The Southwest is ieasy to love but difficult to understand, for it snuggles scapes and life zones into spaces where you would not expect to find such neighbors.
As often as he has explored this land, author Craig Child still expresses surprise at what it offers. During a treck to gather material for this richly illustrated scenic-adventure book, he surveyed his surroundings: fog so dense tha he held his hands forward as he walked; a river lavishly flowing through dry, interlaced canyons; a powdery frost chilling his face;rock hoodoos appearing and vanishing in the mist; cliffs ascending and disappearing ovewrhead.

And then:
"The fog closed, thightning against me. I listened for voices. For a bird. For the scuttle of a coyote. For wind.
Ther was nothing.
Was this the desert?
Where am I?"