From my visit to Robert's place (Bear_Music) where the nasty, bad man stuck a 10-22 lens on the front of my camera and I was immediately addicted. Not the world's best landscape, but one of my first with the 10-22.
I do like your original with that light, but this one is certainly your style. I remember when you visited and raved about the lens; I can't believe it's been that long.
Changing to grayscale puts the emphasis on the sandy path, rather than the big bush in front; excellent choice. Nice use of wide-angle without getting that distorted look -- it "fits" the landscape elements well.
Very nice, sorry about the "crack" lens. I think since there's not much detail in the sky after your nice toning that it might be worth it to crop some of it out.