Mount Mary Austin is a mountain east of the Sierra Crest and west of Independence, California

Independence, California

Independence is the county seat of Inyo County, California. Independence is located south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of 3930 feet . The population of this census-designated place was 669 at the 2010 census, up from 574 at the 2000 census....

. It is named in honor of Mary Hunter Austin

Mary Hunter Austin

Mary Hunter Austin was an American writer. One of the early nature writers of the American Southwest, her classic The Land of Little Rain describes the fauna, flora and people – as well as evoking the mysticism and spirituality – of the region between the High Sierra and the Mojave Desert of...

, the author of The Land of Little Rain

The Land of Little Rain

The Land of Little Rain is a book written by American writer Mary Hunter Austin. First published in 1903, it contains a series of interrelated lyrical essays about the inhabitants of the American Southwest, both human and otherwise.-Publication history:...

, who lived in Independence. The mountain is in the John Muir Wilderness

John Muir Wilderness

The John Muir Wilderness is a wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California, USA for , in the Inyo and Sierra National Forests. Established in 1964 by the Wilderness Act and named for naturalist John Muir, it contains...

. Access is limited because the area is considered habitat for the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep

Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep

Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep is a subspecies of bighorn sheep. Early taxonomic schemes included herds from British Columbia to southern California in a broader subspecies Ovis canadensis californiana. More recent genetic testing has indicated that O. c...

(Ovis canadensis sierrae) which is endangered. Permits are issued from December 15 to July 1.