I’ve always been an avid reader of outdoors themed stories, both fiction and non-fiction.  Eric Blehm’s novel The Last Season immediately caught my attention when I saw it because I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the story of an experienced Park Ranger disappearing in the summer of 1996 after nearly 30 seasons of service was surprising.

The book is very well written, alternating between excerpts about Randy’s life and how he became a backcountry Park Ranger and the extended search for him in the summer of 1996 after he’d been missing for nearly a week.  Blehm’s writing style is very good; direct, to the point, and informative, he also skillfully weaves the story of Randy’s life and his passions – why the wilderness spoke so loudly to him, and how his love of the wilderness ultimately was part  of the problems he began facing later in his life.  The book also offers a one of a kind glimpse of what it’s like to be a backcountry Park Ranger, which is another reason I picked up the story, as I pursued a possible job doing this very thing in the Sierra’s in the late 1980’s myself (alas, I started working with computers instead).

As someone who is familiar with the Sierra’s, the book really drew me into it as many of the places mentioned in the narrative I’ve been through myself.  It drew me back to a backpacking trip into Cottonwood Lakes I took in 1995 from Horseshoe Meadow near Lone Pine; I climbed my first (and, so far, my only) mountain on that trip – Cirque Peak, at 12,900 feet.  It was one of those trips you never forget.  To have been able to experience things like this every summer, so far away from civilization, would have been something I would have relished greatly – and I greatly admire those, like Randy Morgenson did before he disappeared, who continue to do it every year.  It’s an awesome, wonderful job for those who love it, while at the same time being difficult, sometimes rough, and always filled with hidden danger that requires the Ranger to be on their toes at all times.

For those of you interested in non-fiction stories about personalities and people lost in the wilderness, I cannot recommend this book enough.  It kept me engaged, interested, and turning pages late into the night for over a week.