58]

Life behind the barbed wire[edit]

See also: Japanese American internment: Conditions in the camps

After being uprooted from their homes and communities, the incarcerees found themselves having to endure primitive, sub-standard conditions,[57] and lack of privacy. They had to wait in one line after another for meals, at latrines, and at the laundry room.[61] Each camp was intended to be self-sufficient, and Manzanar was no exception. Cooperatives operated various services, such as the camp newspaper,[62][63][64] beauty and barber shops, shoe repair, and more.[61] In addition, incarcerees raised chickens, hogs, and vegetables, and cultivated the existing orchards for fruit.[61] Incarcerees made their own soy sauce and tofu.[61]

Food at Manzanar was based on military requirements. Meals usually consisted of hot rice and vegetables, since meat was scarce due to rationing.[61] In early 1944, a chicken ranch began operation, and in late April of the same year, the camp opened a hog farm. Both operations provided welcome meat supplements to the incarcerees' diet.[65]

Most incarcerees were employed at Manzanar to keep the camp running. Unskilled workers earned US$8 per month ($115.9 per month as of 2016), semi-skilled workers earned $12 per month ($174 per month as of 2016), skilled workers made $16 per month ($232 per month as of 2016), and professionals earned $19 per month ($275 per month as of 2016). In addition, all incarcerees received $3.60 per month ($52 per month as of 2016) as a clothing allowance.[61]

The incarcerees made Manzanar more livable through recreation. They participated in sports, including baseball and football, and martial arts.[54] They also personalized and beautified their barren surroundings by building elaborate gardens, which often included pools, waterfalls, and rock ornaments. There was even a nine-hole golf course.[61][66] Remnants of some of the gardens, pools, and rock ornaments are still present at Manzanar.

Resistance[edit]

Although most incarcerees quietly accepted their fate during World War II, there was some resistance in the camps. Poston, Heart Mountain, Topaz, and Tule Lake each had civil disturbances about wage differences, black marketing of sugar, intergenerational friction, rumors of "informers" reporting to the camp administration or the FBI, and other issues.[54]However, the most serious incident occurred at Manzanar on December 5–6, 1942, and became known as the Manzanar Riot.[67]

After several months of tension between incarcerees who supported the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and a group of Kibei (Japanese Americans educated in Japan), rumors spread that sugar and meat shortages were the result of black marketing by camp administrators.[54] To make matters worse, incarceree and JACL leader Fred Tayama was beaten by six masked men. Harry Ueno, the leader of the Kitchen Workers Union, was suspected of involvement and was arrested and removed from Manzanar.[67] Soon after, 3,000 to 4,000 incarcerees gathered and marched to the administration area, protesting Ueno's arrest. After Ueno's supporters negotiated with the camp administration, he was returned to the Manzanar jail.[67] A crowd of several hundred returned to protest, and when the people surged forward, military police threw tear gas to disperse them. As people ran to avoid the tear gas, some in the crowd pushed a driverless truck toward the jail. At that moment, the military police fired into the crowd, killing a 17-year–old boy instantly. A 21-year–old man who was shot in the abdomen died days later. Nine other prisoners were wounded, and a military police corporal was wounded by a ricocheting bullet.[54][68]

Monument at Manzanar cemetery, 2002

Closure[edit]

On November 21, 1945, the WRA closed Manzanar, the sixth camp to be closed. Although the incarcerees had been brought to the Owens Valley by the United States Government, they had to leave the camp and travel to their next destinations on their own.[67][69] The WRA gave each person $25 ($329 today), one-way train or bus fare, and meals to those who had less than $600 ($7,887 today).[69] While many left the camp voluntarily, a significant number refused to leave because they had no place to go after having lost everything when they were forcibly uprooted and removed from their homes. As such, they had to be forcibly removed once again, this time from Manzanar. Indeed, those who refused to leave were generally removed from their barracks, sometimes by force, even if they had no place to go.[69]

146 incarcerees died at Manzanar.[70] Fifteen incarcerees were buried there, but only five graves remain, as most were later reburied elsewhere by their families.[71]

The Manzanar cemetery site is marked by a monument that was built by incarceree stonemason Ryozo Kado in 1943.[72] An inscription in Japanese on the front of the monument reads, 慰靈塔 (Soul Consoling Tower).[70] The inscription on the back reads "Erected by the Manzanar Japanese" on the left, and "August 1943" on the right.[70] Today, the monument is often draped in strings of origami, and sometimes survivors and other visitors leave offerings of personal items as mementos. The National Park Service periodically collects and catalogues such items.

After the camp was closed, the site eventually returned to its original state. Within a couple of years, all the structures had been removed, with the exception of the two sentry posts at the entrance, the cemetery monument, and the former Manzanar High School auditorium, which was purchased by the County of Inyo. The County leased the auditorium to the Independence Veterans of Foreign Wars, who used it as a meeting facility and community theater until 1951. After that, the building was used as a maintenance facility by the Inyo County Road Department.[67][73]

As of 2007, the site also retains numerous building foundations, portions of the water and sewer systems, the outline of the road grid, remains of the landscaping constructed by incarcerees, and much more.[73] Despite four years of use by the incarcerees, the site also retains evidence of the ranches and of the town of Manzanar, as well as artifacts from the days of the Owens Valley Paiute settlement.[2][74]

Tinemaha Reservoir/ Wildlife Overlook 37°03′29″N118°13′30″W 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinemaha_Reservoir

http://www.thesierraweb.com/recreation/tinemaha.cfm

Directions: http://esaudubon.org/hot_spots/tinemaha.php 

Tinemaha Reservoir is a reservoir created by a dam on the Owens River in the Owens Valley. It is located in Inyo County, eastern California.

It is part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct system, operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Directions:

The access road to the Wildlife Overlook at Tinemaha goes off US 395 about 9 miles south of Big Pine. Most of the Reservoir can be scanned from the overlook. You can also walk out along the long earthen dam; park in the designated spot near the damkeeper's house. From the same area you can explore the riparian habitat along the Owens River below the dam.

Look for Tule Elk in the fields west of the Reservoir on both sides of US 395, especially in winter.

After visiting Tinemaha, you might like to go on to Warren and Klondike Lakes, north of Big Pine.

(DeLorme No. CA map, p. 124, D1.)

map to Tinemaha Reservoir

Part of LA aqueduct system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aqueduct 

The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.[6] The Owens Valley aqueduct was designed and built by the city's water department, at the time named The Bureau of Los Angeles Aqueduct, under the supervision of the department's Chief Engineer William Mulholland.[7] The system delivers water from the Owens River in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains to Los Angeles, California. In 1971 it was recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers on the List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.

Its construction was controversial from the start, as it is alleged that water diversions to Los Angeles all but ended agriculture in the Owens Valley. Since then its continued operation has led to public debate, legislation and court battles over the environmental impacts of the aqueduct on Mono Lake and other ecosystems.

Construction[edit]

The aqueduct project began in 1905 when the people of Los Angeles approved a US$1.5 million bond for the 'purchase of lands and water and the inauguration of work on the aqueduct'. On June 12, 1907 a second bond was passed with a budget of US$24.5 million to fund construction.[8][9]

Construction began in 1908 and was divided up into 11 divisions and a cement plant. The number of men who were on the payroll the first year was 2,629 and peaked at 6,060 in May 1909. In 1910 employment dropped to 1,150 due to financial reasons but rebounded later in the year. Between 1911 and 1912 employment ranged from 2,800 to 3,800 workers. The number of actual laborers working on the aqueduct, at its peak, was 3,900.[10][11][12][13] In 1913 the City of Los Angeles completed construction of the first Los Angeles Aqueduct.

The aqueduct as originally constructed consisted of six storage reservoirs and 215 mi (346 km) of conduit. Beginning three and one half miles north of Black Rock Springs, the aqueduct diverts the Owens River into an unlined canal to begin its 233 mi (375 km) journey south to the Lower San Fernando Reservoir.[14] This reservoir was later renamed the Lower Van Norman Reservoir.

