I couldn't get enough of this one when it was on. The fact that my "hero" John Denver had written the theme (which stayed with me long after I had lost most memories of the series) made it a big deal, and as I recall I also couldn't get enough of the younger ranger, played by James G Richardson. I remember being terrified when he fell during a rescue and went from rescuer to second victim in a heartbeat!
The other reason I remember this series is it literally helped to shape my life. I wanted to BE them, just as when I watched Grizzly Adams, I wanted to BE him. Some 20 years later, I was splitting wood outside my wilderness lookout with a squirrel scrambling all over me and a yearling mule deer I'd patched up after a cougar attack looking on. I dropped a log on my foot -- OUCH -- and as I turned to that mule deer and grumbled "What are YOU laughing at? You think you could do better?" I suddenly realized that I'd made it, after all. And it was everything I'd dreamed it would be!
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