{From the 2024 Spring magazine}

Written By Robert C. Lawrence
Part of the "WHAT'S WITH THOSE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN NAMES?" Series

While kayaking on beautiful Lake Durant near Blue Mountain Lake, New York, 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?

"FAR ABOVE THE CHILLY WATERS OF LAKE AVALANCHE, AT AN ELEVATION OF 4,293 FEET ... IS A MINUTE, UNPRETENDING TEAR OF THE CLOUDS - AS IT WERE - A LONELY POOL SHIVERING IN THE BREEZES OF THE MOUNTAINS, AND SENDING ITS LIMPID SURPLUS THROUGH FELDSPAR BROOK TO THE OPALESCENT RIVER, THE WELL-SPRING OF THE HUDSON."  

During his first Adirondack Survey in 1872, Verplanck Colvin discovered the source of the Hudson River and named it Lake Tear of the Clouds. Colvin was a prolific and eloquent writer who wrote these words about his discovery of Hudson's source in his first legislative Report on the Topographical Survey of the Wilderness of New York.

"In Tribute to VERPLANCK COLVIN 1847-1920 Land Surveyor, Founder, and Champion of the New York State Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park, Remembered by his friends and admirers on the Centennial of the Adirondack Park-May 20, 1992." These words appear on a plaque at Verplanck Colvin's gravesite in Coeymans, New York. However, these words do not tell the entire story of Verplanck Colvin. 

Born in and living during his younger days at his family's Western Avenue home, known as the "Elms" by local intellectuals, he received a tutored education that fostered his love of science and mathematics.  

Realizing that Verplanck needed to further his education, his parents sent him first to The Albany Academy. The Colvin family later moved to Nassau, New York, where Verplanck attended and received his secondary education at Nassau Academy. It was there in the surrounding Nassau countryside that Colvin developed his love for nature and the outdoors. 

Colvin wanted to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, as he loved military tactics and maps, but his father denied his request. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer. He clerked with his father, eventually being admitted to the bar. But Verplanck wanted more out of life than legal work.

His new direction would come after meeting author Alfred Street (Street Mountain) and reading Street's book; Woods and Waters, or The Saranacs and Racket. As a result of this encounter, Verplanck became more obsessed with the outdoors, topography, hiking, writing, and exploring many areas, including the Helderberg and Adirondack Mountains. 

This desire eventually led him, in 1872, at a very young age, to the Superintendent of the Adirondack Survey job. He chose Mills Blake (Blake Peak), whom he had met at the Nassau Academy and who was his best friend as his second in command. Using funds Colvin acquired from the New York State Legislature and mostly his own fortune, he spent twenty-eight years exploring and documenting the high peaks of the Adirondacks. He wrote reports for the legislature, drew maps, and illustrated his findings. His state work ended in 1900 when Theodore Roosevelt, then Governor of New York State relinquished Colvin's duties to the New York State Engineer.

Colvin was a pioneer in the field of Cartography. He aided cartographers by supplying them with basic information such as base, height, and distance to calculate the proportions between contour lines and plot them on maps. His observations also helped geologists study the scratches and curves in the rocks leading to and from valleys, thereby helping them interpret the direction of glacial movement. 

Colvin's Adirondack guides renamed Sabele Mountain Mount Colvin to honor their leader. Colvin was undoubtedly a Renaissance man, ahead of his time in his ideas and what he accomplished in the Adirondack Park. Colvin Pond and Colvin Avenue in Albany, New York, also bear his name.

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), 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.