The original project consisted of 24 mi (39 km) of open unlined canal, 37 mi (60 km) of lined open canal, 97 mi (156 km) of covered concrete conduit, 43 mi (69 km) of concrete tunnels, 12.00 mi (19.31 km) steel siphons, 120 mi (190 km) of railroad track, two hydroelectric plants, three cement plants, 170 mi (270 km) of power lines, 240 mi (390 km) of telephone line, 500 mi (800 km) of roads[15] and was later expanded with the construction of the Mono Extension and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct.[16]

The aqueduct uses gravity alone to move the water and also uses the water to generate electricity, which makes it cost-efficient to operate.[17] The aqueduct system has been operated safely throughout its history and is still in operation.

The construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct effectively eliminated the Owens Valley as a viable farming community and eventually devastated the Owens Lakeecosystem.[18] A group known as the "San Fernando Syndicate" – including Fred Eaton, Mulholland, Harrison Otis (the publisher of The Los Angeles Times), local developerHenry Huntington and a group of wealthy businessmen – were a group of investors who bought land in the San Fernando Valley based on inside knowledge that the Los Angeles aqueduct would soon irrigate it.{Piper 2006} Although there is disagreement over the actions of the “syndicate” as to whether they were a "diabolical" cabal or only a group that united the Los Angeles business community behind supporting the aqueduct,[19][20] Eaton, Mulholland and others connected with the project have long been accused of using deceptive tactics and underhanded methods to obtain water rights and block the Bureau of Reclamation from building water infrastructure for the residents in Owens Valley.[21] By the 1920s, the aggressive pursuits of the water rights and the diversion of the Owens River precipitated the outbreak of violence known as theCalifornia Water Wars. Farmers in Owens Valley attacked infrastructure, dynamiting the aqueduct numerous times and opening sluice gates to divert the flow of water.

The aqueduct's water provided developers with the resources to quickly develop the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles through World War II. Mulholland's role in the vision and completion of the aqueduct and the growth of Los Angeles into a large metropolis is recognized and well-documented. The William Mulholland Memorial Fountain, built in 1940 and located at Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Blvd. in Los Feliz is dedicated to his memory and contributions. Mulholland Drive and Mulholland Dam are named for him as well.

Mono Basin Extension[edit]

In an 8-0-8047-5380-7}}</ref> The 105 mile (169 km) extension diverted flows from the Rush Creek, Lee Vining Creek, Walker and Parker Creeks that would have flowed into Mono Lake. The construction of the Mono extension consisted of an intake at Lee Vining Creek, the Lee Vining conduit to the Grant Reservoir on Rush Creek, which would have a capacity of 48,000 acre·ft (59,000,000 m3), the 12.7 mile (20.44 km) Mono Craters Tunnel to the Owens River and a second reservoir, later named Crowley Lake with a capacity of 183,465 acre·ft (226,301,000 m3) in Long Valley at the head of the Owens River Gorge.[22]

Completed in 1940, diversions began in 1941. The Mono Extension has a design capacity of 400 cu ft/s (11,000 L/s) of flow to the aqueduct[23] however the flow was limited to 123 cu ft/s (3,500 L/s) due to the limited downstream capacity of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Full appropriation of the water could not be met until the second aqueduct was completed in 1970.[22]

The Mono Extensions Impact on Mono Basin and Litigation[edit]

Between 1940 and 1970, water exports through the Mono Extension averaged 57,067 acre-feet per year (afy) and peaked at 135,000 af in 1974. Export licenses granted by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in 1974 increased exports to 167,000 afy.[22] These export levels severely impacted the region's fish habitat, lake level and air quality, which led to a series of lawsuits.[24] The results of the litigation culminated with a SWRCB Decision to restore fishery protection (stream) flows to specified minimums, and raise Mono Lake to 6,391 feet above sea level. The agreement limited further exports from the Mono Basin to 10,000 afy.[25]

Second Los Angeles Aqueduct[edit]

In 1956 the State Department of Water Resources reported that Los Angeles was only exporting 320,000 acre feet (390,000,000 m3) of water of the 590,000 acre feet (730,000,000 m3) available in the Owens Valley and Mono Basin. Three years later, the State Water Rights Board warned Los Angeles that they could lose rights to the water they were permitted for but not appropriating.

Faced with the possible loss of future water supply, Los Angeles began the five-year construction of the aqueduct in 1965 at a cost US$89 million.[5] Once the city received diversion permits, water exports jumped in 1970, adding 110,000 AF that year into the aqueduct system. By 1974, exports climbed to 450,000 AFY.[22]

The 137 mi (220 km) long aqueduct was designed to flow 290 cu ft/s (8,200 L/s) and begins at the Merritt Diversion Structure at the junction of the North and South Haiwee Reservoirs,[4] south of Owens Lake, and runs roughly parallel to the first aqueduct. Water flows entirely by gravity from an elevation of 3,760 ft (1,150 m) at the Haiwee Reservoir through two power drops to an elevation of 1,200 ft (370 m) at the Upper Van Norman Reservoir.[26]

The Second Aqueduct was not built as a single contiguous conduit. For design and construction purposes the aqueduct was divided into a Northern and Southern sections and the two are connected by the San Francisquito Tunnels, which are part of the First Aqueduct.

The Northern Section carries water starting at the North Haiwee Reservoir through the Haiwee Bypass passing around the South Haiwee Reservoir. The flow then continues 115 mi (185 km) south through a series of pressure pipelines and concrete conduits where it connects up with the First Aqueduct at the North Portal of the Elizabeth Tunnel near the Fairmont Reservoir.[27]

The San Francisquito Tunnels (which includes the Elizabeth Tunnel) has a flow capacity of 1,000 cu ft/s (28,000 L/s)[27] and is large enough handle the flow of both aqueducts. Once the combined flow reaches the penstocks above Power Plant #2, water is diverted into the Southern Section of the second aqueduct away through the Drinkwater Tunnel to the Drinkwater Reservoir.

The last segment of pipe, known as the Saugus Pipeline,[28] carries water south past Bouquet Canyon, Soledad Canyon and Placerita Canyon. From there it roughly parallels Sierra Hwy before it enters Magazine Canyon towards the Terminal structure and Cascades. Water from the Terminal structure can then flow to either the Cascade or penstock to the Foothill Power Plant and into the Upper Van Norman Reservoir.

In addition to the construction in the Northern and Southern sections, improvements were also made to the lined canal between the Alabama Gates and the North Haiwee Reservoir in the Northern Section that consisted of adding 24 in (610 mm) sidewalls to both sides of the canal and the raising of overcrosses. This work increased the capacity of the lined canal from 710 cu ft/s (20,000 L/s) to 900 cu ft/s (25,000 L/s) cfs.[29]

The Second Aqueduct's Impact on the Water System[edit]

The increased flows provided by the second aqueduct was short lived, however, lasting only from 1971 through 1988.[30] In 1974 the environmental consequences of the higher exports were first being recognized in the Mono Basin and Owens Valley. This was followed by a series of court ordered restrictions imposed on water exports, which resulted in Los Angeles losing water.[22] In 2005, the Los Angeles Urban Water Management Report reported that forty to fifty percent of the aqueduct's historical supply is now devoted to ecological resources in Mono and Inyo counties.[31][32]

Aqueduct's Influence on Los Angeles and the County[edit]

Between 1909 and 1928 the city of Los Angeles grew from 61 square miles to 440 square miles. This was due largely to the aqueduct, and the city's charter was worded such that it stated the City of Los Angeles could not sell or provide surplus water to any area outside the city. [33][34][35] Outlying areas relied on wells and creeks for water and, as they dried up, the people in those areas realized that if they were going to be able to continue irrigating their farms and provide themselves domestic water, they would have to annex themselves to the City of Los Angeles.[33]

