Mono Lake, CA is often described as an alien landscape and just look at it, it’s a perfect description! The alkaline lake with its limestone tufas are certainly not your normal landscape. It is a fantastic location for sunrise and sunset photographs. The photo above, taken at sunrise, is typical of the sights you see there. On this morning, a nearby wildfire resulted in a thick line of smoke across the sky which turned orange with the sunrise light.

Sunsets are just as nice at Mono Lake and more so when you have a nice set of clouds in the sky. Here in August, flowers were blooming around the tufas.

The night sky in this area of California allows a great view of the milky way. This shot was taken near Navy Beach long the lake shore where short groups of tufas stand.

Another sunrise morning at the lake. Another fortunate morning of clouds in the sky turning pink before the sun rises above the horizon.

The ghost town of Bodie State Historical Park is a must see if you are in the area of Mono Lake. Created in the late 1800’s during the gold rush days, it became a ghost town when the mines died out. It is now preserved by the state of California and we had exclusive access after public visiting hours. We took advantage of the nighttime sky for milky way and star circles. Above is the one church remaining in the town of Bodie.

We also had access to the interiors of buildings normally closed to the public. I found this painted floor covering in the lobby of the Dechambeau Hotel an interesting 20th century relic with its depictions of movie cowboys like Hopalong Cassidy and his horse, Topper.