Wikipedia lists 233 peaks named Baldy, and that list doesn't include the 3,218 ft. Mt. Baldy in my Eagle River, Alaska backyard, doesn't include my go-to peak for restoring spirit and body. What gives?
There are other Alaska Baldies listed: a 1, 604 ft. peak in Nome and an 866 ft. Lone Baldy peak in Cordova.
There are peaks named Baldy in California, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. More than one in most of these states: In Oregon there are five. There are peaks named Baldy Mountain in Arizona, Colorado, California, Idaho, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. More than one in most of these states: Ten in Colorado. Nine in Montana. Six in Oregon. Five in California, Idaho and Oregon. There are peaks named Baldy Peak in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. More than one in most of these states: In Colorado there are five.
There are peaks called Big Baldy or Little Baldy, Mt. Baldy or Old Baldy, or other variants of Baldy in all these same states and more. If all variations are considered, Colorado's Baldy peaks number at least forty-four.
What gives? What gives, is a lack of imagination. What gives, is a lack of story. My husband and I call our Mt. Baldy "Anniversary Peak" because we climb it for the first time each year to commemorate our wedding anniversary, which falls conveniently on or near Memorial Day weekend. We call it "First Mountain" because it was the first mountain each of our children has climbed on their own two feet. We call it "365 Degrees" because that is the view from the peak. We call it "Our Town Overlook" because we can see all of Eagle River from it. We call it "Paraglider Paradise" because on breezy summer days we can watch flocks of paragliders leap off a ledge to catch thermals. We call it "Aurora Point" because in the winter it is the best place we know of to catch Northern Lights. We call it "Our Mountain" because it is a part of so many of our family stories.