Today we hiked to the top of Storm King Mountain, elevation 1,340 feet. It sits on the west bank of the Hudson River and, together with Breakneck Ridge on the opposite bank, creates the northern narrows known as “Wey-Gat,” or Wind Gate. During his initial voyage up the river, Henry Hudson took note of its prominent aspect and called the mountain Klinkesberg because of its rock cliffs near the river.
As we climbed up the difficult trail, which often doubled as a flowing creek, I noticed that we were practically alone on the mountain. One other hiker we ran into warned us of wet, steep trail conditions on the back side of the mountain, but we pressed on. The clouds hung low in the sky, and I worried we would not have a view once we reached the top.
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