Can't do better than that beautiful shot of a cliff! Love your trees, that's our next step. The details and stuctures on your layout are magnificient. Since this is our first layout, we are slowly learning to have patience.
Jr. wants to run trains really bad, then I tell him to look at your photos - then he slows way down. "Yea, I see what you mean Dad, we still gotta long way to go!"
Go to www.railroadforums.com/forum/index.php At the top of the page is a menu that links you to a photo gallery that lists thumbnails. Go to it, and click on the menu for Western Roads. There are 93 pages of photos with 9 thumbnails per page. Many are of mountain railroading. You should find something useful there.
Hard to follow up what has been posted above but here's one from my layout. The vertical black lines are reinforcing beams for this sheer rock wall.
Ralph
I just used the photo software that came with the camera (Canon S400). I used the "spray-can" tool with varying degrees of transparency and shades of grey and brown and different "nozzle" sizes.