I absolutely devoured this book. Eric Blehm tells the fascinating story of National Park Service ranger Randy Morgenson, who, after 28 seasons as a backcountry ranger in the Sierra Nevada, disappeared one day on a routine patrol. Blehm covers not only the extensive search the NPS performed, but also Morgenson’s entire life leading up to his mysterious disappearance. We get to know the kid who learned from his father to love the outdoors and capture its splendor with photography. We watch as the twenty-something fails to commit to college but returns summer after summer to work as a ranger in the isolated backcountry of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. We see Morgenson meet his wife, Judi, and struggle to negotiate relationships with both her and the wilderness. We observe as Morgenson engages in an extramarital affair with another ranger, which leads to confusion, depression, and eventually divorce papers from Judi.

The mystery of Morgenson’s vanishing was enthralling. Did he commit suicide as a result of his depression over his failing marriage? Did he encounter some trouble or injure himself accidentally while on his routine patrol? And how in the world do you go about finding someone who prides himself on the ability to camp without leaving a trace of his presence behind?

Morgenson was a profound thinker, prolific writer, and dedicated conservationist, as evidenced by his journals and log books, heavily referenced by Blehm. Because he left so many of his own words behind, and thanks to Blehm’s exhaustive interviews with his family, friends, and fellow rangers, we have a unique window into Randy Morgenson’s mind and heart. This book made me feel like I knew him—and it made me want to visit the Sierra, to understand its beauty and wildness firsthand. As long as there’s a hotel room and a hot shower waiting for me at the end of the day, of course.

More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com

This book hit a few of my hot buttons. Outdoorism and adventure. Being passionate about nature. Hiking. And a back country disappearance. I read everything I can on missing hikers. Not as a voyeur but to learn from those situations. I am an avid hiker and have helped many lost and hurt folks on (and off) trails.

I enjoyed the first half of this book. The book rapidly became repetitive and could have been significantly tightened up. If 10% was lopped off, it would have been exponentially better. What made it less appealing was the speculation upon speculation and the sad fact that the missing back country ranger was not an endearing person. I know I may becoming across as unsympathetic but the polite word for him would be a curmudgeon.

Randy Morgenson gave three decades of service and was an aggressive protector of US National Parks. For that, I am respectful and grateful. However, when I closed the book, I was left wondering if this ever needed to be written. It was a rapidly deflated balloon.

All it takes is a moment's distraction or inattention and an accident will happen. And when you're a backcountry ranger in the Sequoia-Kings National Park, that could happen anywhere in the acres of land you patrol.

And this is suspected to have happened to Park Ranger Randy Morgenson and the author takes the reader not only in on the search for Randy but he alternates the chapters with Randy's life from childhood in the parks (his father worked for the Park Service) but the twenty-eight seasons that he worked as a backcountry ranger. Backcountry literally means that - remote, undeveloped, raw, difficult to access wilderness.

Morgenson was 'at home' in the mountains and certainly didn't like the visitors to the parks that impacted the area - leaving trash, camping within delicate meadows, collecting and leaving wood for the firepits that would damage the ground for years. He was friends with Ansel Adams and his photos ranged from the most stunning landscapes to the most delicate flowers. He was happiest when out amidst the mountains. His spouse would regularly camp with him, visit while he was on patrol and enjoy the solitude and majesty as only untamed nature can be.

But things changed over the years - he had an affair with another ranger and his wife found out. He felt that the Park Service did not appreciate his years of service as he was only a 'seasonal' employee. His encounters with visitors that threatened him when just being asked to show their permit. Requests for protection of the more fragile environmental areas that went nowhere. The wealthy and political that got helicopters to fly in champagne and the most minor things when any requests from rangers - unless involved in SAR (search and rescue activities) - were ignored.

So friends and co-workers were seeing a different Randy in the months and days before his disappearance. If they were aware of the troubles between Randy and Judi (his wife), they simply figured that was the cause of his unusual behavior. But then he disappeared.

