Mono Lake, May 18

Spent the day exploring Mono Lake. Beautiful and other-worldly, as expected. Also walked part of the rim trail of the Panum crater. These are the youngest mountains in North America. Panum is dormant, and luckily stayed that way during our hike.

Also learned a bit about the water. Mono Lake is much smaller than it was because so much water was diverted to Los Angeles. There are some major efforts to restore the creeks that feed Mono Lake. No surprise-- huge benefits for the whole ecosystem. One of our hikes was to Lee Vining Creek, which is now a thriving riparian area.

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