Growth was so rapid that it appeared as if the city of Los Angeles would eventually assume the size of the entire county. William Mulholland continued adding capacity to the aqueduct, building the Saint Francis Dam that would impound the waters creating the San Francisquito Reservoir, filed for additional water on the Colorado River and he began sending engineers and miners to clear the heading at the San Jacinto Tunnel that he knew was key to the construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct.[36][37]

Many more cities and unincorporated areas would likely have annexed into the city of Los Angeles if the St. Francis Dam had not collapsed. The catastrophic failure of the St. Francis Dam in 1928 killed up to 600 people, flooded parts of present-day Santa Clarita, Valencia, Newhall and devastated much of the Santa Clara River Valley in Ventura County.[33][38]

The failure of the dam raised the question in a number of people's minds whether the city had engineering competence and capability to manage such a large (Colorado River Aqueduct) project despite the fact that they had built the (Los Angeles) aqueduct.[33] After the collapse, the pace of annexation came to a rapid halt when eleven surrounding cities including Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, Beverly Hills, San Marino, Santa Monica, Anaheim, Colton, Santa Ana, and San Bernardino decided to form the Metropolitan Water District with Los Angeles.[39] The city's growth following the formation of the MWD would be limited to a mere 27.65 square miles.[38][40]

Devils Postpile National Monument chyba sie nie uda... $10 od auta  37°37′28″N 119°5′4″W

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Postpile_National_Monument

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Postpile_National_Monument

Q: WHEN DOES DEVILS POSTPILE OPEN AND CLOSE FOR THE SUMMER SEASON?

A: The Monument's opening and closing dates vary every year. In the last couple of years, the Sierra Nevada has experienced a rather large amount of snowfall and as such, the Monument has not been able to open until the end of June. Although we try to stay open through Columbus Day Weekend, the road into the Monument will close for the season anytime after October 15th if snowfall occurs.

Devils Postpile National Monument is located near Mammoth Mountain in extreme northeastern Madera County in eastern California. The national monument protects Devil's Postpile, an unusual rock formation ofcolumnar basalt. Devils Postpile National Monument encompasses 798 acres (323 ha) and includes two main tourist attractions: the Devil's Postpile formation and Rainbow Falls, a waterfall on the Middle Fork of theSan Joaquin River. In addition, the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail merge into one trail as they pass through the monument.[3] Excluding a small developed area containing the monument headquarters, visitor center and a campground; the National Monument lies within the borders of the Ansel Adams Wilderness.[4]

History[edit]

It was created in 1911 as Devil Postpile National Monument,[5] and has long been widely referred to as Devil's Postpile National Monument;[6] but it has been officially styled as plural without the apostrophe since the 1930s. The monument was once part of Yosemite National Park, but discovery of gold in 1905 near Mammoth Lakes prompted a boundary change that left the Postpile on adjacent public land.[7] Later, a proposal to build a hydroelectric dam called for blasting the Postpile into the river. Influential Californians, including John Muir, persuaded the federal government to stop the demolition and, in 1911, President William Howard Taftprotected the area as a National Monument.[7]

Flora and fauna[edit]

The flora and fauna at Devils Postpile are typical of the Sierra Nevada.[8] The monument contains animals and plants such as black bears, pine martens, mule deer, coyotes,[9] quaking aspen, black cottonwood, alder, and willows,[10] as well as many wildflowers, such as cinquefoil and alpine shooting star.[11] Dark-eyed juncos and white-crowned sparrows are common in the summer.[11]

Devil's Postpile[edit]

The tops of the postpile columns are accessible to visitors. The shapes of the columns are seen clearly here.

The name "Devil's Postpile" refers to a dark cliff of columnar basalt. Radiometric dating indicates the formation was created by a lava flow at some time less than 100,000 years ago.[12] The source of the lava is thought to have been somewhere near Upper Soda Springs campground at the north end of Pumice Flat on the floor of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, from where it flowed to the site of the Postpile. Estimates of the formations thickness range from 400 feet (120 m) to 600 feet (180 m). The lava that now makes up the Postpile was near the bottom of this mass.[12]

Because of its great thickness, much of the mass of pooled lava cooled slowly and evenly, which is why the columns are so long and so symmetrical. Columnar jointing occurs when certain types of lava contract while cooling.

A glacier later removed much of this mass of rock and left a polished surface on top of the columns with very noticeable glacial striations and glacial polish.[12]

The Postpile's columns average 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter, the largest being 3.5 feet (1.1 m), and many are up to 60 feet (18 m) long. Together they look like tall posts stacked in a pile, hence the feature's name. If the lava had cooled perfectly evenly, all of the columns would be expected to be hexagonal, but some of the columns have different polygonal cross-sections due to variations in cooling. A survey of 400 of the Postpile's columns found that 44.5% were 6-sided, 37.5% 5-sided, 9.5% 4-sided, 8.0% 7-sided, and 0.5% 3-sided.[12] Compared with other examples of columnar jointing, the Postpile has more hexagonal columns. Another feature that places the Postpile in a special category is the lack of horizontal jointing.

Zeby wjechać własnym autem: Vehicles arriving before 7:00am or after 7:00pm or any other time when the shuttle buses are not operating.

MONO LAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 38°01′00″N119°00′34″W 

Jak zapomnimy, to…

Mono Basin National Scenic Area

The Mono Basin National Scenic Area is a protected area in Eastern California that surrounds Mono Lake and the northern half of the Mono Craters volcanic field. It is administered by the Inyo National Forest as a unit of the National Forest Scenic Area program, under the U.S. Forest Service.

Mono Basin became the first National Scenic Area in the United States in 1984.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Basin_National_Scenic_Area 

Long Valley Caldera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Valley_Caldera 

Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the earth's largest calderas, measuring about 20 mi (32 km) long (east-west) and 11 mi (18 km) wide (north-south), and up to 3,000 ft (910 m) deep.

Long Valley was formed 760,000 years ago when a huge volcanic eruption released very hot ash that later cooled to form the Bishop tuff that is common to the area. The eruption was so colossal that the magma chamber under the now-destroyed volcano was emptied to the point of collapse. The collapse caused a larger secondary eruption of pyroclastic ash that burned and buried thousands of square miles. Ash from this eruption blanketed much of the western part of what is now the United States.

The caldera is a giant bowl-shaped depression, approximately 20 miles (32 km) wide, surrounded by mountains, but open to the southeast. The elevation of the bottom of the bowl ranges from 6,500 to 8,500 ft (2,000 to 2,600 m), being higher in the west.[2]

Map of the Long Valley Caldera

Near the center of the bowl, there is a resurgent dome formed by magmatic uplift. The southeastern slope from the caldera down towards Bishop, California is filled with the Bishop Tuff, solidified ash that was ejected during the stupendous eruption that created the caldera. The Bishop tuff is thousands of feet thick and is cut by the Owens River Gorge, formed during the Pleistocene when the caldera filled with water and overtopped its rim.

The rim of the caldera is formed from pre-existing rock, rising about 3,000 ft (910 m) above the caldera floor.[2]However, the eastern rim is less high, only about 500 ft (150 m).[2]

Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex in the southwestern corner of the caldera, consisting of about 12rhyodacite and dacite overlapping domes.[2][3] These domes formed in a long series of eruptions from 110,000 to 57,000 years ago, building a volcano that reaches 11,059 feet (3,371 m) in elevation.[4]

The Mono–Inyo Craters are a 25 mi (40 km)-long volcanic chain situated along a narrow, north–south-trending fissure system extending along the western rim of the caldera from Mammoth Mountain to the north shore of Mono Lake.[5] The Mono-Inyo Craters erupted from 40,000 to 600 years ago, from a magma source separate from the Long Valley Caldera.[6]

The caldera has an extensive hydrothermal system. Casa Diablo Hot Springs at the base of the resurgent dome hosts a geothermal power plant. Hot Creekcuts into part of the resurgent dome and passes through hot springs. The warm water of Hot Creek supports many trout, and is used at the Hot Creek Fish Hatchery.[7] The creek was closed to swimming in 2006 after geothermal activity in the area increased, and was still closed as of 2012.[7][8] There are a number of other hot springs in the area, some of which are open to bathers.

