The John Muir Trail traverses below the west base of the peak on its descent south from Pinchot Pass, providing an approach to the mountain.

This mountain was named by Sierra Club member Robert D. Pike in 1906 in honor of George Clement Perkins (1839–1923), a Sierra Club charter member, 14th Governor of California (1880–1883), and United States Senator from California (1893–1915).

[7] 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 this mountain drains west into headwaters of the South Fork Kings River, and east to the Owens Valley via Armstrong Canyon.