4.5 stars for me. This was nearly a perfect book. Unlike some other reviewers, I felt strongly connected to Randy, and through Randy to the High Sierra backcountry, through the author's storytelling and descriptions. I am also someone who loves the outdoors and have spent time backpacking, so perhaps this helped me to connect immediately to the themes.

The only thing keeping this from a perfect score for me were some grammatical... "inconsistencies." I mention them not to be pedantic, but because they were jarring enough to pull me out of the entranced state I had been put in by the story and writing. So maybe it's a compliment to the author that I found them remarkable or memorable at all. But I just can't give a perfect score to a book misuses the word 'myriad' multiple times.

This book was a true wilderness mystery; an experienced backcountry NPS ranger goes missing in his assigned territory of the Sequoia/Kings National Park. The Last Season documents the life of Ranger Randy Morgenson and the massive search and rescue operation his disappearance triggered. Mr. Blehm had me turning the pages eagerly, swept up in the story, eager to learn more about Ranger Randy and anxious to piece together how he went missing.

What Mr. Blehm, and Ranger Randy through his own journal entries, do best is make Ranger Randy so real and human that the reader can begin to imagine how Randy's absence and story affected those close to him and close to the wilderness he loved. Unlike an Agatha Christie mystery novel, The Last Season does not have a tidy ending; but part of the lesson I took from the book was that little about life is ever tidy, including how it ends.

In many ways, The Last Season is reminiscent of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. However, I found Randy Morgenson to be a much more likable and sympathetic character than Chris McCandless; perhaps Morgenson is who McCandless would have mellowed and aged into had he survived.

Mr. Blehm took a very emotional and difficult story and weaved it into a very emotional and gripping piece of writing. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.

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This is, quite simply, a case of lost interest. I think there was once a time in my life in which I might have been vaguely excited to read Eric Blehm's The Last Season but it just feels like I have moved on from that point of my life now.

I've always been hesitant, though, to remove books I had wanted to read from my shelf. So, while it is no longer on my TBR, I am at least keeping it here in case I ever find myself in a time that I want to read it again.

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I’ll be truthful that I didn’t have high hopes at the start of the book as I’m generally not a fan of nonfiction books. That said, I liked it more than I had anticipated. I believe it’s mostly due to the relation of Randy Morgenson’s ranger job and his relation to the national parks, which hold a special place in my heart. I could relate to many of his sentiments of keeping the “wild” parts of the parks as such and to avoid having people (and overdevelopment) destroy these wondrous places.

Now, that is being said with the knowledge that Randy seemed to come off as pretentious and curmudgeonly, and that he was not a faithful partner in his marriage. I didn’t particularly enjoy certain aspects of his marriage that seemed to hint at things being Judi’s fault. I understand they had a more “unconventional” marriage and relationship, but it didn’t excuse anything he did with his affair or he handled dealing with the repercussions. So in certain times it made it harder to be sympathetic that he was not doing well mentally. However, it was the 90s and I assume there was many great resources for him to get mental health help.

I think some of my larger problems with the book was how it was formatted. It made sense to start in the “present day” of when Randy’s search and rescue (SAR as the book states) began, and of course the continuation of the SAR had to be spread through the book. But sometimes when we would get many chapters of Randy’s life growing up and then the SAR chapter, it could feel jarring. I could see how the author would tie Randy’s past into the chapters of the SAR progress. But again, some of it was confusing and disjointed. I felt like I was getting a good picture of who Randy was and then, bam, back to a chapter of a ranger and dog team searching.

I think the author did a good job though with his descriptions of everything. I could feel the love that Randy’s dad had for the flora of Yosemite, and the appreciation Randy had for the mountains. Having been to Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks the landscape is truly breathtaking, and I can only imagine what it was like in decades past when there were likely less people going to them. Also, those mountains are no joke. I didn’t get even remotely close to climbing any, and never will (I’m not that adventurous and I know my limit). But having seen those mountains in person, and then reading the descriptions of the altitudes the backcountry ranges are at was dizzying. Altitude sickness and I are not friends.

Anyways, as mentioned most of my critique of the book is related to the jumping back and forth timelines and how they were inconsistent. Randy wasn’t always an amazing person but clearly the people around him felt he did a lot for a government division that didn’t do much for its workers. I wavered between giving this 3 or 4 stars and I really wish this site would introduce half stars

Having our cabin in Sequoia National Park and a on going love hate relationship with the park system really sparked my interest in this book. It was good insight into rangers and their side of the story. The whole search and rescue kept me on my toes, couldn’t put it down.

