Few improved roadways cross the Sierra Nevada range in this vicinity, which has been set aside Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. Wilderness areas occupy most of this park, which is essentially pristine roadless backcountry covering approximately more than 1,300 square miles.
Backcountry rangers patrol this remote wilderness area, a backpacker and climber paradise during the summer months. The Last Season by Eric Blehm tells the story of Randy Morgenson, a legendary ranger who patrolled the backcountry of the High Sierra for more than three decades.
The book is a story of a wild man with remarkable vision and devotion to protecting the wilderness. Well-known for his skills in finding lost souls in the High Sierra, he was involved in a number of search and rescue missions over his tenure. Then one day he went missing himself. Some excerpts:
"The average tourist might have pegged (wilderness rangers) as a mingling of mountaineers, dirt-bag climbers and aging hippies. But make no mistake. These were America's finest backcountry rangers -- special forces, if you will -- disguised as an army of misfits."
"Some held degrees in forestry, geology, computer science, philosophy or art history. They were teachers, photographers, writers, documentary filmmakers, winter guides, academics and adventure seekers who, for whatever reason, were drawn to the wilderness."
In the backcountry, they were on duty 24 hours a day as wilderness medics, law enforcement officers, search-and-rescue specialists and wilderness hosts. On good days, they were 'heroes' called upon to find a lost backpacker, warm a hypothermic hiker, chas away a bear or save a life."
"On bad days, they picked up trash, tore down illegal campfires, wrote citations and were called 'assholes' simply for doing their jobs. On the worst days, they recovered bodies. The park service often refers to them as 'the backbone of the NPS.'" Most "were college students or recent grads."
Part mystery, part biography and part Park Service procedural, the author probes the mysteries of Morgenson's disappearance while weaving in a story of the ranger's lifelong devotion to wilderness with a compelling account of the search-and-resuce efforts to find him. A must read for wilderness lovers.
