Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2,300 feet (700 meters) above Little Lakes Valley in approximately one-half mile (0.80 km).

Named by the Sierra Club to honor one of their own, this mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1939 by the United States Board on Geographic Names to remember Walter A. Starr Jr. (1903–1933), a mountain climber of renown, and author of "Guide to the John Muir Trail and the High Sierra Region.

"[6][9] In the summer of 1933, "Pete", as he was nicknamed, failed to return from a month-long hike to the Minarets, and his body was eventually discovered by Norman Clyde following a search.

[10] 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.