California, 30th October, evening at Mono Lake

We left Bodie around 3.30pm and headed back towards Mono Lake for sunset. Coming down the hill on the 395 towards Lee Vining there is a stunning view of the lake and mountains beyond, although it was quite hazy. There was no wind and the lake showed lovely reflections of the hills. We hadn't decided where to go for a sunset shot so we tried  the visitor centre on the northern side of the lake. It was closed naturally and the lawn had a handful of mule deer grazing on it. It wasn't quite what we wanted although the drive to it showed the area where High Plains Drifter was filmed. We ended up going to the tufa again and getting another dose of that intoxicating smell of the lake and the sage scrub. We stayed until it had got dark and the moon was up, and then went back for our last night in Lee Vining. The campsite was to close the next evening and the snow was supposed to arrive the day after. One of the ladies who worked there had her home in Las Vegas and came to Lee Vining in the summer to get away from the heat, and then went back in the winter to a milder climate. The Tioga pass was already closed (although it did reopen later in November) and we were tempted to stay and see the lake in the snow, but we were worried about being stuck so we would have to move to warmer climes as well.












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