It is set at the south end of the Ritter Range, approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of the community of Mammoth Lakes.

Topographic relief is significant as the east aspect rises over 2,000 feet (610 meters) above Anona Lake in approximately one mile.

[7] The toponym was likely applied by the Wheeler Survey,[2] and has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

[8] 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 (orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range.