An interesting look not only into the procedures of a search-and-rescue as well as some of the mistakes that could be made but at an individual that found the beauty in wilderness and silence as well as the people that are willing to take on the burdens of not only protecting our parkland but helping the people that temporarily invade those territories - even if it's from their own self-confidence and egos.

I'm not sure if I agree with the author who believes that Randy found a way to commit suicide in a manner than would enable his wife to get his accidental death benefit. If it was, I would like to think that he would not have had her wait five years before some of his remains were discovered. In turn, it could have been an accident and he would have been happy that his body was able to give back to the nature he loved and respected.

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This is for people who love national parks, are into disaster/expedition books, or have spent any time in CA’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Blehm moves through Morgenson’s early life (growing up in Yosemite valley - how unique), relationships (good and bad), struggles with the NPS, and writings - alternating this content with with the actual search and rescue events after his disappearance. I blazed through the second half, partly because I didn’t know how it would end and felt so curious and invested.

I once started this book, but set it aside for lack of interest. Decided to give it another chance, and finished it. Morgenson was an extraordinary ranger, deeply committed to the wild, and to helping visitors to the Kings Canyon National Park for 28 years. He was a seasonal backcountry ranger both the ultimate and the lowest of National Park Service staff. This book is the story of an extraordinary man and of the search for him after his disappearence. Morgenson struggled to balance his love of the wilds with his love for his family. It engaged me enough to finish although I skimmed at times. Blehm was both philosophical at at times a little supernatural. The Last Season was a good, but not a great book.

From the January 2012 issue of Backpacker magazine: Required Reading, Top picks from our Facebook fans:
    This search-and-rescue story with no rescue is a modern classic.

Just going to get some notes down:

➤ I’ve been reading too much about death recently, I think. Specifically, death in the wilderness. This was the most biographical, and the best.

➤ My biggest takeaway is that Morgenson’s death was a very tidy end — at least from his perspective. He was pretty steadfast in turning his face away from humanity, and even his relationships were based on affection for his passion for nature. It is hard to imagine that persona adapting well to life almost exclusively stuck in civilization with the rest of us. I realize now that the book didn’t go very deep into what he did in the off seasons, but if it was photography, then his specialization there would have been a constant reminder and prod to get back into the wilderness.

➤ Tidy enough, that I imagine his final thoughts may have been something like, "Well, this is convenient. I’m okay with this." Would he have recognized the trauma it could inflict on others? I’m not sure his thoughts would tend that way without an external prompt. But if they did, that might have been another reason for the radio being switch to “on” — he may have tried to radio a distress, knowing rescue was impossible, but easing the burden on others.

➤ If I was going to reduce my rating to four stars, it would be because this was a bit too much of a hagiography. He certainly seems to be a nice man under two circumstances: helping the innocents who visited his corner of the world, and enthusiastically joining with anyone who shared his worship of nature. There isn’t much evidence, but I get the impression that when dealing with anyone in other circumstances he tended towards an absence of compassion, and dismissiveness.

➤ Oh, and I didn’t really like how the author kept entertaining mysticism. Some of the characters did, fine — that’s journalism. But he put in more on his own, too. Nope, this is supposed to be non-fiction, not fantasy.

➤ The author did a short piece in Backpacker Magazine — n  Ranger Randy Morgenson’s Epitaph in the Skyn — which is short and well worth reading. I was amused to see John Dittli was on the trip to visit “Mt Morgenson”, but not surprised. He is the reigning king of Sierra photograph (n  viz.n), but I knew of long ago from other forums. His most eye-popping escapades? Ice-skaking frozen lakes deep in the Sierra backcountry. See here, for example. The photo, below, of “Mt. Morgenson” is his.

