Kayaking at Mono Lake

Mono Lake is one of the oldest lakes in North America. it’s estimated to be At least 760,000 years old. Interesting is that the lake has no outlets so the saline content is TWICE that of the ocean. This gives you more buoyancy if you swim...but be prepared to be salty dry skinned afterwareds.  Also no fishing here due to alkaline water. But it’s an awesome lake to kayak. There are tufa tower formations...I ll let you google the science behind their formations....remember I was a business major so the science is beyond me.  But tufa is found in alkaline lakes worldwide

What I really found fascinating was where the name Mono Lake came from. The native Americans who lived here were known as kutzadika.  They collected alkaline fly pupae (fly actually lays eggs underwater ) as one of main food sources.  It was dried and used for food source and traded.  When dry it looked like brown rice and tasted like bacon bits.  Yeah...sure.  Anyways back to the name the kutzadika were called Monache by the neighboring Yakut tribe.  And drum roll......Monache means “fly eaters”.   By the 1850’s Monache was shortened to Mono.  Whew!

Anyway the best way to see the tufa is to kayak near them.  The water was so calm and very peaceful.  No crowds   Looking forward to kayaking in Antelope Valley this winter. Another amazing area showcasing nature’s artwork





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