Recent activity[edit]

In May 1980, a strong earthquake swarm that included four Richter magnitude 6 earthquakes struck the southern margin of Long Valley Caldera associated with a 10 in (25 cm), dome-shaped uplift of the caldera floor.[13][14] These events marked the onset of the latest period of caldera unrest that continues to this day.[13] This ongoing unrest includes recurring earthquake swarms and continued dome-shaped uplift of the central section of the caldera (the resurgent dome) accompanied by changes in thermal springs and gas emissions.[13] After the quake another road was created as an escape route. Its name at first was proposed as the "Mammoth Escape Route" but was changed to the Mammoth Scenic Loop after Mammoth area businesses and land owners complained.

In 1982, the United States Geological Survey under the Volcano Hazards Program began an intensive effort to monitor and study geologic unrest in Long Valley Caldera.[13] The goal of this effort is to provide residents and civil authorities in the area reliable information on the nature of the potential hazards posed by this unrest and timely warning of an impending volcanic eruption, should it develop.[13] Most, perhaps all, volcanic eruptions are preceded and accompanied by geophysical and geochemical changes in the volcanic system.[13] Common precursory indicators of volcanic activity include increased seismicity, ground deformation, and variations in the nature and rate of gas emissions.[13]

Hydrothermal system

The Long Valley Caldera hosts an active hydrothermal system that includes hot springs, fumaroles (steam vents), andmineral deposits. Hot springs exist primarily in the eastern half of the caldera where land-surface elevations are relatively low; fumaroles exist primarily in the western half where elevations are higher. Mineral deposits from thermal activity are found on an uplifted area called the resurgent dome, at Little Hot Creek springs, Hot Creek Gorge, and other locations in the south and east moats of the caldera.[15]

Hot springs discharge primarily in Hot Creek Gorge, along Little Hot Creek, and in the Alkali Lakes area. The largest springs are in Hot Creek Gorge where about 250 l (66 US gal) per second of thermal water discharge and account for about 80% of the total thermal water discharge in the caldera. At the other extreme are springs at Hot Creek Fish Hatchery which contain a small component (2–5%) of thermal water that raises water temperatures about 5 °C (9.0 °F) higher than background temperatures. Use of the warm spring water in the hatchery has increased fish production because trout growth rates are faster in the warm water than in ambient stream temperatures in Long Valley.[15]

Hot Creek Geologic Site  http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/long_valley/long_valley_sub_page_25.html

Coordinates: 37°39.620' N, 118°49.661' W

Approximate Elevation: 7,093 ft (2,162 m)

The beautiful blue pools and impressive boiling fountains along Hot Creek have provided enjoyment to generations of visitors, but they have also been the cause of injury or death to some who have disregarded warnings and fences. The springs and geysers in the stream bed and along its banks change location, temperature, and flow rates frequently and unpredictably. Fences that previously protected the public now run through active hot pools. The fences and new pools emphasize how this geologically active area has been changing in our lifetime. The thermalaquifer that supplies the hot water to Hot Creek flows eastward from the West Moat. The hot springs and geysers of Hot Creek are visible signs of dynamic geologic processes in this volcanic region.

Mammoth Creek, which flows through the town of Mammoth Lakes, changes its name to Hot Creek in Hot Creek Gorge where it intersects a series of faults that provide pathways to the surface for heated (geothermal) water flowing in an aquifer several hundred feet beneath the surface. Numerous older white (travertine) deposits surround extinct hot springs at higher levels along the gorge floor.

Thermal springs issue from the stream banks all along Hot Creek Gorge, but the largest and hottest springs are localized on two north-trending earthquakefaults. The boiling pools in the gorge (93°C, 199°F at this elevation) commonly change in vigor and configuration in response to local earthquakes. They are also significantly affected by small and seasonal changes in the water level of Hot Creek. Travertine (white calcium carbonate deposits) lines the pools.

Presumably magma beneath the Long ValleyCaldera is the heat source for the hot springs,fumaroles, and areas of active hydrothermal alteration. The residual magma beneath the Resurgent Dome is unlikely to erupt in its current state after cooling for hundreds of thousands of years.

Mono-Inyo Craters 37°52′40″N 119°0′25″W (Crater Mountain)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono%E2%80%93Inyo_Craters 

http://www.greeneadventures.com/2011/07/13/exploring-mammoth-obsidian-dome/ 

Fajna mapka + visitor center: http://www.monolake.org/visit/vc 

The Mono–Inyo Craters are a volcanic chain of craters, domes and lava flows in Mono County, Eastern California, United States. The chain stretches 25 miles (40 km) from the northwest shore of Mono Lake to the south of Mammoth Mountain.

TheMono Lake Volcanic Field forms the northernmost part of the chain and consists of two volcanic islands in the lake and onecinder cone volcano on its northwest shore. Most of the Mono Craters, which make up the bulk of the northern part of the Mono–Inyo chain, are phreatic (steam explosion) volcanoes that have since been either plugged or over-topped by rhyolitedomes and lava flows.

The Inyo Craters form much of the southern part of the chain and consist of phreatic explosion pits, and rhyolitic lava flows and domes. The southernmost part of the chain consists of fumaroles and explosion pits on Mammoth Mountain and a set of cinder cones south of the mountain; the latter are called the Red Cones.

Eruptions along the narrow fissure system under the chain began in the west moat of Long Valley Caldera 400,000 to 60,000 years ago. Mammoth Mountain was formed during this period. Multiple eruptions from 40,000 to 600 years ago created the Mono Craters and eruptions 5,000 to 500 years ago formed the Inyo Craters. Lava flows 5,000 years ago built the Red Cones, and explosion pits on Mammoth Mountain were excavated in the last 1,000 years.

Uplift of Paoha Island in Mono Lake about 250 years ago is the most recent activity. These eruptions most likely originated from small magma bodies rather than from a single, large magma chamber like the one that produced the massive Long Valley Caldera eruption 760,000 years ago. During the past 3,000 years, eruptions have occurred every 250 to 700 years. In 1980, a series of earthquakes and uplift within and south of Long Valley Caldera indicated renewed activity in the area.

The region has been used by humans for centuries. Obsidian was collected by Mono Paiutes for making sharp tools and arrow points. Glassy rock continues to be removed in modern times for use as commercial scour and yard decoration. Mono Millsprocessed timber felled on or near the volcanoes for the nearby boomtown Bodie in the late 19th to early 20th centuries.

Water diversions into the Los Angeles Aqueduct system from their natural outlets in Mono Lake started in 1941 after a water tunnel was cut under the Mono Craters. Mono Lake Volcanic Field and a large part of the Mono Craters gained some protection under Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area in 1984. Resource use along all of the chain is managed by the United States Forest Serviceas part of Inyo National Forest. Various activities are possible along the chain, including hiking, bird watching, canoeing, skiing, and mountain biking.

Setting[edit]

The Mono–Inyo Craters form a volcanic chain in Eastern California that sit along a narrow, north–south-trending fissure system that extends from the north shore of Mono Lake, through the western moat of Long Valley Caldera, and south of Mammoth Mountain.[8] The chain is located in Inyo National Forest and Mono County, California, and the nearest incorporated community is Mammoth Lakes, California. The Mono Craters are located in Mono Basin, itself part of the Great Basin.

Mono Craters[edit]

The Mono Craters are a 10.5-mile (17 km) chain of at least 27 volcanic domes, three large glass flows called coulees and various explosion pits and other associated volcanic features.[9] The domes of the chain lie on a roughly north–south-trending arc that is concave to the west and located south of Mono Lake. The highest of the Mono Craters domes is Crater Mountain (elevation 9,172 feet or 2,796 m), which rises 2,400 feet (730 m) above Pumice Valley to the west.[10] Associated volcanic features are located in Mono Lake (Paoha and Negit Islands) and on its north shore (Black Point). The coulees cluster north and south of the overlapping chain of domes. Craters exist at the top of most domes and on flat land south of them.

