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The U.S. Forest Service fire lookouts stationed in the Kaibab Plateau lookout trees weren’t just responsible for spotting fires—they were also charged with putting them out. Working in two-person teams, one would sight the smoke and the other would rush to douse the flames. If that failed, they’d signal the spotter, who would call for help with a rudimentary telephone.

Leath Tonino is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Adventure Journal. He’s the author of two essay collections about the outdoors, most recently The West Will Swallow You. Bless his heart, he has no website or social media accounts.

Forest Woodward is the most aptly named nature and adventure photographer in the biz. He’s based in Montana, though not necessarily in a forest. forestwoodward.com, @forestwoodward

Western Brook Pond is part of the Long Range Mountains, itself the northernmost hunk of the Appalachian range. It was once a true fjord, but during the past ice age the basin became cut off from the sea, forming a large inland lake. Freshwater flushed out the saltwater, leaving ultraoligotrophic water, about as pure and clear as nature makes.

Justin Fornal is a writer, explorer, and cofounder of History, Arts, & Science Action Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving vanishing cultures in crisis zones. hasanworldwide.org. justinfornal.com, @justin_fornal

Gung-ho firefighters jumping from airplanes into forest fires might seem as yeehaw American as it gets, but Canada, Mongolia, and Russia also maintain elite teams of smokejumpers. Russia, in fact, beat Americans to the punch, establishing its program a few years before the USFS, and its smokejumper ranks dwarf those of the United States: There are about four thousand Russian smokejumpers serving from some three hundred forty bases across the Siberian taiga. For more information on the history of smokejumping, check out Smokejumper Experiment by Fred Cooper and Mike McMillan—an invaluable background source for this story.

Sarah Gilman is a writer, illustrator, and occasional seamstress who was inspired to write this piece after seeing sewing machines and hand-sewn patches at a smokejumper base. sarahmgilman.com, @Sarah_Gilman, @hiddendrawerdesigns

Photographer Mak Crist is based in western Montana. In addition to digital, she also shoots on film using her grandfather’s Canon AE-1, which she calls Grandpa. @makcrist

While we in no way endorse or recommend freight-train hopping—a.k.a., don’t even think about suing us if you kill yourself trying to catch a freight on the fly—we’re fascinated by the logistics involved. For a full breakdown of hard-earned beta, including strategies for evading the bull, how to choose the right car, and a list of essential gear, check out reddit.com/r/vagabond/comments/8fjmxf/how_to_safely_hop_freight_trains/

Her First Freight was excerpted and adapted from The Sunset Route: Freight Trains, Forgiveness, and Freedom on the Rails in the American West, The Dial Press, 2021. Carrot Quinn is a writer and thru-hiker who divides her time between Alaska and the wide open spaces of the West. Her first book was called Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail, CreateSpace, 2015. carrotquinn.com

The 2023 class action lawsuit arguing Booz Allen Hamilton is charging junk fees to users of Recreation.gov isn’t the only legal issue the firm faced in 2023. (Booz Allen is seeking to have the suit dismissed, claiming the government sets the fees.) In July, the corporation paid $377 million to settle a case that accused Booz Allen of defrauding the U.S. government for more than a decade.

Matt Stoller is the director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project. He publishes a monopoly-focused newsletter called BIG at thebignewsletter.com. @matthewstoller

Ötzi’s 1991 discovery gave rise to the field of glacial archaeology, and his find was repeated shortly after by prehistoric artifacts emerging from the ice in Alaska, Western Canada, the Rockies, Swiss Alps, and Norway, among other places. The Glacier Archaeology Program in Innlandet, Norway, is the first academic department devoted to recovering artifacts revealed by retreating glaciers, secretsoftheice.com. For lots more on Ötzi himself, including how and when to visit the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, navigate to iceman.it.

Skye Cooley, a former climbing partner and close friend of Keith Spencer, included some of his favorite quotes from Spencer in a heartfelt obituary. Our favorite: Welcome back from the hospital! Let’s ski Richthofen tomorrow. You can hang your IV bag from the rearview mirror on the drive down. You can still drive, right?

Author Mark Jenkins still climbs ice, rock, and mountains, most recently putting up a new route on the Southwest Face of Mt. Kenya. markjenkins.net

If you’re interested in tossing your dirty, sweat-soaked hat in the ring for a trail worker job next summer, two of the best sites for finding work are americantrails.org and coolworks.com. Starting pay for National Park Service trail crew is twenty-six bucks an hour, according to salary.com. Callouses would help, but aren’t required, as you’ll build them eventually.

Joe Gibson is a trail worker living in San Francisco, the rare major city that allows all-day hiking in urban forests. When he’s not building trails, he is often writing about them. trailcrewstories.com, @trailcrewstories

Ready to dive into the Airstream game or level up the one you have? Bethany Williams and Parker Bolden will happily help you. Prices run about five hundred to seven hundred dollars a square foot. perpetuallydevastated.com

Good To-Go makes breakfast, lunch, and dinner backpacking meals for everyone from vegans to carnivores, and we’ve had most of them, sitting on a sleeping pad, bone-tired and content. Our fave is the Indian Korma—far cleaner and tastier than most synthetic salt bomb dehydrated meals. goodto-go.com

Nick Lavecchia is an adventure photographer based in York, Maine. Much of his work focuses on the craggy, surf-rich coastline of northern New England. His work previously appeared in Adventure Journal 16’s Maine Craft feature on wood surfboard building. nicklavecchia.com, @nick_lavecchia

Alex Turner’s work isn’t limited to trippy night vision imagery. He’s made incredible art using thermal imagery of tree roots, as well as barely illuminated desert-scapes, much of which can be seen at his Instagram account. Turner lives in Los Angeles, California. His prints are in collections at Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Tucson Museum of Art. alexturnerart.com, @alex_turner_art