It looked as though the clouds would prevent us from seeing the full moon rising over Mono Lake's famous sand tufa but a small hole formed just before moonrise allowing the moonlight to shoot under the clouds and down on the desert floor. Off to the left you can clearly see Mono Lake and in the foreground the strange structures that are tiny tubes of sand that hold up the base of what used to be the lake floor. These structures are delicate and easily damaged so take care not to touch them.