Product Description

Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada—mountains as perilous as they are beautiful.

Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12925 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Released on: 2007-01-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Blehm (Agents of Change) offers a thorough if cumbersome account of the life of Randy Morgenson, a National Park Service ranger in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains whose zeal gave way to disillusionment before he disappeared on duty in 1996, after 28 summers on the job[...]. The book begins with the day Morgenson left his camp for a three-day patrol and then failed to make scheduled radio contact. From there, the narrative weaves the events of the ensuing search with descriptions of ranger life, tales of past incidents in the area and Morgenson's increasingly fraught personal history. Blehm's exhaustive research is impressive, although the author struggles to find the proper balance of background information and narrative pace, spending, for instance, an entire page on a peripheral reference to the California Conservation Corps when a sentence or two would have sufficed. He does, however, succeed in creating an empathetic portrayal of Morgenson and a revealing look at the taxing, underappreciated calling to which he dedicated himself. Readers are left with an intimate sense of an intelligent if flawed man whose love of the mountains ended up costing him his marriage, his ambitions and his life. 16-page b&w photo insert not seen by PW. (Apr. 7)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In 1996, after nearly 30 seasons as a park ranger in the Sierra Nevadas, Randy Morgenson set off on a routine patrol and never came back. His body was found in July 2001, almost exactly five years after he disappeared. To this day, the circumstances of his death remain unclear. In this fascinating account, the product of several years' investigation, Blehm explores the many mysteries surrounding Morgenson. Why did the veteran ranger, a man whose knowledge of his territory was virtually encyclopedic, seem suddenly to be disillusioned with his life's work? Was his death an accident, foul play, or suicide? Did his single-minded quest to preserve the wilderness finally seem futile? Despite obvious comparisons to such best-sellers as Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild (1996), Blehm's book stands on its own just fine. A vibrant and ultimately tragic story of a man whose life was full of passion until the very end. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

BACKPACKER
A riveting read—a true wilderness detective story.

Customer Reviews

Detailed account of High Sierra Tragedy
I purchased this book from Amazon because I had known Randy's father back in the 70's. Dana Morgenson set a standard for excellence in Yosemite with his "camera walks" and slide shows that has never been equalled. It is both sad and ironic that both he and his son, Randy, suffered untimely deaths in National Parks - the places they both loved the most.

Eric Blehm's account of Randy's disappearance and the resulting SAR is fascinating reading. It's hard to put the book down because it's written like a mystery novel. Blehm knows the Sierra quite well and he seems to have developed rapport with all the major characters; getting all the significant facts in order to document the case in minute detail.

In fact, the amount of detail may put off some readers. And it, perhaps, lends a bit of voyeurism in that we learn so much about Randy's personal troubles in the years before he disappeared. Randy was a private person. I found a lot of similarities between Randy and myself and I would not want to have many of the details of my personal life written about in a book.

With that one caveat expressed, I recommend "The Last Season" as a fascinating look at the life of a Backcountry Ranger in the Sierra Nevada as well as a detailed description of how a Search and Rescue Mission is carried out in the National Parks.

Good if you like real-life mystery stories
I picked this book off the shelf as a birthday gift for a friend who loves backcountry adventures and turned me on to Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, which I read in hardback some years ago. I like the central character in this book better than I liked Krakauer's all-too-young Alaska adventurer. Anyway, my friend read this one, loved it, and gave it back to me to read. The evolving story did indeed keep me up nights working through to the end. I didn't let myself read the resolution in advance --- actually I looked for it and it was difficult to find. Which was good. I am sorry to see at least one reviewer gave it away. It's true that some of the detail gets in the way of a quick read, and for that reason I'm giving the book a four. But I always found myself going back to make sure I didn't miss anything. The book is a fascinating study of a real person and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a true life mystery, whether they love the backcountry or not.

Way too long and a bummer to boot
I found this book to be tedious and depressing and yet I managed to read the entire thing, wanting to find out what finally happened. Randy Morgenson grew up in an idyllic setting (Yosemite Valley), was raised by caring parents, yet managed to make a mess of his life due to what seems to have been an obsession for living alone in the beauty of the Sierra. He married, but was away from home at least half the time, and never had children. Although a legendary and exemplary ranger, he was unfaithful to his long-suffering wife in a three-year affair, became ultimately disillusioned with his obsession, and finally died alone apparently having drowned after falling through a snow bridge into an alpine pond while on patrol. Tragic and depressing.