Gray Whiskers
Gray Whiskers is a  summit in Navajo County, Arizona, United States.

Description
Gray Whiskers is situated  southwest of the Monument Valley visitor center on Navajo Nation land and can be seen from Highway 163. Precipitation runoff from this butte's slopes drains to Mitchell Butte Wash and Oljeto Wash which are part of the San Juan River drainage basin. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over  above the surrounding terrain in 0.15 mile (0.24 km). The nearest higher neighbor is Mitchell Mesa,  to the east. The landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The toponym is a translation of Navajo "dághaa' libáí" which means gray whiskers.William Bright, Native American Placenames of the United States, University of Oklahoma Press, 2004, , p. 157. The butte is named after a Navajo Hataałii (medicine man) who was instrumental in creating the Monument Valley Tribal Park in 1958.Monument Valley, City of Aztec, aztecnm.com, Retrieved 2024-08-27.Guiding tourists in Monument Valley, Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2014.

Geology
Gray Whiskers is composed of three principal strata. The bottom layer is slope-forming Organ Rock Shale, the next stratum is cliff-forming De Chelly Sandstone, and the upper layer is Moenkopi Formation.Geology and Uranium-vanadium Deposits of the Monument Valley Area, Apache and Navajo Counties, Arizona, Irving Jerome Witkind, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963, p. 139. The rock ranges in age from Permian at the bottom to Triassic at the top. The buttes and mesas of Monument Valley are the result of the Organ Rock Shale being more easily eroded than the overlaying sandstone.Monument Valley, Arizona, Arizona Geological Survey, Retrieved 2024-08-27.

Climate
Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Gray Whiskers. According to the Köppen climate classification system, it is located in a semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers. Summers average 54 days above  annually, and highs rarely exceed . Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Winter temperatures below  are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than  of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.Climate Summary for Kayenta, Arizona

Gallery

See also
 List of appearances of Monument Valley in the media

References

External links
 Weather forecast: Gray Whiskers
 Gray Whiskers (photo): Flickr
 Monument Valley Tribal Park

Category:Colorado Plateau
Category:Landforms of Navajo County, Arizona
Category:North American 1000 m summits
Category:Geography of the Navajo Nation
Category:Sandstone formations of the United States