I spent five days in the Crazy Mountains back in 2006, camping and hiking by myself. The “Crazies”(as they are known to locals) rise 7,000 feet above the Yellowstone River and the tiny town of Big Timber, Montana. The Crazies are an island range, running 32 miles north to south, and 15 miles west to east. They are a dry range, receiving less moisture than the massive Absaroka-Beartooth Range just to the south across Interstate 90.

There’s something about an island range that appeals to me, and I admit The Crazies continue to inspire my fiction. While not an official wilderness, they are still part of the incredible Gallatin National Forest. Unlike the Gallatin National Forest south of I-90, the Crazies do not have grizzly bears. This makes for better sleeping if one happens to be tenting. The Crazies do, however, contain wolverines, which are just as wild as grizzly bears. A hiker might encounter mountains goats, too, or the rare goshawk, which require old growth forests. A careful observer may also glimpse cougar, black bear, and lynx.

So what is the appeal of this small, dry island range when there is so much great country in the Rockies? Self-containment. This range of sharp, snow-capped peaks and towering Douglas fir is surrounded by prairie. And we can’t forget the 40 alpine lakes and their accompanying rugged cirques. I’ve seen this range in my dreams, at least once a month. I drive from Chicago, hoping to see some kind of wildness or landscape variety. In the dusky horizon looms an island mountain range, and hey, it’s only three hours away! So I spend the weekend hiking and camping and relieved to know that such a place exists so close to home. And then I wake up, and the scrabbling rock from mountain goats and the pine song fades into humid, pesticide-soaked cornfields and endless concrete.

Most years I don’t hike into the Crazies. I spend most of my time south of that dry island range, fishing and hiking in the Absaroka-Beartooth region, which consists of millions of acres. But the Crazies cut the horizon sharper. And the sunsets over them seem to have more color. Driving west from Billings, the Crazies are not shy about greeting you, unlike the half-hidden Beartooth plateau. Sometimes, we don’t need to smother what we love. Sometimes, just knowing it’s there is enough.

So how do you quantify the magic of such a place, of these Northern Rocky Mountains? Perhaps we don’t have the answer. In 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released numerous lynx into southern Colorado. One of those lynx appeared two years later in the Crazy Mountains.

Territorial red squirrel.

Turkey vulture soaring with Crazy Mountain backdrop.

I took these photos back in 2006, when I was still coming to grips with using a DSLR for my main photography. While not the best pictures, I keep coming back to them.