
Phelps Mountain
Written By Robert C. Lawrence
Part of the What's With Those Adirondack Mountain Names? Series
[From the 2025 Home & Garden Magazine]

Phelps Mountain reflected in Marcy Dam Pond in the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains of New York
While kayaking on beautiful Lake Durant near Blue Mountain Lake, NY, one June day, my wife Carol Ann asked, "Where does Blue Mountain get its name?" So we visited the nearby Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake to buy a place names book. But there was no such publication. So... I wrote What's With Those Adirondack Mountain Names?
Orson Schofield Phelps, commonly known as Old Mountain Phelps (1816-1905), was the most renowned guide in the Adirondacks. His fame grew through the writings of authors Charles Dudley Warner and E. R. Wallace and the photography of Seneca Ray Stoddard, which contributed to his legendary status and made him a household name.
Phelps, born in Weathersfield, Vermont, moved with his parents and siblings to Schroon Lake in 1830. Old Mountain worked for the McIntyre Iron Works (mine) until the accidental death of the mine's manager, David Henderson (Henderson Mountain). After this job, he became a guide and mountain climber in Keene Valley.
Phelps, a true pioneer in mountain climbing, was the first to conquer many of the Adirondack peaks, including Mount Marcy (1849), which he referred to as Mercy. He ascended Marcy more than a hundred times, considering it the most significant mountain in the world. He and his friend, Frederick W. Perkins also coined many peaks in the Adirondacks after shapes, including Mount Haystack, Basin Mountain, Saddleback Mountain, Mount Skylight, and Gothics. Verplanck Colvin, whom Phelps guided multiple times, is said to have named Phelps Mountain in his honor.

Cover of “Old Mountain” Phelps Poem: “The Growth of a Tree”
Image Courtesy of the Adirondack Research Library of Union College, and Protect the Adirondacks! Inc.

Saddleback Mountain
(Essex County, Town of Keene) from Basin Mountain with Gothics in the immediate background.
Photo Credit: Timothy Hutchings, courtesy of Peakbagger.com
Besides being a guide, Phelps dabbled in other endeavors, such as starting the first postal service in Keene Valley. He carried the mail for free for six months until the federal government took over deliveries. He also wrote several articles and poems for the Essex County Republican newspaper from 1870-75. Phelps was instrumental in coming up with an agreement with the Thomas and Armstrong Lumber Company that allowed guides to build camps on their property, and Phelps was one of the first to construct a dwelling. He sold Stoddard photographs, guidebooks, trail maps, and a Phelps-model fishing pole to earn extra money. These diverse activities showcase his versatility and his significant contributions to the region.
Old Mountain Phelps died at 88 in his beloved Keene Valley. His death marked the end of an era in the Adirondacks, but his legacy lives on. Many authors have summed up Old Mountain Phelps' importance to the region and
the people he guided. In 1902, Author Harry V. Radford wrote, "Phelps was undoubtedly the greatest mountaineer this region has produced and had earned the name 'Old Mountain' for his ability to seek out the easiest and most accessible routes to the most lofty and rugged summits in the state."
Historian Russell Carson summed up Old Mountain Phelps in his 1927 book Peaks and People of the Adirondacks: "He was an excellent guide because, in addition to a guide's equipment of woodcraft and knowledge of topography, he had the soul of a philosopher and poet and a fine appreciation of the beauties and sublimities of nature." Phelps' deep love for nature and his ability to share that with others is a testament to his enduring legacy.
Phelps Mountain, one of Adirondack's forty-six highest peaks in Essex County, Town of North Elba, is a fitting tribute to one of the most remarkable Adirondack guides of his time.
"Phelps was undoubtedly the greatest mountaineer this region has produced and had earned the name 'Old Mountain' for his ability to seek out the easiest and most accessible routes to the most lofty and rugged summits in the state."

Orson Schofield (Old Mountain) Phelps
Photo Credit: Seneca Ray Stoddard-Wilton, Saratoga County Native, courtesy of the Adirondack Research Library of Union College, and Protect the Adirondacks! Inc.
What's With Those Adirondack Mountain Names? (The Troy Book Makers) is available at the following retail locations: Market Block Books (Troy), The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza (Albany), Open Door Bookstore (Schenectady), Friar Tuck Newsroom (Rensselaer), Northshire Bookstore, Saratoga Outdoors (Saratoga), Adirondack Country Store (Northville), St. Andrews Ace Hardware (Queensbury), in many retail establishments in the Adirondack Park and on Amazon.com.