Inyo Craters[edit]

The two southernmost Inyo Craters are open pits in a forested area that are about 600 feet (180 m) across and 100 to 200 feet (30 to 60 m) deep, each with small ponds covering their floors.[11] A quarter mile (half kilometer) north of these is another Inyo Craters explosion pit on top of Deer Mountain. Farther north of these craters are five lava domes, including Deadman Creek Dome, Glass Creek Dome, Obsidian Dome, and Wilson Butte. These domes are composed of gray rhyolite, frothy pumice, and black obsidian. The Mono–Inyo Craters volcanic chain extends into Long Valley Caldera but is not related to the caldera's volcanism.[10]

Red Cones[edit]

South of the Inyo Craters proper are other features related to the dike system responsible for creating the craters, volcanoes and lava flows. These include a north–south trend of fault scarps up to 20 feet (6 m) high and pull-apart cracks or fissures in the earth.[12] These fissures are not technically faults because little or no vertical or horizontal movement has occurred along them.[13] Most notable among these is "Earthquake Fault", a fissure up to 10 feet (3 m) wide that cuts 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 m) into glassy rhyolite lava flows. The fissure was formed by stretching induced by the intrusion of the Inyo dike.[12] Stairs to the bottom of the fissure were removed after being damaged by earthquakes in 1980.[12] Several Mono–Inyo-related explosion pits are on Mammoth Mountain.[2] The Red Cones, south of Mammoth Mountain, are basaltic cinder cones and are the southernmost part of the Mono–Inyo Craters volcanic chain.[2][14]

Effects[edit]

Map of California with concentric rings centered on the central eastern edge of the state. Reno, Sacramento and Fresno are in the largest circle.

Potential thickness of tephra on the ground from eruptions of less than 0.25 cubic miles (1 km3)

A wide range of effects are expected from future eruptions along the Mono–Inyo Craters. Ash and rock fragments (tephra) may accumulate to a thickness of 33 feet (10 m) near an erupting Mono–Inyo vent.[78] Downwind accumulations of tephra may exceed 7.9 inches (20 cm) at a distance of 22 miles (35 km) and 2.0 inches (5 cm) at 53 miles (85 km).[79] Winds in the area tend to blow toward an east or northeasterly direction more than 50 percent of the time, and toward any easterly direction more than 80 percent of the time.[79] Grain size and thickness of tephra generally decreases gradually with distance from a vent. Volcanic ash will likely contaminate air routes east of the vent.[78]

Severe damage from super-heated flows of gas, ash and pulverized rock (pyroclastic flows and surges) may occur at least 9.3 miles (15 km) from an explosive eruption.[79] The amount of damage depends on vent location, topography, and volume of magma erupted. Pyroclastic flows from vents on Mammoth Mountain or other high vent could travel farther by gaining extra momentum from their descent. Valleys along the route will be more impacted than ridges but flows and surges could overtop some ridges. Eruptions near snowpacks may produce lahars of mud and ash that devastate valleys and watersheds. Steam blast eruptions under a lake could form large waves capable of flooding nearby areas and starting mudflows.[80]

Basalt lava flows may extend more than 31 miles (50 km) from their vent.[81] Dacite and rhyolite lavas produce short, thick flows that rarely extend more than 3.1 miles (5 km) from their vent.[81] Mound-shaped features called lava domes are often created from these flows. Rock fragments thrown from a growing lava dome may reach 3.1 to 6.2 miles (5 to 10 km) from the dome.[78] A partial collapse of the steep-sided growing dome can send pyroclastic flows outward at least 3.1 miles (5 km).[78]Taller domes tend to form larger pyroclastic flows that travel farther.

Panum Crater  37°55′47″N 119°02′41″W

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panum_Crater   http://www.monolake.org/visit/panum 

Panum Crater and the Mono Craters should not be missed by anyone interested in geology.

These spectacular young volcanoes look ready to erupt at any moment. The craters range in age from 600 to 40,000 years old. Most accessible is Panum Crater, the northernmost and youngest of the chain. It is a classic example of the rhyolitic eruptions that occur in this area. The top of the ring is circumnavigable by way of the Rim Trail, a longer trail in soft sand. There is also a shorter trail that climbs to the top of the plug dome which offers spectacular vistas of the Sierra Nevada and the entire Mono Basin. There is little shade, so be sure to bring water and sunscreen. During the summer, there are naturalist guided tours that last about an hour and a half. Check the schedule for details. Panum is reached via a short dirt road, off Highway 120 east about three miles east of Highway 395.

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Panum Crater is a volcanic cone that is part of the Mono-Inyo Craters, a chain of recent volcanic cones south of Mono Lake and east of the Sierra Nevada, in California, USA. Panum Crater is between 600 and 700 years old, and it exhibits all of the characteristics of the textbook rhyolitic lava dome.

Rhyolitic volcanoes are characterized by having large amounts of silica (quartz) in their lava. The content of silica at Panum is about 76 percent. It makes the lava very viscous, or thick, and very glassy. Products of this rhyolitic eruption are pumice andobsidian, the volcanic glass that Native Americans used to make arrow points and scrapers.[6]

Panum Crater formed in a sequence of events. The first event was caused by magma rising from deep within the Earth's crust. When this extremely hot, liquid rock made contact with water just below the surface, the water expanded into steam and a large, violent eruption occurred. The material that was thrown into the air by the steam, mainly old lake bottom sediments, was deposited around the new vent in little mounds.[4] So much debris was blown out that a gaping crater was left behind.[6]

Once this debris was blown out, a fountain of cinders shot up a great distance into the sky. As this huge amount of ash and pumice began to fall back towards the earth, it formed a pumice ring, or cinder cone, about the original vent. This cinder cone is still visible today.[6]

Following the violent eruptions of the first two phases, the remainder of the thick magma slowly rose to the surface in a series of domes. Each dome began with an outpouring of the viscous, rhyolitic lava which hardened and formed a cap over the vent. As magma continued to push up, the cap (or dome) shattered and fell to the outside of the newly formed dome. This happened so many times that a new mountain was created out of these broken pieces, called crumble breccia. The mountain continued to build in this manner until the force within the volcano weakened and no more new domes formed. The final one still stands today.[6]

As the final dome hardened, a period of spire building began. Thick lava pushed up through cracks of the hardening dome and formed castle-like spires. If you can imagine toothpaste squeezing through the opening of a tube and forming a small tower before it topples over, you can imagine how these spires form. Most of the spires at Panum fell over and broke because of their rapid cooling and because of many small explosions at their bases. Most of the rocky debris you see at the top of the dome is the remains of spires that have crumbled.[6]

The central lava dome was erupted from degassed material and is made up of pumice and obsidian of the same composition. The difference between the two has to do with gas escaping as the magma cooled. The magma that created the dome had dissolved gas in it, like a bottle of seltzer water. As the magma rose towards the surface where there was less pressure on it than at depth, the gas expanded producing the holes (bubbles) you see in the pumice. The magma that remained pressurized while it cooled quickly or that had already lost its gas, formed the obsidian.[4]

Flow banding containing both obsidian and pumice is common at Panum Crater. Another common texture, called breadcrust, can also be seen in the dome. Breadcrust textures form when the inside of a cooling rock is still hot with gas escaping from it while the outside surface has already cooled. As the gas expands from the inside, the outside surface cracks to allow the gas to escape.[4]

Mono Lake   [broszura PDF]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake 

http://www.monolake.org/visit/  broszura: http://www.monolake.org/visit/brochurenathistenglish.pdf 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake_Tufa_State_Natural_Reserve 37°56′43″N 119°2′8″W

nowe słowo: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limnologia 

http://www.gigapano.net/pano/mono-lake/index_pl.html 

Visitor Center

The Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center is a great place to start your visit to this area. The center is located just off Highway 395, north of Lee Vining and includes a variety of exhibits about the natural and human history of the Mono Basin. Visitor center staff stand ready to help you plan your explorations of Mono Lake and the Eastern Sierra. The Visitor Center is closed Dec. 1 - March 31.

