Mitchell Mesa | |
---|---|
![]() East aspect | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 6,586 ft (2,007 m) [1] [2] |
Prominence | 676 ft (206 m) [1] |
Parent peak | Eagle Mesa (6,624 ft) [1] |
Isolation | 5.29 mi (8.51 km) [1] |
Coordinates | 36°58′15″N110°06′39″W / 36.9707436°N 110.1108200°W [3] |
Geography | |
Location | Navajo Reservation Navajo County, Arizona, U.S. |
Parent range | Colorado Plateau [2] |
Topo map | USGS Mitten Buttes |
Geology | |
Mountain type | Mesa |
Type of rock | Sandstone |
Mitchell Mesa is a 6,586-foot-elevation (2,007-meter) summit in Navajo County, Arizona, United States.
Mitchell Mesa is situated 0.75 miles (1.21 km) south of the Monument Valley visitor center on Navajo Nation land and can be seen from Highway 163. The large, irregularly-shaped mesa is southwest of the iconic West and East Mitten Buttes. Precipitation runoff from this mesa's west slope drains to Mitchell Butte Wash, whereas the east slope drains to West Gypsum Creek, which are both part of the San Juan River drainage basin. [2] Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1,300 feet (396 meters) above the surrounding terrain in one-half mile (0.8 km). The nearest higher neighbor is Eagle Mesa, 4.97 miles (8.00 km) to the north. [2] The Navajo consider Mitchell Mesa as one of the "door posts" to Monument Valley, with the other being Sentinel Mesa. [4] The landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. [3] The Mitchell name refers to Hearndon Mitchell, who along with Robert Merrick were prospectors. They were warned in 1879 to stay away from Monument Valley but were shot and killed there the following year by Utes. [5] There is also Mitchell Butte immediately west of the mesa where Mitchell was killed.
Mitchell Mesa is a mesa 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 capped by 50-foot thick Shinarump Conglomerate. [6] The rock ranges in age from Permian at the bottom to Late Triassic at the top. The strata are nearly horizontal because the mesa is positioned above the crest of a small anticline. [6] The buttes and mesas of Monument Valley are the result of the Organ Rock Shale being more easily eroded than the overlaying sandstone. [7]
The Three Sisters are iconic De Chelly Sandstone spires on the southeast tip of Mitchell Mesa. [8] The South Sister is the highest (6,269-ft-elevation) with a 449-ft rise. [9] The slightly lower North Sister (6,269-ft-elevation) rises 440-ft, [10] and the Middle Sister (6,100-ft-elevation) has a 280-ft rise. [11] The first ascent of the South Sister was made on December 17, 1966, by Layton Kor, Larry Dalke, and Dick Erb. The North Sister was first climbed that same month by Layton Kor and Pete Carmen. The Middle Sister was first climbed on April 20, 1967, by Fred Beckey, Eric Bjornstad, Harvey T. Carter, and Pat Callis. [12]
Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Mitchell Mesa. 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 90 °F (32 °C) annually, and highs rarely exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Winter temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter. [13]
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along the Utah–Arizona state line. The valley is considered sacred by the Navajo Nation, the Native American people within whose reservation it lies.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument was established on April 1, 1931, as a unit of the National Park Service. Located in northeastern Arizona, it is within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lies in the Four Corners region. Reflecting one of the longest continuously inhabited landscapes of North America, it preserves ruins of the indigenous tribes that lived in the area, from the Ancestral Puebloans to the Navajo. The monument covers 83,840 acres and encompasses the floors and rims of the three major canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument. These canyons were cut by streams with headwaters in the Chuska Mountains just to the east of the monument. None of the land is federally owned. Canyon de Chelly is one of the most visited national monuments in the United States.
Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the southern border of which in Arizona is called the Mogollon Rim.
Navajo National Monument is a National Monument located within the northwest portion of the Navajo Nation territory in northern Arizona, which was established to preserve three well-preserved cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people: Keet Seel, Betatakin, and Inscription House. The monument is high on the Shonto plateau, overlooking the Tsegi Canyon system, west of Kayenta, Arizona. It features a visitor center with a museum, three short self-guided trails, two small campgrounds, and a picnic area.
Hunts Mesa is a rock formation located in Monument Valley, south of the border between Utah and Arizona in the United States and west of the border between Arizona's Navajo County and Apache County. It is one of two popular interior destinations in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park for tourists to experience panoramic views of the popular sandstone formations from a distance. The other is Mystery Valley. A Navajo guide is required to hike to either.
The Defiance Plateau, part of the geologic Defiance Uplift, is an approximately 75-mile (121 km) long, mostly north-trending plateau of Apache County, Arizona, with its east and southeast perimeter, as parts of San Juan and McKinley Counties, New Mexico.
The West and East Mitten Buttes are two buttes in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in northeast Navajo County, Arizona. When viewed from the south, the buttes appear to be two giant mittens with their thumbs facing inwards.