This is a true story about Randy Morgenson, who worked as a seasonal ranger in Kings Canyon National Park for 28 summers. He disappeared while working in the backcountry in 1996. This book details the search efforts as well as his childhood growing up in Yosemite Valley. This book reminds me of Krakauer's Into The Wild, so if you have read that and enjoy it, you would probably enjoy this book as well. It was suspenseful and hard to put down and made me want to get out into the wilderness.

This book was recommended to me by some very enthusiastic park rangers at Death Valley. I am so glad I picked up a copy.

Upon finishing it this morning and reading through all the extra materials at the end of the book, I went straight to my notebook to write about the ideas that it provoked.

On the surface, it's a story about the life and disappearance of Randy Morgenson, who spent 28 summers as a ranger in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. But it's also about what it takes to be a back country ranger, a job that requires long absences from home and society, and whose main perk is living in the wilderness. And it's about our National Parks Service's attitude toward these individuals.

If you've ever hiked or backpacked or even looked lovingly up at the Sierras from below, you should give this book a try. It makes me want to see the country that Blehm writes about.

The only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is that it's a bit long on details and lagged a bit in the middle for me, but given the complexity of the story and Blehm's obvious commitment to getting it right, this can easily be forgiven.

Be sure and read the extra stuff at the back of the paperback version. There are some very fine nuggets there, not the least of which is Blehm's opinion about what happened and his accounting of his unique qualifications for writing this particular story.

The number of people who loved and admired Randy Morgenson, who is never-the-less portrayed as a real and flawed man, speaks volumes about who he was and what he gave to those he met.

While it had its moments, Eric Blehm's The Last Season misses the mark. Blehm's story focuses on the search for National Park Service Ranger, Randy Morgenson (who after 28 seasons as a ranger has gone missing in the Sierra Nevada backcountry). The Last Season, I think, tries to do too much. Blehm documents Morgenson's early life (the formative influence of Ansel Adams as well as his attraction to the outdoors) along with a detailed history of backcountry rangers (and their miserable pay). Blehm also pieces together Morgenson's failed marriage and an affair he was involved in when he disappeared. Undoubtedly, Blehm was drawn to the wild and majestic Sierra Nevadas, but lots of the story seemed like a distraction and I didn't feel the connection as strongly as I wanted.

3.5 ⭐️ Nice change from the standard novel I'm drawn toward. Enjoyed a mystery confounded by natures elements and detailing of the environment and beauty from the perspective of a devoted, insightful, back-country ranger. I was drawn in considerably in the beginning and even more so at the end. The middle portion, going back and forth in time, the back story leading up to the search, was a little too long for me personally. I suspect Randy, the main character, would chastise me for being in a rush and not soaking in and appreciating the details along the way.

The Last Season is about the life and death (in 1996) of Randy Morgenson, a backcountry ranger in the Sierra Nevada's for 25+ years. The author, Eric Blehm, did an outstanding job researching, and writing, this book. The descriptions of the mountains was really interesting and his descriptions of Morgenson and how he became what he was were well done.

The book reads like fiction but isn't. Morgenson was a truly unique individual, he was absolutely dedicated to the wilderness, was friends with some very interesting people (Ansel Adams and his own father), but also was flawed. His death in the wilderness continues to stir debate as to its cause and circumstances and I thought Blehm did a great job covering all of them.

Morgenson seemed to view nature as his religion. Anything that promoted that view he was great at. He was constantly noted for his kindness to nature and the park visitors. In many of his personal relationships however, (his wife and some other rangers) I felt he was very selfish and hypocritical. His spiritual views therefore seem incomplete and empty, really just worshipping the created rather than the creator.

The biggest take away from the book for me was Morgenson's comment that "Nature always wins". That is true. I have read many books about adventurers and moutaineers and it seems that all ultimately die in their adventures.

This was such a well thought out, meticulously researched book that accomplishes many tasks; memorializing the life of Randy Morgenson, unwrapping the mystery of his death in the most complete way the elements would allow, and portraying a deep love and respect for wilderness and all the Sierra has to offer if you have even a small percentage of the perspective Randy had.

It also highlights major problems with the National Park Service, most of which sadly still exist today- almost 26 years after Randy’s death after 28 seasons with the agency. I’d love to imagine anyone with the power to do something about it reading this book and being inspired to make a change…but I’ve been moulded by cynicism. Conversely, I’d hate to imagine what Randy would feel if he were to visit a National Park today. He hated the term “resource”, and I imagine it would pain him to see some our parks feel like a theme park.

I am an Adventure story addict and this is one of the all time best. It has definitely earned a place on my bookshelf! If you love true stories about rescue and adventure, this book is for you. If you enjoy the beauty in the world around you, this book will inspire you. It has a little of all of the human condition in the tale which makes it a story you can't put down. Long after it is over you will still be pondering what the message of this book is to you.