[2] Topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 4,400 feet (1,300 meters) above LeConte Canyon in less than two miles.

[3] It was probably named for Pierre "Little Pete" Giraud (1874–1907), a shepherd of Inyo County who was made famous in Mary Austin's 1906 book, The Flock.

[5][6] Pierre and his younger brother, Alfred, were French immigrants who arrived in the Owens Valley, where they grazed sheep for many years at the head of the South and Middle Forks of Kings River.

[8] Most weather fronts originating in the Pacific Ocean 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).