The Man Who Vanished


The Last Season, by Eric Blehm, is a compelling story about a man named Randy Morgenson who spent 28 seasons (summers) as a back country ranger in Sequoia and Kings Mountain Range and then suddenly disappeared. Sequoia and Kings Canyon is well known for its breath-taking beauty, but also for it‘s peril. Many people have disappeared in these mountain ranges. These hills also stake their claim to the spot where the Donner Party was trapped. Morgenson was a celebrated ranger within the National Park Service, and even though his job was to protect the people from the park, his heart was really for protecting the park from the people. Sadly, this man’s life slowly began to turn into turmoil as his relationship with his wife and friends began to collapse and both of his parents died. At the climax of his frustration he suddenly disappeared. Some suspected suicide or that he left to start a new life. This slowly became one of the park’s most extensive and intriguing rescue missions. As clues started to unfold people began to wonder if they were, “looking for a man who didn’t want to be found.”

Throughout the story Randy is faced with many occurrences that pile up emotions inside of him. He often talks and writes about how, “a trip to the backcountry will help me straighten things out.” To him, nature is soothing and most people can relate to that. This book is enjoyable because Blehm unfolds the book as a mystery, but also as a story of a man who was totally in love with the mountains. The piece is presented through flashbacks, which is entertaining, and Blehm does a good job of keeping the piece understandable by putting it in chronological order and using third person point of view. However there are some fallacies in the text. Some hasty generalizations are made when he describes the SAR (search and rescue). He sometimes has too few examples to prove his point. However, the way the author describes the scenes, you feel like you are in the forests with each character, feeling their distress. While the SAR mission is in process you feel the urgency seep through the pages.The Last Season is a timeless love story between Randy and his mountains as well as a mysterious plot that unravels an unforgettable ending.