They were part of a special breed.
Smoke jumper Lory Foster fought the summer infernos that threatened the Northwest forests.
Mike Steen battled those blazes from his specially equipped chopper.
When fires raged, they were a team. The rest of the time they were loners, isolated by the demands of their jobs, the uncertainty of their lives and the lurking threat of sudden death. To Mike, Lory was strong and vital. He didn't believe she'd ever need him. To Lory, Mike was an free spirit soaring over the human passions of love and desire. But their breed were gamblers and they gambled everything on one glorious and tumultuous weekend on the drifting currents of Idaho's Snake River.