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My 12th season as an Alaska Smokejumper kept me jumping - 16 fires in all - from June into September. Alaska fires brought a range of challenges in 2007, from miles of tundra trudging, hot spotting and mopping up, to acerage-gobbling blazes demanding immediate respect. Dozens of visiting jumpers from the lower 48 helped us keep a handle on the Alaska wildfire season. And when it was our turn to head south, the Great Basin and Forest Service smokejumper bases welcomed just about every Alaska jumper who wanted to leave God's country, when Alaska fires turned to rain. Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Nevada became my destiny down south, offering barren desert wildfires and high country timber jumps.
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