Checkerboard Mesa is an iconic 6,520+ ft elevation Navajo Sandstone summit located in Zion National Park, in Kane County of southwest Utah, United States. Checkerboard Mesa is situated immediately southwest of the park's east entrance, towering 900 feet above the Zion – Mount Carmel Highway. Its nearest neighbor is Crazy Quilt Mesa, one-half mile immediately west, and separated by Checkerboard Mesa Canyon. This canyon holds pools of rainwater which provide a vital source of water for resident bighorn sheep. This peak was originally named Checkerboard Mountain by the park's third superintendent, Preston P. Patraw. The landform's toponym was officially adopted in 1935 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The descriptive name stems from the cliff's distinctive multitudinous check lines in cross-bedded white sandstone which give the impression of a checkerboard. The horizontal lines are caused by cross-bedding, a remnant of ancient sand dunes. The vertical and sub-vertical lines formed by the contraction and expansion of the sandstone caused by temperature changes, freezing and thawing cycles, in combination with wetting and drying. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into tributaries of the Virgin River.
Owl Rock is a 6,547-foot elevation sandstone summit located south of Monument Valley, in northeast Arizona. It is situated 7 miles (11 km) north of Kayenta on Navajo Nation land, and can be seen from Highway 163 perched on the east edge of Tyende Mesa, where it towers 1,000 feet above the surrounding terrain. Its nearest higher neighbor is Agathla Peak, 1.4 miles (2.3 km) to the east-northeast, on the opposite side of this highway. Precipitation runoff from this feature drains into El Capitan Wash, which is part of the San Juan River drainage basin. The first ascent of Owl Rock was made in April 1966 by Fred Beckey and Harvey Carter by climbing cracks on the west face, and then bolting up a smooth south nose to the summit. They employed 20 pitons and 14 bolts on this route called Warpath. The descriptive name stems from its uncanny resemblance to an owl when viewed from the east. This feature is known as Bee 'Adizí in Navajo language meaning "spindle", and this sacred place is considered to be a spindle left behind by the Holy People. A newer name for it is Tsé Ts'óózí, meaning "Slim Rock".
Bridger Jack Butte is a sandstone butte located in Bears Ears National Monument, in San Juan County, Utah, United States. Set at the northern tip of Bridger Jack Mesa and above the confluence of Indian and Lavender Creeks, the summit rises to an elevation of 5,890 feet, and towers over 700 feet above the surrounding terrain and floor of Lavender Canyon to its west. This landmark is situated four miles southeast of the Sixshooter Peaks, and is visible from State Route 211 between Newspaper Rock and the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. "Bridger Jack" was a Paiute medicine man.
Chaistla Butte is a 6,098-foot (1,859 m) elevation summit located south of Monument Valley, in Navajo County of northeast Arizona. It is situated 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northeast of the community of Kayenta, on Navajo Nation land, and can be seen from Highway 163. It is one of the eroded volcanic plugs, or diatremes, of the Navajo Volcanic Field, which is a volcanic field that includes intrusions and flows of minette and other unusual igneous rocks which formed around 30 million years ago during the Oligocene. Chaistla Butte rises 400 feet above the Little Capitan Valley, and the 1,000 by 700-foot base pokes up from the Chinle Formation. Its neighbors include Agathla Peak and Owl Rock, three miles (4.8 km) to the north-northwest. Precipitation runoff from this feature drains into the Laguña Creek drainage basin. The chaistla name, which means "beaver pocket" or "beaver corner" in the Navajo language, was officially adopted in 1915 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Navajo teachings have its name meaning "to support the sky's underside", such that if this butte were to fall, the world would end. It is also known as Turkey Butte.
Sentinel Mesa is a 6,450-foot-elevation (1,966-meter) summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States. It is situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the Monument Valley visitor center on Navajo Nation land and can be seen from Highway 163. The mesa is immediately northwest of the iconic West and East Mitten Buttes. The nearest higher neighbor is Brighams Tomb, 2.64 miles (4.25 km) to the north-northeast. Precipitation runoff from this mesa's west slope drains to Mitchell Butte Wash, whereas the east slope drains to West Gypsum Creek, which are both part of the San Juan River drainage basin. The "Sentinel" name refers to how the mesa oversees Monument Valley which the Navajo consider as one of the "door posts" to Monument Valley. The landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
Eagle Mesa is a 6,624-foot-elevation (2,019-meter) summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.
Brighams Tomb is a 6,739-foot-elevation (2,054-meter) summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.
Spearhead Mesa is a 5,998-foot-elevation (1,828-meter) summit in Navajo County, Arizona, United States.
Rain God Mesa is a 5,921-foot-elevation (1,805-meter) summit in Navajo County, Arizona, United States.
Camel Butte is a 5,847-foot-elevation (1,782-meter) summit in Navajo County, Arizona, United States.
Elephant Butte is a 5,981-foot-elevation (1,823-meter) summit in Navajo County, Arizona, United States.
Cly Butte is a 5,820-foot-elevation (1,774-meter) summit in Navajo County, Arizona, United States.
Setting Hen is a 6,293-foot-elevation (1,918-meter) summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.