Mono Lake (/ˈmoʊnoʊ/ moh-noh) is a large, shallow saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake. These salts also make the lake water alkaline.

This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp that thrive in its waters, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and blackflies (that also feed on the shrimp).[2][3]

The human history of Mono Lake is associated with its productive ecosystem. The native Kutzadika'a people derived nutrition from the pupae of the alkali flies that live in the lake. When the city of Los Angeles diverted water from the lake, it lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. The Mono Lake Committee formed in response and won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level.

Mono Lake occupies part of the Mono Basin, an endorheic basin that has no outlet to the ocean. Dissolved salts in the runoff thus remain in the lake and raise the water's pH levels and salt concentration. The tributaries of Mono Lake include Lee Vining Creek, Rush Creekand Mill Creek which flows through Lundy Canyon.[4]

The basin was formed by geological forces over the last five million years: basin and rangecrustal stretching and associated volcanism and faulting at the base of the Sierra Nevada.[5]Five million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was an eroded set of rolling hills and Mono Basin and Owens Valley did not yet exist.

From 4.5 to 2.6 million years ago, large volumes of basalt were extruded around what is now Cowtrack Mountain (east and south of Mono Basin); eventually covering 300 square miles (780 km2) and reaching a maximum thickness of 600 feet (180 m).[5] Later volcanism in the area occurred 3.8 million to 250,000 years ago.[6] This activity was northwest of Mono Basin and included the formation of Aurora Crater, Beauty Peak, Cedar Hill (later an island in the highest stands of Mono Lake), and Mount Hicks.

Mono Lake is believed to have formed at least 760,000 years ago, dating back to the Long Valley eruption. Sediments located below the ash layer hint that Mono Lake could be a remnant of a larger and older lake that once covered a large part of Nevada and Utah, which would put it among the oldest lakes in North America. At its height during the most recent ice age, the lake would have been about 900 feet (270 m) deep.[7] Prominent old shore lines, called strandlines by geologists, can be seen west of the Lake.[8]

Currently, Mono Lake is in a geologically active area at the north end of the Mono–Inyo Craters volcanic chain and is close to Long Valley Caldera. Volcanic activity continues in the Mono Lake vicinity: the most recent eruption occurred 350 years ago, resulting in the formation of Paoha Island. Panum Crater (on the south shore of the lake) is an excellent example of a combined rhyolite dome and cinder cone.

Limnology[edit]

Mono Lake's "South Tufa" area

The limnology of the lake shows it contains approximately 280 million tons of dissolved salts, with the salinity varying depending upon the amount of water in the lake at any given time. Before 1941, average salinity was approximately 50 grams per liter (g/l) (compared to a value of 31.5 g/l for the world's oceans). In January 1982, when the lake reached its lowest level of 6,372 feet (1,942 m), the salinity had nearly doubled to 99 g/l. In 2002, it was measured at 78 g/l and is expected to stabilize at an average 69 g/l as the lake replenishes over the next 20 years.[9]

An unintended consequence of ending the water diversions was the onset of a period of "meromixis" in Mono Lake.[10] In the time prior to this, Mono Lake was typically "monomictic"; which means that at least once each year the deeper waters and the shallower waters of the lake mixed thoroughly, thus bringing oxygen and other nutrients to the deep waters. In meromictic lakes, the deeper waters do not undergo this mixing; the deeper layers are more saline than the water near the surface, and are typically nearly devoid of oxygen. As a result, becoming meromictic greatly changes a lake's ecology.

Mono Lake has experienced meromictic periods in the past; this most recent episode of meromixis, brought on by the end of the water diversions, commenced in 1994 and had ended by 2004.[11]

Aquatic life[edit]

Large numbers of alkali flies at Mono Lake

Artemia monica, the Mono Lake brine shrimp

The hypersalinity and high alkalinity (pH=10 or equivalent to 4 milligrams of NaOH per liter of water) of the lake means that no fish are native to the lake.[12] An attempt by the California Department of Fish and Game to stock the lake failed.[citation needed]

The whole food chain of the lake is based on the high population of single-celled planktonic algae present in the photic zone of the lake. These algae reproduce rapidly during winter and early spring after winter runoff brings nutrients to the surface layer of water. By March the lake is "as green as pea soup" with photosynthesizing algae.[13]

The lake is famous for the Mono Lake brine shrimp, Artemia monica, a tiny species of brine shrimp, no bigger than a thumbnail, that areendemic to the lake. During the warmer summer months, an estimated 4–6 trillion brine shrimp inhabit the lake. Brine shrimp have no food value for humans, but are a staple for birds of the region. The brine shrimp feed on microscopic algae.

Alkali flies, Ephydra hians live along the shores of the lake and walk underwater, encased in small air bubbles for grazing and to lay eggs. These flies are an important source of food for migratory and nesting birds.

Mono Lake is a vital resting and eating stop for migratory shorebirds and has been recognized as a site of international importance by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.[14]Nearly 2,000,000 waterbirds, including 35 species of shorebirds, use Mono Lake to rest and eat for at least part of the year. Some shorebirds that depend on the resources of Mono Lake includeAmerican avocets, killdeer and sandpipers. Over 1.5 million eared grebes and phalaropes use Mono Lake during their long migrations.

Late every summer tens of thousands of Wilson's phalaropes and red-necked phalaropes arrive from their nesting grounds, and feed until they continue their migration to South America or the tropical oceans respectively.[2]

In addition to migratory birds, a few species spend several months to nest at Mono Lake. Mono Lake has the second largest nesting population of California gulls, Larus californicus, second only to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Since abandoning the landbridged Negit Island in the late 1970s, California gulls have moved to some nearby islets and have established new, if less protected, nesting sites.Cornell University and Point Reyes Bird Observatory have continued the study of nesting populations on Mono Lake that was begun over 20 years ago. Snowy plovers also arrive at Mono Lake each spring to nest along the remote eastern shores

 

South Tufa

South Tufa receives thousands of visitors annually and is one of the largest tufa groves on the lake.

There is always something to see as gulls, swallows, and phalaropes swim and fly around the towers feeding on the many alkali flies and brine shrimp that live and grow in the lake. There is a self-guided tour that takes you among the towers, allowing you to experience the mystique of Mono at your leisure. During the summer, there are naturalist guided tours at 10:00am, 1:00pm, and 6:00pm daily. Check the list ofNaturalist Activities for details on tours. These tours last about an hour and explore much of what South Tufa has to offer. South Tufa is a Federal Fee Area; adults are $3.00, children under 16 are free. Federal Fee Area Annual passes are valid here. There is no shade, so bring a hat and drinking water---the nearest services are 11 miles away inLee Vining.

Navy Beach

Navy Beach is just east of South Tufa, with a short trail connecting them.

Due to the proximity of the very small parking lot to the lakeshore, this is the most popular place to put in kayaks and canoes. Be sure to read the signs warning boaters of hazards and area closures that protect nesting birds. The Mono Lake Committee guides canoe tours from this location during the summer months. Caldera Kayaks leads kayak tours. Parking is not recommended for activities other than launching boats, since the parking lot is very small and often full. Park at the South Tufa lot if you would like to go swimming. Showers are available in Lee Vining at the RV Parks---or go for a swim at June Lake beach to rinse off the salt!

