Tracing the footsteps of Christopher McCandless
After leaving the Dalton highway and making my way back to Fairbanks i feel like i want to relax a little as it has been an intense few days up in the far north, i parked up south west of Fairbanks in a small lay by in a place called Nenana and the road conditions were very bad and i had seen a few cars that had spun off the road, one vehicle had gone down the ditch and i used me winch to pull a family out, they offered me money which i declined and asked them just to look at my web site but i felt good for helping them.
I woke up at about 09.30 am and i must have needed the sleep and drove down to Healy, this is the village that i was interested in finding were the trail that Christopher McCandless walked along. Who is Chris McCandless?? OK I have taken notes that i have found and pasted them into the blog, i hope you don’t mind but i find this story fascinating and it will spark off some thoughts for you too.
If you have never heard of him you will have to read more below and you can find a lot more infomation like letters and songs written about him, thier is no dought that he has touched the hearts of thousands of people from all over the world after he died in 1992, i was in South Africa at the time and also young and travelling, but he must have really wanted to be free to leave his middle class home and his financial security as he had been left some money, he then left home after he graduated and gave his money to charity, he had very hippiish and Spiritual thoughts of being close to nature and i feel he had understood what life was about at an early age he knew he couldn’t be happy in the mainstream and took off, al though he was educated and maybe not as well prepared for the outdoors as he could be and his own youthful romantic ideas of been lost in nature killed him, because he even decided to leave his map and watch with the last lift he got to Stampede Rd where he would walk and spend the last few months of his life.
I feel he really wanted to be lost in some kind of spirtual peace and could have chosen to take more survival gear with him, he lived fairly well for a long time in the wild and i would challege many older people to have done what he did for so long, i am offended at how so many Alaskans have little good thngs to say about him, they think of him as a fool, I wish to say that he had found his true self and we should not judje another own path, the last person to see him alive, Jim Gallien he gave him a lift, he could have notified local rangers to keep a look out for him but he dropped him off concerned for him and then did nothing till he saw the news a few months later.
His story has touched me and i myself would find it hard to live this kind of solitude for so long and i would not want to put people close to me, the ones i love in such a stressful situation.
I managed to drive my vehicle part of the way up this old mining trail except it is too dangerous at this time of year, i am only a few miles from his Bus, about 200 people have visited this bus leaving notes in a log book his mother also visits too by helicopter and she has made some moving comments too, she has also left a survival chest with bits and pieces for other travelers. The locals despise the people who visit the Bus and see it as almost sick, they don’t see how it inspires people, also it is special for his family, locals have discussed selling the bus on ebay piece by peace now that is horrible. People will still visit this place and no one else has got into trouble and died up here as this is what the locals say that it will spark off similar stupid young people to do the same. But this has never happened, it has if anything taught young pepole to understand more about themselves in the safety of knowing have difficult nature can be.
I send my love to Chris McCandless and my thoughts are with his family.
Read more about Chris on Wikipedia…
Christopher Johnson McCandless (February 12, 1968 – August 18, 1992) was an American wanderer who hiked into the Alaskanwilderness with little food and equipment, hoping to live a period of solitude. Nearly four months later, he died of starvation near Denali National Park and Preserve. In 1996, Jon Krakauer wrote a book about his life, Into the Wild, which inspired a 2007 film of the same name (with Emile Hirsch portraying McCandless).
On the road
After graduating in 1990, he donated the remaining $24,000 of the $42,000 given to him by family for his last two years of college to Oxfam International, a charity, and began traveling under the name “Alexander Supertramp” (Krakauer notes the connection with W.H. Davies, Welsh author of Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, published in 1908). McCandless made his way through Arizona, California, and South Dakota, where he worked at a grain elevator. He alternated between having jobs and living with no money or human contact, sometimes successfully foraging for food. He survived a flash flood, but allowed his car to wash out (although it suffered little permanent damage and was later reused by the local police force) and disposed of his license plate. He also paddled a canoe down remote stretches of the Colorado River to the Gulf of California. McCandless took pride in surviving with a minimum of gear and funds, and generally made little preparation.
