Mono Lake - History - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

• Mark Twain's Roughing It, published in 1872, provides a humorous and informative early description of Mono Lake in its natural condition in the 1860s Twain found the lake to be a "lifeless, treeless, hideous desert... the loneliest place on earth."
• The general appearance of the lake and surrounding mountains circa 1973 can also be seen in the Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter
• The Diver, a photo taken by Storm Thorgerson for Pink Floyd's album Wish You Were Here, features what appears to be a man diving into a lake, creating no ripples. The photo was taken at Mono Lake, and the tufa towers are a prominent part of the landscape. The effect was actually created when the diver performed a handstand underwater until the ripples dissipated.

• The band Cinderella filmed the video for their power ballad "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" at Mono Lake
• Monolake is the stage name of a Berlin minimal techno artist
• The volcano scene from the award-winning 1953 film Fair Wind to Java was shot at Mono Lake. Today the remnants of the volcano host California gull researchers on their visits to the island.