Location: Kern County, California
Named by the USGS in honor Weldon Fairbanks Heald (1901-67), who conceived and established the “100 Peaks Game” (1946), later to become our Hundred Peaks Section (1954), at the request of Paul A. Lipsohn, on behalf of the Sierra Club (1973).
Heald earned a B.Arch (M.I.T.), married Phyllis Warde (1930), and moved into an artists bungalow (which they called “Los Arboles”) in Rubio Canyon. He worked as an Army Climatologist during WWII, but later devoted himself to tireless reporting on the history, ecology, conservation and preservation of mountains, wilderness, deserts, Forests, Parks and Monuments (State and National), authoring over 600 articles in 127 different publications. He organized the first Sierra Club Conservation Committee (1945). Served as Director of the Sierra Club (1945-46, 1947-49). First Past-Chair of the Hundred Peaks Section (1954). Member of the Conservation Committee of the American Alpine Club. Trustee of the National Parks Association (1957-67). Consultant on National Parks and Monuments to the Secretary of the Interior (1961-67). Author of Sky Island (1967). Leader of many needed conservation projects in the Southwest and especially in the area where his peak is located. The Angeles Chapter’s highest Award for Conservation is named after Heald. A grateful HPS dedicated a summit plaque in Healds honor on April 27, 1974.
Name first appears on USGS Woolstalf Creek topo (1972).
Name officially accepted by USBGN (1972).
Peak was added to the HPS Peak List in 1974.
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