For years, McCandless dreamed of an “Alaskan Odyssey” where he would live off the land, far away from civilization, and keep a journal describing his physical and spiritual progress as he faced the forces of nature. In April 1992 McCandless hitchhiked to Fairbanks, Alaska. He was last seen alive by Jim Gallien, who gave him a ride from Fairbanks to the Stampede Trail. Gallien was concerned about “Alex”, who had minimal supplies (not even a magnetic compass) and no experience of surviving in the Alaskan bush. Gallien repeatedly tried to persuade Alex to defer his trip, and even offered to drive him to Anchorage to buy suitable equipment and supplies. However, McCandless ignored Gallien’s warnings, refusing all assistance except for a pair of rubber boots, two tuna melt sandwiches, and a bag of corn chips. Eventually, Gallien dropped him at the head of the Stampede Trail on Tuesday, April 28,1992.
After hiking along the snow-covered Stampede Trail, McCandless found an abandoned bus used as a hunting shelter and parked on an overgrown section of the trail near Denali National Park (63°51′36.13″N 149°24′50.62″W), and began his attempt to live off the land. He had a 10-pound bag of rice, a Remington semi-automatic rifle, with plenty of .22LR hollowpointammunition, a book of local plant life, several other books, and some camping equipment. He assumed he could forage for plant food and hunt game. Despite his inexperience as ahunter, McCandless poached some small game such as porcupines and birds. Once he killed a moose; however, he failed to preserve the meat properly and it spoiled. Rather than thinly slicing and air-drying the meat, like jerky, as is usually done in the Alaskan bush, he smoked it, following the advice of hunters he had met in South Dakota.
His journal contains entries covering a total of 189 days. These entries range from ecstatic to grim with McCandless’ changing fortunes. In July, after living in the bus for several months, he decided to leave, but found the trail back blocked by the Teklanika River, which was then considerably higher and swifter than when he crossed in April. There was a hand-operated tram that crossed the river 1/4 of a mile away from where he fell in. Unfortunately, McCandless was unaware of this because the only navigational he had possessed was a tattered road map he had found at a gas station, and had left on the dashboard of Jim gallien’s truck.
On August 12, McCandless wrote what are assumed to be his final words in his journal: “Beautiful Blueberries.” He tore the final page from Louis L’Amour’s memoir, Education of a Wandering Man, which contains an excerpt from a Robinson Jeffers poem titled “Wise Men in Their Bad Hours”:
- Death’s a fierce meadowlark: but to die having made
- Something more equal to centuries
- Than muscle and bone, is mostly to shed weakness.
- The mountains are dead stone, the people
- Admire or hate their stature, their insolent quietness,
- The mountains are not softened or troubled
- And a few dead men’s thoughts have the same temper.
On the other side of the page, McCandless added, “I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!”
His body was found in his sleeping bag inside the bus, weighing an estimated sixty-seven pounds. He had been dead for more than two weeks. His official cause of death wasstarvation. Biographer Jon Krakauer suggests two factors may have contributed to McCandless’s death. First, he was running the risk of a phenomenon known as “rabbit starvation” due to increased activity, compared with the leanness of the game he was hunting. However, Krakauer insists starvation was not, as McCandless’ death certificate states, the only cause of death. Initially, Krakauer claimed McCandless might have ingested toxic seeds (Hedysarum alpinum). However, extensive laboratory testing proves conclusively there was no alkaloid toxin present in McCandless’ food supplies. In later editions of the book, therefore, Krakauer has speculated a poisonous fungus Rhizoctonia leguminicola, could have grown on the seeds McCandless ate, aggravating his already weak physical conditions and leading to his death by starvation. The only piece of evidence to support Krakauer’s theory is an entry, on July 30, in McCandless’ journal which reads, “EXTREMLY [sic] WEAK. FAULT OF POT. SEED…”.
Cultural legacy
Krakauer’s book made Christopher McCandless a heroic figure to many. By 2002, the abandoned bus (No. 142) on the Stampede Trail where McCandless camped became a tourist destination. Sean Penn’s film Into the Wild, based on Jon Krakauer’s book, was released in September 2007. In October 2007, a documentary film on McCandless’s journey by independent filmmaker Ron Lamothe, The Call of the Wild, was released. McCandless’s story also inspired an episode of the TV series Millennium, the album Cirque by Biosphere, and folk songs by singers Ellis Paul, Eddie From Ohio, Harrod and Funck, and Eric Peters.
