Pink Lake

On our drive home from the Grampians, we noted the sign to the Pink Lake which is a well-known spot on the Western Highway.

This lake is easily viewed from the rest-stop beside the road and you can walk down the path to the edge of the lake.

As you walk along the path to the lake, you will see yellow gums, buloke trees and paperbarks, giving way to the smaller and very distinctive salt tolerant plants that grow in this unique environment.

The pink colour of the water comes from a pigment secreted by microscopic algae. The intensity of the pink varies with the amount of water in the lake. When the lake is drier more light is reflected from the white crystallized salt reducing the impact of the pink.

The salt was commercially harvested from the lake for many years and some of the relics from that time can still be seen near the edge of the lake.

I have been meaning to do photos of this lake for many years, and Blip was the final motivation to make us brave the impending storm front that was descending and capture this image.

It teemed with rain for the rest of the drive back to Adelaide.

More Pink

It was a toss-up as to which photo to blip today, either my early morning moody mist over Lake Fyans, near Halls Gap, or the Pink Lake further down the highway towards the state border. I have added the Lake Fyans misty photo to my Grampians blipfolio here.

The fog had just lifted enough to get this dull light, rather misty photo of trees in this man-made lake. It was a desolate spot, simply wonderful, and so quiet and peaceful.

However the reason I did not blip this photo today was the similarity of the shot to my blip yesterday of trees in the Green Lake.
Maybe let me know which of these 2 shots from today you most prefer?

PS. I do want to make it clear that the pink layers of sandy looking salt around the edges of the lake, and the pink colour of the lake - are totally natural, and not enhanced in any way in post production.