Chuska+Mountains-kh

**Chuska Mountains**
Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau comprise the wettest, most verdant terrain of the contemporary Navajo Nation. Two-thirds of the average annual surface water generated within the Navajo Reservation originates in this region's ponderosa pine forest. The harder volcanic and sedimentary rocks that cap the Chuskas have strongly resisted the same forces that have eroded the rocks surrounding them, creating the "mountains" that we see today. Most of the gently uplifted Defiance Plateau sits between 7,000 and 8,000 feet above sea level, while the more rugged Chuskas reach up to nearly 10,000 feet.