Lee Vining

Lunch today at the Whoa Nelly Deli – World famous fish tacos. They were quite good! Why is the town called Lee Vining?

• Lee Vining refers to Leroy Vining, an early prospector / pioneer in the Mono Basin in California.
• He came to the area in the early 1850s (around 1852) with other prospectors.
• Although he didn’t find lasting riches in gold mining, he did make money via timber: he established a sawmill and sold lumber to the local mining operations.
• Leroy Vining died in 1863 due to an accidental gunshot wound — reportedly from a pistol he carried in his pocket, which discharged.

Then we went to Mono lake to see the Tufa towers. These are essentially little growths where the calcium bubbles up and forms a tower in the water. As the lake levels shrank the towers were left exposed. Mono lake is a saltwater lake.

We noticed a very interesting kind of fly at Mono lake. When Jane stepped too close to the water this huge swarm of flies took to the air, and zoomed off, completely ignoring us humans. It was really cool. Here is what we learned:

• Adapted to the lake: Mono Lake is highly alkaline and salty, but alkali flies thrive in it. They lay eggs in the lake, and their larvae feed on algae. • Swarming behavior: The adult flies gather in dense swarms at the shoreline, often forming black, buzzing clouds. They crawl over each other and create a moving carpet near the water’s edge. • Unique trick: They can walk underwater by trapping a bubble of air around their bodies, which lets them graze on submerged algae. • Ecological role: Alkali flies are a major food source for the millions of migratory birds that stop at Mono Lake, especially Wilson’s phalaropes and eared grebes.

All the black in this photo is that carpet of flies!

Driving the June lake loop The June lake loop comprises 4 alpine lakes:

Tonight we are in an RV park – we kind wish we had opted for one of the June lake options as they are much more scenic, and it turns out that the laundry and showers (not that we would use the showers) are all out of service due to a sewer problem that they are working on. This will suffice, but we think it might be nice to come back this way again and stay near June Lake.