This photo taken from Hwy 2, has the dubious distinction—even though the mountains themselves definitely get your attention—of being one of the most cheerless images I've ever done. That's Mount Saint Nicholas at right, and the only reason I was in this particular part of the country at that time is that Western Montana was in the grips of the single dryest winter in recorded history, and I took the trip to see for myself if it was really as bad as reported. It was: this scene would normally have been buried in snow! To follow up, the summer of 2005 was one of terrible fires. Photo by Vernon, February 4, 2005.