The Tetons

I woke up to a very foggy Gatwick and news that many flights were being affected in the south of England. At least I was already down south so I just resigned myself to enjoying my breakfast and expecting some delay. Gatwick airport has improved beyond recognition and I had a great - if financially dangerous - time browsing the shops until it was time to board - happily on time despite the fog. I took several photos of the foggy conditions and when the household here wakes up ( it is still only 3am Vegas time) I will ask my son if I can access his computer and I will post them onto my flickr site.

The flight was excellent and from the time we flew over Greenland until just 300 miles north of Vegas, which took about five and a half flying hours, the ground was covered in a white blanket. I had heard that America was in the grip of a wintry blast but had no idea that it was so widespread. Some of the time a cold fog lay below the plane which was cruising at 40,000' and so the view below was obscured but when it cleared it was an amazing sight, especially over Greenland and the mountain ranges in Canada.

This particular range is in Wyoming and is known as the Tetons, with the highest peak, the Grand Teton, standing at just over 4,000'. It struck me as it rises sharply from a fairly flat plain like one enormous fold and it was formed millions of years ago when the earth's crust cracked and these jagged mountains were pushed upwards. It looks to be a fascinating are to explore. It was about this time that I noticed the uniformly thick white covering starting to become thinner with glimpses of the red desert showing through and then just before beginning our descent over Lake Mead, where the great Hoover dam is, the ground lost all its snow covering and the now familiar desert hues of red, pink and sienna glowed beneath us. The view reminded me of a tidal and muddy river estuary where the strong currents had gouged out deep shapes and trenches in the river bed.

Apologies for the rather dirty window of the plane!