I visited Mono Lake while on a solo spring skiing trip to Mammoth. Mono Lake is where NASA researchers discovered a microorganism that’s able to live and reproduce using toxic arsenic instead of phosphorus. The implication is that it opens up more possibilities for life beyond Earth.

Mono Lake’s a saline lake that has no fish only shrimp. The lake is known for its tufa towers. The towers formed underwater from springs that mixed with the salty water. The tufas are now visible because the water level in the lake has fallen considerably since the 1940’s when the streams that feed the lake were diverted to meet LA’s water demands.

Passing by the Manzanar guard tower.