[3] It is situated in the Palisades area of the John Muir Wilderness, on land managed by Inyo National Forest.

[2] The name commemorates Charles Mills Gayley (1858–1932), beloved English professor and Academic Dean of the University of California, Berkeley.

[7] Established climbing routes on Mount Gayley:[8] Access from Big Pine: Glacier Lodge Road, North Fork Big Pine Creek Trail, then Glacier Trail.

[9] Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains.

As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (orographic lift).