[1] Although he preferred attending West Point Military Academy, he joined his father's law office in Albany and was later admitted to the bar.

[1] In it, he tied clear-cutting of Adirondack forests to reduced water flow in the state's canals and rivers, an idea that had first appeared in George Perkins Marsh's Man and Nature, published in 1864.

He also designed and built some tools for the job, including a folding canvas boat, and a wind powered spinning reflector to enable precise sighting of a mountain top from many miles away.

As the crew approached the summit of Marcy, they encountered an October snow storm with ice and freezing rain; despite urging by his guides and assistants to wait for better weather, Colvin pushed on despite the danger of becoming trapped in Panther Gorge.

Upon his return to Panther Gorge later that evening, Colvin wrote "Joy reigned in the camp to-night, for we had accomplished the work in the face of the greatest difficulties; when the most experienced guide had ventured to say that it was for this season impossible.

In honor of the event we had a choice supper of bear's meat fried, boiled and stewed, and hard bread and biscuit; then, unmindful of the snow storm beating in and around our open shanty, fell fast asleep."

His maps, reports, illustrations and notes form a large part of the archives of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in Albany and are often referred to by present-day surveyors.