“Wey Gat” Wind Gate, Hudson River Valley

A river born from the Tears of the Clouds. Its as if she holds an essence of the Divine, something unworldly that fell from the sky, the heavens. The natives called her “Muhheakunnuk” meaning “The River that Runs Both Ways”. In all of my travels, I still revel in the beauty of this majestic river, the valley I have called home for most of my life.
I can’t help but feel the power of these mountains and spirit of place, saturated in history, lore, exploration, and song.
I look to the north, as I paddle on the water. A passage through what was once called the “Wey-Gat” the Wind Gate, with the mighty Storm King to the West, Breakneck Ridge to the East. These mountains hold a presence that is felt for all those to bear witness and traverse its range. If you feel with your heart and listen intently, the winds will whisper an epic tale.
These mountain peaks hold a powerful place in my heart. As a child, I would beg my parents to bring me to the mountain. I would bathe in the springs and taste the young furled shoots of ferns growing along the mountainside.
As a young teen, I would spend countless nights gazing to the east, romancing the stars. I would soak in the sweeping winds upon High Point on Rte 218, a road filled with windy turns hugging each bend and curve of the mountains edge, dramatic cliff sides, and rocky ledges that tested your courage.
I knew this drive well. Yet, it always felt as if I was experiencing its inspiration for the first time. What will be around the next turn? These mountains reflected my life and calling of adventure.
I have been molded and shaped by this landscape, something primal, something wild as I captured pieces of its dynamic nature and embodied its omnipotence to my core.

I learned and embraced beauty, wisdom, and strength from high peaks, and vast views of the river that connected me to something in the distance, the unknown. I recollect the bones of my life over weathered time. These mountains hold my story, my footsteps eternally sunken into the earth.