Visions of Grandeur via the Mohonk Memorial Gateway

When I was a child, the Mohonk Preserve was just being established, with most of its holdings off limits to the general public. In those days, whenever I’d spy the Memorial Gateway and its companion Pin Oak Allee from Butterville Road or Route 299–usually from my father’s truck, on the way to or from a job–I’d stare at them longingly, imagining what it would be like to actually walk through that enchanted landscape. In my vision, it was always a stately procession, matching the formal order of the Allee enhanced by romantic notions of grandeur gleaned from careful reading of the Prince Valiant comic strip.

When the Memorial Gateway trailhead opened a few years ago, I finally got my chance at the Allee. I was expecting a formal, measured experience, something like a polonaise. From the outside, the trees may be aligned like sentries, but as you walk among them, they sweep you into in a series of slow, swirling embraces. It is as wonderful as it is unexpected. This painting attempts to convey what that feels like. (Click on it to enlarge.) I can report it was well worth the 50-year wait.