➤ Quite a few of my highlights are intended as clues to the “secret” places he and his fellow rangers treasured. I’ve spent enough time in that part of the Sierras that I recognize most of the place names, but I’ve spent most of my backpacking trips on trails, and have only done a limited amount of “off piste” hiking, and none of it that far south. I’ve got a trip plotted out well to the west, in the Ionian Basin, but I’ll be thinking about the area around Bench Lake (36.948,-118.463). I’ve only been in the Upper Basin in autumn or late summer, and stayed in the JMT corridor. A spring or early summer trip might be eye-opening.

➤ One place I’m quite intrigued by is the climb on “Mt. Morgenson”. Here’s the page from summitpost.org, and here’s a topo of the location. The summitpost guidance is to come up from the east; I think a multiday trip looping from the north past Wallace Lake is more in keeping with Randy’s style. (Which seems to be how the Backpacker magazine crew with the author approached, via Shepherd’s Pass to the north.) The traverse from Russell looks great on the topo, but doesn’t look pretty at all here. Randy’s peak isn’t yet on mountainproject.

“Mount Morgenson”:
n  n

I loved it! I never knew that back country rangers existed - that men and women are dropped into national parks to monitor the park and the rare backpack hiker. What an adventure. The story was beautiful and the mystery of the seasoned back packer missing had me waiting to exhale. The links to Adam Ansel(photographer) and Wallace Stegner (author of Angle of Repose, a must read) were such artistic added value. You wanted Randy Morgenson to be the person portrayed, yet you could read between the lines and see a talented, but flawed, average joe.

What a great, great book. Tells the story of Randy Morganson who is a back-country ranger in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This is a man who has lived the majority of his life in the mountains and is clearly one of the finest in his rare and seriously neglected profession. In 1996 (it's been a month since I read it, so I may have the dates off) he disappears early in the season. Because of the turbulence in his life that lead up to the hiking season, there is plenty of speculation as to what really happened to him. The story flips back and forth between his life prior to his disappearance and the efforts to find him.
Randy leads a compelling life, with friendships including Wallace Stegner and Ansel Adams. He is always searching for meaning in his life, and always comes back to the mountains, where he is most comfortable.
I rarely read "outdoor" books and am not at all an outdoors kind of person, but this book moved me in ways I didn't expect. I look forward to my first hiking trip as an adult sometime in the near future.

I, as so many others, could not put this book down. Well written, intricately researched, it will captivate anyone who truly embraces the outdoors. And only the hardcore of those will understand fully what the story is about. i thoroughly enjoyed the read.

I'm a sucker for biographies and suspense novels -- and this one delivers both. The story is fascinating and includes Yosemite National Park as a key character. The book tracks the life and disappearance of Randy Morgenson, a long-time back woods ranger in Yosemite. Morgenson literally grew up in Yosemite ... his father worked in the administrative offices and the family had a home in Yosemite Valley. The story of the family is well developed and includes accounts of their unlikely friendships with Ansel Adams and Wallace Stegner.

Blehm does drag the story out a bit as he is most comfortable as a magazine story writer and seems to add a few pages toward the end to give the book more length. The first 2/3rds of the novel make up for the "fluff" and are an excellently research biography and mystery.

Blehm's detailed account of a missing back country ranger and the search to find him made for an exciting and interesting read. Blehm takes the reader to the High Sierra, the rough beautiful country of John Muir is the unexpected backdrop to the mystery of what happened to one of the region's most experienced rangers.

Blehm's writing style is packed well researched investigative narration mixed with quotes from the logs of back country park ranger, Randy Morgenson. For me it was a page turner that kept me on the edge of sleeplessness for several nights eager to learn the whole story. The mystery is revealed well before the final pages, but not all the detail, which eventually is discovered.

If you are a hiker or outdoor enthusiast, this one is a must read. Even if you've never ventured into the back of beyond, you'll feel you're there while reading this account.

The audio book is really good, there is a bit too much repetition but Blehm's look at a the story of a missing ranger is a thumping good read.