LV boy hopes name sticks
U.S., Arizona boards consider suggestion for peak
It started as a fun way to celebrate a father and son’s shared love of the outdoors.
So far, though, it’s playing out like a lesson in bureaucratic frustration and the complicated business of naming things.
In June, Las Vegas resident and avid outdoorsman Chris Meyer submitted a formal application to have an unnamed mountain 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas officially labeled as Peanut Peak, the name his son, Kenny, gave it the first time they hiked to its 2,500-foot summit when he was 5.
Since then, the seemingly inoffensive proposal has bounced between two different boards of geographic names and undergone review by the National Park Service, Mohave County, Ariz., and 10 different American Indian tribes with an interest in the peak on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, about 6 miles south of Hoover Dam.
Right now, Meyer’s application is in the hands of the Arizona Board on Geographic and Historic Names, which is expected rule early next year. If the Arizona board approves it, the name will go to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for a final vote.
The idea already has one mark against it, said Jennifer Runyon, a researcher for the U.S. board: The National Park Service opposes it, at least in part, because the peak is in an area considered sacred by some Indian tribes.
But Runyon said in an email that the board sought input from the 10 tribes in question but received no response, “so we are presuming that none of them have an opinion.”
“The (Park Service) is just one voting member on the U.S. Board, and its opinion is just one of several factors that the board will consider, although as the land management agency its recommendation is likely to be significant,” Runyon said.
The peak is within Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Meyers, who works as a guide for Pink Jeep Tours, said he first noticed it during one of his many drives along U.S. Highway 93 between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.
Kenny, now 8, said he can’t remember why he decided to call it Peanut Peak in 2012.
“It just looks like a regular mountain,” the third-grader said. “I probably just said it to be funny.”
The name has been memorialized in some circles. Author Courtney Purcell called it Peanut Peak in the latest edition of his guidebook, “Rambles and Scrambles: A Peakbagging Guide to the Desert Southwest.”
“I showed that to (Kenny), and his eyes just lit up,” Meyer said.
Climbing the peak has become an annual tradition in the Meyer family. Kenny and his dad make the trip each November.
The hike covers 4 miles round-trip with about 1,100 feet of elevation gain. There is “absolutely no trail,” Meyer said, so they park on the side of U.S. 93 at mile marker 6 and find their own way using GPS and instinct.
They have placed a registry book on the peak for people to sign when they reach the top. Meyer said usually the only signatures they find are their own. “It’s not really on anyone’s radar,” he said.
In recent years, they’ve taken to calling two nearby peaks Butter and Jelly, though Meyer has no plans to submit those suggestions to any naming boards. “It’s more of a joke,” he said. The U.S. naming board is expected to consider Peanut Peak at its next monthly meeting after the Arizona board renders its decision, Runyon said. There’s no way to appeal a rejection.
“Because the process is so deliberate, and we seek to collect input from all parties, very few cases are reopened by the board,” Runyon wrote.
Kenny said it will be “exciting” if his name is picked, disappointing if it isn’t. But he seemed just as excited about the family’s upcoming camping trip to Death Valley.
“My favorite part of hiking is rock climbing,” he said.
Meyer is trying to walk a similar path. Whether the name stays in the family or someday lands on the map, he said, “It will always be our peak in our hearts and our minds.”