A Smoke-Covered Holland Peak

SWAN VALLEY - As the terminus of summer loomed nearer, and my tenure reporting for the Pathfinder approached with equal speed and horror, I knew I needed to get in one last adventure before trading in my lakeside life for one of city streets and lecture halls.

For several weeks, I had the idea of bagging Holland Peak, the tallest mountain in the Swan Range, in the back of my head.

For those same weeks, I was continuously thwarted in my attempts-first by a lack of adventure buddies, then by the exhaustion of myself and said adventure buddies, then by the copious amounts of smoke from the Rice R...