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The Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve is a wonder of nature. It’s a saltwater lake that is 2-1/2 times as salty as the ocean and very alkaline. It’s the birthplace of 90% of all California seagulls with more than 50,000 of them returning here annually to nest. An estimated 1.5 million eared grebes stop at Mono Lake during their fall migration. About 100 endangered snowy plovers call Mono Lake home. In total, a couple million birds feed or rest at Mono Lake each year. What do they eat? Brine shrimp unique to Mono Lake and alkali flies are abundant at the lake (and by abundant we’re talking about 4 trillion shrimp at the height of the season).

And that’s just the beginning of the wonders. The geological and environmental story is just as compelling.

The tufas for which the park are named are a moonscape-like upward outcropping of limestone created when freshwater springs containing calcium bubble up into the alkaline salt water. The calcium combines with the salt water’s carbonates creating the eerie spires reminiscent of a stalagmite in a cave. The tufas are especially visible today because the water levels have dropped horribly with the diversion of water away from the lake. The environmental story behind that drop is both devastating and hopeful. In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power started diverting water to meet their needs. This diversion over the years was nearly catastrophic; by 1995, the lake had lost nearly 40 vertical feet. The tufas were exposed; the water became even more salty putting its unique shrimp at risk; the seagulls’ nesting island was no longer safe as it connected now to the mainland via a land bridge; the entire ecosystem was teetering at a potential breaking point.

It’s a long storied journey, but a ultimately a win in 1994 set target levels for the lake and the infrastructure was put in place to start working toward those levels. While nowhere near what the water level was in 1941, it is a level deemed safe for the ecosystem. Nearly 20 years later, the lake is still short of this goal but it is improving. You can follow the progress here.

This hike is a short, flat one, but with a story like that of Mono Lake it is every bit as interesting, visually stunning and inspiring as any I’ve taken. Take your time to read the signs along the route, watch the birds and note the markers for where the lake once stood. You’ll be walking on what was the lake floor less than a human generation ago. The park is open 24 hours a day, and it’s worth stopping here at sunset to see the wonderful colors reflected on the tufas.

Brine Shrimp

Mono Lake's Unique Species

If I only had a penny for every Mono Lake brine shrimp I'd be a billionaire!

--anonymous daydreamer

NOT "PEEL AND EAT"

A pair of mating brine shrimp, Artemia monica.Within Mono Lake's briny waters are trillions of brine shrimp,Artemia monica, a species of brine shrimp found nowhere else in the world. An estimated 4-6 trillion brine shrimp inhabit the lake during the warmer summer months. Mono Lake shrimp are tiny, about the size of your thumbnail, and by July Mono Lake water looks very much like shrimp soup. Brine shrimp have no practical food value for humans, but birds regard them as haute cuisine. Abundant shrimp provide a feast for the birds, yet the birds barely put a dent in the brine shrimp population until nearly two million Eared Grebes arrive for "shrimp cocktail" in the fall.

FISHLESS WATERS

The fishing at Mono Lake is excellent, its just the catching that's bad--Mono Lake's alkalinity (pH=10) makes life impossible for fish. In contrast the freshwater streams flowing into Mono Lake are home to non-native Rainbow and Brown Trout. Fisherfolk legend has it that trout will sometimes dart from freshwater streams into Mono Lake water to gobble up unsuspecting shrimp. Otherwise the only way fish get to eat Mono Lake brine shrimp is through the frozen, packaged variety that the local brine shrimp plant harvests for tropical fish food.

DISAPPEARING ACT

If you venture down to Mono Lake in the winter and you will find the water empty of brine shrimp. The brine shrimp population dies off as the lake cools in the winter. Yet, by spring tiny brine shrimp mysteriously begin to reappear. Where did this new generation of brine shrimp come from? In the late summer and fall, female brine shrimp produce tiny cysts, (dormant, undeveloped embryos), that overwinter at the bottom of the lake. In the spring the cysts develop into tiny shrimp as the lake warms--beginning a new generation of shrimp.

Science NetLinks Brine Shrimp Surviv

Q: How salty is Mono Lake?

  1. A: Mono Lake contains about 280 million tons of dissolved salts. The concentration of salts in the water depends directly on how much water is in the lake. Before water diversions began in 1941, salinity was about 50 grams per liter (g/l). At the lowest lake level in 1982, it was 99 g/l. Currently it is about 78 g/l. Once it rises to its stabilization level in the next 20 years, salinity will average 69 g/l. For comparison, the ocean is about 31.5 g/l, or 3.5% dissolved solids by weight. The Great Salt Lake varies, but since the West Desert Pumping Project removed about 12% of the total salts in the 1980s, the southern arm is about 8.5% dissolved solids and the northern arm is 25-26%. Click here for more Mono Lake statistics.

Quick Facts

DEPTH OF MONO LAKE

Maximum = 158 feet. Average = 56 feet.

AGE OF MONO LAKE

At least 760,000 years old and probably 1-3 million years; among the oldest lakes in North America.

VOLUME OF MONO LAKE

4.3 million acre-feet at 6,417' asl (in 1941 before diversions)

3.1 million acre-feet at 6,392' asl (future stabilization level)

2.4 million acre-feet at 6,378' asl (2015 level)

2.1 million acre-feet at 6,372' asl (1982, lowest recorded level)

LAKE LEVEL

The lake level before the diversions of Mono's tributary streams was 6,417 feet above sea level (asl). The current lake level is 6378.1 feet asl (approx. 1,946 meters). It is expected to take over 20 years to reach 6,392 feet asl, the Water Board-ordered stabilization level. Once it reaches 6,392', it should usually fluctuate about 6 feet in elevation and occasionally rise as high as 6,400', and during extreme drought, drop as low as 6,382'. The yearly evaporation rate is approximately 45 inches per year. Click here for more current and past lake levels.

Without restrictions on stream diversions, the lake would have eventually stabilized at approximately 6,355 feet asl with fluctuations of 21 vertical feet. During periods of extreme drought, the lake might have fallen as low as 6,336 feet asl.

PAST LAKE FLUCTUATIONS

20th Century Low, January 1982

6,372 feet asl

Beginning of Diversions, 1941

6,417 feet asl

20th Century High, 1919

6,428 feet asl

Overflow Level, perhaps 100,000 years ago

7,200 feet asl

Elevation

Lake Area

Exposed Lakebed

Salinity

When

6,417

55,000 acres (86 sq. mi.)

0 acres

48 g/l

1941, prior to diversions

6,392

48,900 acres (76 sq. mi.)

6,100 acres

69 g/l

future stabilization level

6,378

42,300 acres (66 sq. mi.)

12,700 acres

88 g/l

1988, 1995, 2015

6,372

37,700 acres (59 sq. mi.)

17,300 acres

97 g/l

1982, lowest recorded elevation

WATER CHEMISTRY OF MONO LAKE

It contains chlorides, carbonates, and sulfates - a chloride-carbonate-sulfate "triple water" lake. It is alkaline, with a pH of 10, and almost three times as salty as the ocean. At 6,392 feet asl it will be slightly more than twice as salty as the ocean.

The salinity of the lake is approximately 81 g/l. The Outstanding National Resource Water designation requires that the salinity be maintained under 85 g/l (the concentration of Mono Lake in May, 1996 and November, 1975). The average salinity levels ranged from 42 g/l to 99 g/l since 1913. Under a full-diversion scenario, the average salinity would have been approximately 133 g/l. Click here for an analysis of mineral quality.

ECOLOGY OF MONO LAKE

The primary lake life is composed of algae, brine shrimp, and alkali flies, and is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. Nesting birds consist of California Gulls (50,000, 85% of California's breeding population and second largest colony in the world after the Great Salt Lake in Utah) and Snowy Plovers (400, 11% of the state's breeding population). Migratory birds include Eared Grebes (1.5-2 million, 30% of the North American population), Wilson's Phalaropes (80,000, 10% of the world population), Red-necked Phalaropes (60,000, 2-3% of the world population), and 79 other species of waterbirds.

