Mountain Trivia

Storm over Hurricane Mt. Taken from Rt. 22

Q Why are there 4 mountains under 4000' on the 46er list and 5 mountains above 4000' that are not?

A The Adirondack 46er's follow the original peaks climbed by the marshall brothers who thought those 4 mountains were over 4000'. As for the other four Mcnaughton is under 4000' it was believed to be 4000' from the 1955 USGS but the 1978 USGS puts it at 3,985'. As for Pyramid Peak, Yard Mt, Lookout mt, and unnamed 4412' they don't rise 300 feet on all sides so they are considered parts of other mountains not mountains of their own.

I may be small now but wait to I grow up

The Adirondacks are growing at a rate of 3mm a year or 1 foot ~every 101 yrs (faster than the Himalayas)

so those Peaks that are now under 4000' will someday be Legitimate

Name + Height in 1978(feet)*	Years from now (2005) it will be above 4000'
Mcnaughton 3,985	1,497
Blake Mt. 3,980	2,005
Cliff  3,942	5,866
Snowy 3,898	10,336
Nye 3,870	13,181
Couchie 3,791	21,207
Blue Mt. 3,760	24,357
Hurricane Mt.3,694	31,063
Coon Mt. 925	312,393

* 1978 was when the measurements were made

And someday Mt. Marcy 5,344' (in 1978) Will be bigger then

Name + Today' Height(feet)	Years from now (2005) Marcy will be Higher
Mt. Rogers 5,729	39,089
Mt. Washington 6,288	95,883
Mt. Mitchell 6,680	135,710
Mt. Cook 12,316	708,327
Mt. Fuji  12,387	715,569
Pike's Peak 14,110	889,583
Mt. Whitney 14,480	928,190
Mont Blanc 15,771	1,059,356
Vinson Massif 16,076	1,090,344
Kilimanjaro 19,341	1,422,068
Mt. Mckinley 20,320	1,521,534
Aconcagua 22,835	1,777,059
Mt. Everest 29,017	2,405,150

Okay not in our lifetimes but in Geology this is tomorrow

Right in our backyard and we didn't see it

Pike's Peak was climbed 27 years before Mt. Marcy was even discovered

Right in our backyard and we didn't see it (Part II)

Mt. Washington was climbed 204 years before Mt. Marcy was even discovered

Sucking up to the boss

Mt. Marcy was originally called Tahawas An Indian word for CloudSplitter* a cool name. But Colvin the great Adirondack explorer changed it's name to Mt. Marcy in honor of Governor Marcy who authorized the Adirondack survey. Governor Marcy never set foot in the Adirondacks

* I got an email on this one. It appears Tahawas was an Indian word for cloudsplitter but it wasn't from the Algonquins or Iroquois but from the Senecas in lower New York. The Name was given by the White Man. Checking into it, more later  

The First explorers of the Adirondacks believed that the mountains were much smaller than the Catskills. In fact they believed Whiteface Mt.(4867') was no higher than 2,700 feet. (Whiteface's Ascent is 3,620)

And you thought the Guy who believed Couchsachraga was over 4000' was dumb(part 2)

It was once believed that Seward Mt. (4361') was higher than Mt. Marcy (5344')

It just doesn't happen in California

Most slides were formed by heavy rains. But some like the one on Nye were formed by Earthquakes. In fact the Adirondacks averages about one earthquake with a magnitude 4.5 -5.5 a year. As the Adirondack's grow Earthquakes will become more frequent and more powerful.

Hue, How, Huh?

Hough(Peak) is pronounced " Huff  " not "how" or "hugh"

Ugly Ducking

Rocky Peak Ridge summit used to be heavily wooded until the 1903 fires burned it bare. To the Locals the burned summit was so ugly that the Girl Scouts planted the lines of Spruce trees you see today on Rt. 73 to block out the views of the peak. The open summit caused by the fire on the other hand has given Rocky Peak Ridge one of the best views in the Adirondacks.

The Most Useless Adirondack Mountain fact

The only letter that is not in any of the spelling of any of the 46 High Peaks is the letter "Z". Besides MckenZie Mt. no peak above 3000 feet has a "Z" in it. Yes I know I need a life, what can I say the winters are long here.