As part of our National Parks Road Trip that I keep mentioning, we drove from Tioga Pass, we made our way to Mono Lake while seeing some amazing scenery along the way. We parked the car in the lot and paid a cash donation to support the restoration of this ecosystem (I think that’s what it said, but I can’t really remember).
As we approached, we started to see the tufa towers sticking out of the lake (cue my excitement at seeing something new and different). Mono Lake is ultra salty and it’s one of the oldest lakes in North America. By some magic of science and calcium, the tufa towers form and make this a really special place (see here for a much more scientifically accurate explanation if you care). There are different places around the lake to view the tufas, and unfortunately I didn’t get photos of the really cool looking ones. Because we definitely did not choose the best viewing area available. As we walked we noticed that we were kind of getting stuck in the “mud”.
We tried to ignore it for a few minutes & act like the naturalists that we so clearly are not. Like, this is just nature kids, hold your noses and enjoy the looks of these cool limestone piles sticking out of the lake. God created this beautiful lake and these neat looking pillars for some reason, and I’m sure there is some amazing scientific fact behind the horrid stench that we are mouth-breathing right now. Luckily there was a naturalist onsite who was happy to answer the question we were dying to ask. What is that smell?
I think we caught Mono Lake on a bad day, because she told us that it isn’t usually as strong and awful as it was that day. The water levels were very low, and because of that what used to be covered with water was exposed. Therefore, the smell was basically rotting sea creature carcasses (or something like that). Oh, and the bird poop. Birds LOVE Mono Lake and the area where we decided to view it was their personal favorite toilet. And the billions of flies.
So we hopped back in our (thankfully) rental car with our bird poop covered shoes and drove to Mammoth Lakes, where we were spending a night at the Westin Monache Resort (yes, it was free, in case you had any doubts) before heading on to Las Vegas. We knew that there were forest fires in the area, as we could see the smoke in some places. However, as we got closer to Mammoth Lakes it was very, very smoky. We were visiting as the Aspen Fire (a wildfire caused by a lightning strike) was happening, and the air was thick with smoke. The smell wasn’t unpleasant the way Mono Lake was, but it was definitely disturbingly smoky.
Since we were only stopping for one night along the way, we didn’t have a lot of time to spend in Mammoth Lakes. We walked a very short distance from our hotel to a pretty shopping and dining plaza nearby. There were tons of places to eat. There was also a festival with live music going on, and there were games for the kids to play. This was off-season for this ski resort town, but there were still lots of people out and about. I imagine it is a wonderful place to be in the wintertime if you like to ski (or drink hot chocolate while everyone else goes skiing).
This is an SPG Category 5 hotel, which is normally 12,000 points per night. We were able to use an additional 1,500 points to guarantee an upgrade to a suite. We planned ahead and figured we would want the extra space after our 2 nights in the Yosemite Curry Village tents. The hotel did not disappoint. The room was very large and comfortable, with a separate King bedroom, a living room with pull-out sofa bed, and a kitchen. It had a large bathroom. It felt like heaven after 2 practically sleepless nights prior to this stay.
So, our tips for going to Mono Lake and Mammoth Lakes: Take this review with a grain of salt (get it?) and just do it. Be prepared for some interesting smells. And go to the less bird-poopy part of Mono Lake (hint: there’s a visitor center and a boardwalk to walk on…doh!).
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