Which Lakes in the Mono Divide?

[maverick]

Gracias

[SSSdave]

I've been to all the lakes mentioned and many more though by no means all in that zone. Topographically the Mono Divide is just the area between Mono Creek and the Italy Branch of Bear Creek. Thus areas like Grinnel or Vee Lake are beyond. So Mav what you really mean is the west of the crest Bear and Mono Creek basins?

With lake aesthetics much has to do with elements like the shape of peaks behind a body of water or whether or not such elements block the sun. Many scenic lakes are only beautiful at one period of the day and that is usually when they are front lit by sunlight. Some lakes without ridges to the east are beautiful from just after sunrise till mid morning when the sun becomes impossibly harsh. Other lakes are so blocked by ridges that they only become beautiful for a brief period at mid morning when the sun has risen high enough to light their shores but no so late that the light is harsh. A few scenic lakes have interesting features both to the west, east, north, and south of their shores thus may be beautiful over more of a day. With lakes and ponds, calm reflecting water usually offers the best aesthetic possibilities, however that depends on the fickle nature of winds. Besides the obvious element of weather, the likelyhood a lake will have calm conditions has much to do with its location in a landscape and understanding such nature is something few visitors likely have much understanding of. Often the most aesthetic bodies of waters for reflection images are unnamed ponds because elements on opposite sides are close enough to be interesting and waves on their small waters calm much quicker.

The period during a season one visits a lake can make a considerable difference on its beauty. Generally lakes look best during the short period of peak summer greening when wildflowers and vegetation are nicely green, streams are still lacing across landscapes, and small snowfields dapple nearby slopes and peaks. Also the best light may depend on when the rising or setting sun is unblocked by peaks and ridges and such periods may only be a few days or weeks each year.

There are a number of superb potential lake and pond images about the Mono Divide region I know about but have not yet captured well enough with large format to go public with and generally am not apt to say much about them much like lakes with large trout. Lower Mills Creek Lake is one lake with a beautiful late afternoon views during late July thru early August when turf about its shores are a beautiful green. However because a towering craggy ridge blocks the morning sun in the east, the graphically nice curving view west is hard to capture because by time the sun appears, it is also usually too harsh on the bright granite geology about that landscape. Unfortunately Sierra afternoons are rather consistently breezy with only brief periods of mornings likely to offer calm so a visitor ought expect to enjoy that lake with wavy blue waters instead of a calm relfection. In early morning when it is likely to be calm, the landscape is likely to be boringly flat shadows.

[cmon4day]

With all of this talk on which lake in the Mono Divide area, how about some pictures????