Okay, now I see your argument. But water always follows the path of least resistance, there are always valleys or gaps in ridges and mountains. What’s to make you think the water eroded slowly an uplifted land mass rather than is just flowing through natural valleys already there?
Water gaps really cannot be compared to valleys as they are different types of terrain features. Valleys have distinct high ground on 3 sides and generally a steeper pitch with faster moving water. Water gaps only have distinct high ground on 2 sides.
Water gaps are formed by rivers that are already there on relatively flat ground....when the uplift occurs. The uplift occurs perpendicular (or nearly so) to the river, slow enough such that there never is a course-changing “path of least resistance”...the water erodes the uplift as it happens.
What we know is that the river was there, the uplift did occur and continues to do so, and water does erode. The ONLY problem with this is if one believes the Earth to be only a few thousands of years old, the uplift would be faster than the water could erode it, then the river would divert along the uplift and not eroded it into a water gap.