“There was no gradual transition — no thinning of trees, no progressive increase in sunlight, no gentle introduction to the landscape beyond. The trail descended a final ridge, turned around a granite outcrop that was the last geological remnant of the Varom Highlands, and the forest ended. One step: pine canopy, shadow, the particular silence of ancient trees. Next step: sky, light, the wide-open western lowlands stretching to a horizon that was so distant it appeared to curve with the shape of the world.”