The approach to this remote peak is made via the John Muir Trail which passes to the east of the mountain.

The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1964 by the United States Board on Geographic Names to honor Harold L. Ickes (1874–1952), who was responsible for implementing much of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal as Secretary of the Interior from 1933 to 1946 and was instrumental in establishing Kings Canyon National Park.

[5] 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).

Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the South Fork Kings River.