A Dreamlike Mist
The earth is completely obscured by clouds all along our route westward. The only visual clues we have to help us identify the hidden landscape are the subtly changing textures of clouds as the heat radiates from each mountain, plain and canyon in distinctive patterns. The Grand Canyon is a tumult as if water churning in a wide stream were forming in a single harmonious swirl that lapped up and over its banks. Meanwhile the more varied texture of the Mojave desert creates a chaotic pattern of small sharp upward brushstrokes crossing in every direction. As we near the west coast and the end of our journey, the San Bernardino Mountains emerge from the water vapor and the surrounding valleys bring order to the clouds and the landscape beneath their peaks and ridges is shrouded in a dreamlike mist illuminated by the setting sun.