GEOLOGYThe Mono Basin is a tectonic basin formed by faulting and downwarping of the earth's crust. It is from one to three million years old. The hills on the north, south, and east sides of the basin are all of volcanic origin. The Mono Craters are 24 domes of explosive rhyolite that have erupted over the last 40,000 years (as recently as 700 years ago), forming the youngest volcanic chain in North America. Black Point, Negit Island, and Paoha Island are also of volcanic origin. Paoha Island emerged within the last 350 years.

Tufa Towers

Sunrise at South Tufa.Call them weird, call them bizarre, call them what you will, but the unusual rock formations that grace Mono Lake's shores are known to geologists as tufa (too'-fah). Tufa forms in a variety of ways at Mono Lake, but the most visible and remarkable formations are the towers that grace Mono's shoreline. The greatest concentration of these towers is located at the South Tufa grove just off of Hwy 120 East, at the south end of Mono Lake. Many first-time visitors to Mono Lake, unfamiliar with the geologic term "tufa" have been known to ask directions to the "tofu." Your nearest grocery store or the Mono Market is the best bet.

A COMMON ROCK IN RARE FORM

Tufa above the water no longer grows and is susceptible to erosion.Tufa is essentially common limestone. What is uncommon about this limestone is the way it forms. Typically, underwater springs rich in calcium (the stuff in your bones) mix withlakewater rich in carbonates (the stuff in baking soda). 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. The reason visitors see so much tufa around Mono Lake today is because the lake level fell dramatically afterwater diversions began in 1941.

TUFA POTPOURRI

Tufa towers are not the only form of tufa at Mono Lake. Calcium carbonate crystals will also precipitate out of lakewater far from springs and coat lakebottom surfaces like pumice boulders, beer cans, dead vegetation, dead birds, and anything else that might end up in the lake (instant fossils!). Another way tufa is formed is through biogenesis, the biological activity of organisms like the alkali fly. When an adult alkali fly emerges from an underwater pupae case it leaves behind a minute deposit of calcium carbonate, a waste product from its earlier life stage beneath the salty, alkaline lake. Alkali flies, on a small scale, actually contribute to the growth of underwater tufa towers!

TUFA TIME

Where else does tufa exist? The answer lies around the world and back in time, andpossibly even on Mars. Tufa grows in many places where the right chemical environment exists. Some tufa even grows in the ocean off the coast of Greenland! Tufa is common at other Great Basin desert lakes, but Mono Lake has the most active formations around. Some Great Basin dry lakes in California and Nevada reveal old tufa formations that once were active when these lakes were full during the last ice age. Mono Lake has its own ice age tufa hundreds of feet above the historical level of the lake. If you think Mono Lake looks impressive now, you should have seen at the end of the last ice age when it was five times bigger than it is today!

Limnologia (gr. limno – staw, jezioro słodkowodne oraz logos – nauka), hydrologia jezior – nauka z zakresu hydrologii zajmująca się badaniem wód słodkich (zbiorników śródlądowych). Opisuje ichbilans wodny, ustrój termiczny i ustrój lodowy, zajmuje się procesami kształtowania brzegów, jak i sedymentacją, prądami i falami w zbiornikach, które stanowią przedmiot jej zainteresowania[1].

UWAGA - NIE MYLIĆ TUFU WULKANICZNEGO Z TUFĄ (TUFEM?) OSADOWYM W MONO :)

Tufa

Not to be confused with tuff, a porous volcanic rock also called 'tufa'.

Tufa columns at Mono Lake,California, western USA.

Tufa is a variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from ambient temperature water bodies. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits known as travertine. Tufa is sometimes referred to as (meteogene) travertine;[1] care must be taken when searching through literature to prevent confusion with hot spring (thermogene) travertine. Calcareous tufa should not be confused with tuff, a porous volcanic rock with parallel etymological origins that is sometimes called "tufa".

Jezioro Mono (ang. Mono Lake) – wysoko alkaliczne i hiperhalinowe słone jezioro w Stanach Zjednoczonych w Kalifornii. Znajduje się w hrabstwie Mono, na wschód od Parku Narodowego Yosemite i południowy-wschód od Jeziora Tahoe. Stanowi ono ważny ekosystem, przystanek dla wielu gatunków przelatujących ptaków. Wiek jeziora jest szacowany na przynajmniej 760 000 lat.

Wyspy Negit i Paoha

Na jeziorze znajdują się dwie wulkaniczne wyspy - Negit i Paoha oraz liczne wystające z wody[1] tufowe formacje skalne, które powstały wskutek reakcji słonych, zasadowych wód jeziora ze słodkowodnymi źródłami na dnie[2]. Formacje te pojawiły się na powierzchni po roku 1941, gdy zaczęto pobierać wodę z jeziora na potrzeby miasta Los Angeles, przez co poziom wody spadł znacząco[3] − do 1962 roku o 8 metrów[4] do 1982 roku o 15 m[3] − a poziom zasolenia uległ podwojeniu[4]. Badania jeziora przeprowadzone w 1976 roku przez Davida Gainesa dowiodły szkodliwości procesu czerpania wody dla środowiska jeziora[3]. Utworzony dwa lata potem z jego inicjatywy komitet[4] wywalczył jezioru ochronę prawną[3]. W 2010 roku[5] w jeziorze odkryto arsenooporną bakterię GFAJ-1[

Tuf, tuf wulkaniczny – rodzaj lekkiej, zwięzłej, zazwyczaj porowatej skały osadowej należącej do skał piroklastycznych.

Składa się z materiału piroklastycznego (gł. piasku i popiołu wulkanicznego, często z domieszką innego materiału okruchowego, scementowanego np. spoiwem krzemionkowym lub ilastym. Tufy są skałami o dużej porowatości, mogą mieć równoległą teksturę odpowiadającą etapom sedymentacji materiału skalnego. Występują razem ze skałami wylewnymi lub w obrębie serii osadowych.

W Polsce tufy występują w obszarach dawnej aktywności wulkanicznej; spotykane są przede wszystkim w Sudetach (w okolicach Wałbrzycha, Lubania i Nowej Rudy) oraz w południowej części Wyżyny Krakowsko-Częstochowskiej (w okolicach Krzeszowic – tufy filipowickie z dolnego permu).

Tuff (from the Italian tufo) is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is compacted into a solid rock in a process called consolidation. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered tuffaceous.

Tuff is a relatively soft rock, so it has been used for construction since ancient times. Since it is common in Italy the Romans used it often for construction. The Rapa Nui people used it to make most of the moai statues in Easter Island.

Tuff can be classified as either sedimentary or igneous rocks. They are usually studied in the context of igneous petrology, although they are sometimes described using sedimentological terms.

moon.jpgnocleg kolo Mono Lake? http://leevining.com/campingmonobasin.pdf  [mapka pdf]

 (760) 873-2408. Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center  

Camping

The State Natural Reserve is surrounded by the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area, operated by the Forest Service. There are no campgrounds in the State Natural Reserve or the Scenic Area. Established campgrounds are located nearby in Lundy Canyon, Lee Vining Canyon, and the June Lake Loop. The sites in these campgrounds are mostly first-come, first-served. Visit the following web site for more information:   http://leevining.com/campingmonobasin.pdf  Dispersed camping is permitted in most of the Scenic Area above the exposed lake bed lands. Campfire permits are required.

http://totalescape.com/destin/california-towns.php?tid=248#.Vu2Hb-IrLIU 

The east entrance to Yosemite National Park, Lee Vining Canyon offers numerous forest and creekside campgrounds, plus the dramatic scenic drive on Highway 120 (Tioga Pass). The Eastern Sierra is home to some of the most breathtaking scenery & the small town of Lee Vining, CA. Mono Lake & Yosemite National Park are the main attractions for this region. Campgrounds along a big creek & fishing are the main highlights of camping in the Lee Vining Canyon, on the impressive east entrance to Yosemite, Hwy 120 (West). Free dispersed camping in the Jeffrey Pine forest behind Mono Craters, on Hwy 120 (East)

No fire whatsoever [pdf mapki poniżej]