The pictures that follow this one were taken from a boat on the lake, during a trip with Mono Lake Boat Tours, a company that is sadly no longer in business. You can still get out on the lake, but you'll have to provide the human-power to do it. Caldera Kayaks or Mono Lake Committee offer canoe tours.
Besides the tufa formations created by water bubbling up under the lake's surface, the lake's minerals also form white calcium carbonate deposits that can coat other types of rocks or anything else it comes in contact with. If you look closely in this picture, you can see some spots where it has flaked off the underlying rocks.