The Mutual Respect of Poets Ledge
To attempt to give a Poet’s Ledge experience justice, it respectfully should be placed into words. Even then, it will struggle to depict the magnitude of all things considered. The day started my placing my 21st century automobile at the edge of the nearest though fare that had originally been constructed by enslaved convicts as a more favorable access to the populated Haines Falls. This is an access frequented in the previous century or so by Mr. Rip Van Winkle and his beloved canine, Wolf. Today, it’s a far less man of facial hair, and the efficient cattle mover, Alta. Dashing up the initial climb you ever so lazily switchback the beaten wood road until it runs out at the final cabin’s lingering smell of their wood stove. Parked out front is a few decade old Ford with an oxidized iron paint job that appears to have made the 400 foot climb. Now begins the more direct jolt to the ridge. At roughly 800 feet of elevation the previous nights snowfall becomes apparent filling the crevasse and shaded sides of the dense forest. As one continues to gain in elevation the snow begins to refreshingly blanket the ground of the decomposing leaf matter. I follow my faithful four legged friend's precisely placed paw prints between rocks and roots as we traverse the ridge filled of frosty conifers. The trail then drops off and continues to descent. One begin to think how long can this falling leaf design last before we’re no longer above the tree tops. The understory thins as you enter a high marsh that could ruin your feet if plans were to continue for a long trek. The up heaval of the surface soils are frozen enough to keep the feet dry today. Scattering beams of sunlight begin to pour through the flaky softwood trunks. An overwhelming feeling of respect looms over the outcrop as you step out into the light. In the foreground sits a valley with mixed forest inhabiting the perfectly 40 degree slopes up to Kaaterskill High Peak in the southwest and South Mountain to the Northeast. A feeling of symbiosis between the Kaaterskill Creek and the mountains breathes life into the valley. Neither willing to overstep their boundaries. The sunlight gleams down of this valley filled with rocks resistant enough coupled with a well behaved waterway, and the opportunity for the existence of a two laned outlier built to follow the path of least resistance.