Dayton Daily News: April 14, 2006
New Book Will Latch Onto You
The Last Season is a mystery of a mountain man in every sense of the term.
By Jim Morris
The man, James Randall Morgenson, was, himself, a mystery that even his wife
and closest friends sometimes could not understand.
He spent 28 summers and parts of other seasons in his beloved, but also
somewhat mysterious, Sierra Nevada Mountains ... mostly alone. That's the
way he liked it.
The real mystery was not only his unusual life, but what happened to
backcountry National Park Ranger Randy Morgenson. The man who knew the
mountains better than anyone went on patrol one day and never came back.
Author Eric Blehm spent nine years delving into the life and mind of
Morgenson. He, in fact, was part of the search and rescue operation that was
triggered by the ranger's disappearance. Even after the SAR ended, Blehm
kept looking for and into the mysterious mind of Randy Morgenson.
The Last Season, published on Saturday by HarperCollins, is a must read for
all wilderness lovers, especially those into backpacking and long-range
hiking. Blehm not only studied Morgenson the man, but he goes into great
detail in describing the pristine places the backcountry ranger lived and
loved.
Blehm went back through Morgenson's many journals and other writings. And he
describes the man's life through his own words and discussions with other
rangers stationed in adjoining sectors of the vast wilderness.
The SAR to find Morgenson was one of the largest and most intense ever
conducted by the National Park Service. Morgenson, himself, saved several
lives over the years on such missions which take place when any hiker is
overdue on the mountain trails. This time, the rangers were out looking for
one of their own, which made all of those dedicated searchers even more
intense.
Blehm does a fantastic job of recreating that search. He takes his readers
right into the mountains, alongside the backcountry rangers, dogs, horses
and helicopters that made up the SAR mission. And as each day goes by, the
mystery builds and builds.
If you enjoyed John Krakauer's Into the Wild or Into Thin Air or Sebastian
Junger's The Perfect Storm, you will want to latch onto The Last Season.
Because like these other real-life mysteries, it will latch onto you.