Unlike Krakauer and many readers, who have a largely sympathetic view of McCandless, many Alaskans have negative views about those who romanticize his fate. Because he chose not to buy a map and a compass (items which most people in the same situation would have considered essential) McCandless was completely unaware that a hand-operated tram crossed the otherwise impassable river ¼ mile from where he attempted to cross. Had McCandless known this, he could easily have saved his own life. Additionally, there were cabins stocked with emergency supplies within a few miles of the bus, although they had been vandalized and all the supplies were spoiled, possibly by McCandless, as detailed in Lamothe’s documentary. Yet Ken Kehrer, chief ranger for Denali National Park, denied that McCandless was considered a suspect by the National Park Service. The most charitable view among McCandless’ detractors is that he was somewhat lacking in basic common sense, i.e., venturing deep into a wilderness area on his own without adequate planning, preparation and supplies was almost guaranteed to end in disaster.
Alaskan Park Ranger Peter Christian wrote: “I am exposed continually to what I will call the ‘McCandless Phenomenon.’ People, nearly always young men, come to Alaska to challenge themselves against an unforgiving wilderness landscape where convenience of access and possibility of rescue are practically nonexistent. When you consider McCandless from my perspective, you quickly see that what he did wasn’t even particularly daring, just stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate. First off, he spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild. He arrived at the Stampede Trail without even a map of the area. If he had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament. Essentially, Chris McCandless committed suicide.
Hi Tim,
Great write up about Chris McCandless. I agree that Chris McCandless’ story has a lot to say to youth. Youth, and some of us adults, have ideal and romantic notions of escape, of peace, of finally finding that space in the world where we can feel at one and fully human, in touch with ourselves. The forest, Nature, she is healing, and I think instinctively youth long for that, especially youth who somehow feel inadequate in themselves.
When it comes to Chris McCandless, I suppose we can only speculate on who he was and what was driving him during those times. I think his impulses are not so different from many who venture into the wild, he had a poet’s heart (and that I understand), and a lust for something different. He left money and possessions behind, but perhaps he did not see the value in those things because he had them all his life. He did not have any responsibilities except to himself, leaving his responsibility for the hearts and minds of his family who loved him behind.
Perhaps Chris McCandless wanted to know the value of spiritual things, of earth things, of real things. Alternatively, if you talk to a young person who’d spent all his life poor, he’d love to have some money, to have a good paying job. You know as well as anyone that a street kid loves to learn how to run his own business so he can make money for food. I don’t think a street kid would be interested in heading into nature and getting lost, do you? I find it is the romantic educated people who usually want to get lost, to find themselves. The rest of the people are too busy trying to survive, don’t you think?
When it comes to Chris McCandless, I think I understand why Alaskans find him foolish. He could have taken more precautions, had some foresight, and been more thoughtful towards his family – but isn’t that typical of an idealistic young man? I would say so.
While I appreciate the urge he had to go into the bush, to try to live off the land, survive in the wild, I also understand that you need to be prepared. I think people’s assumptions that Chris McCandless was a little naive is right on the money. He was young, idealistic, and wanted to try it. I don’t think he really believed anything bad would happen. He had the typical young man’s ‘I am invincible’ subconscious. I don’t think Chris McCandless really thought he would die out there.
One thing I do appreciate and find moving is his quest for peace, and the final words he wrote when he was dying in the bus of starvation, and the poem he ripped out of the book. He had found a place within his psyche, his heart, his soul, where he was fine with death. At such a young age I am so surprised he did not cry, cry, cry and sob in despair. He faced it with what might seem to some as an idiotic optimism. Was it more of a characteristic acceptance, perhaps?
To remove the bus is wrong. It is like a grave stone, and even his mother visits the spot to be closer to her son. It is heartless to move the bus. The bus will degenerate on it’s own, rust away and corrode. I think, if they haven’t, somebody should put up a memorial plaque or stone carved piece of art with a description/explanation there, so that when the bus finally does disappear there is something left of Chris McCandless’ grave.
I think Chris McCandless was ultimately flawed, but that is what makes his story and what happened to him so meaningful. We are all flawed. We were all young and idealistic at some point, maybe still are. We were all naive once, maybe still are.
It seems so tragic that he could not find his way across the river. I always think there must have been some way, to build a raft, or to find something to float down with. I don’t understand how he got stuck on the other side and did not venture along the river to find a way out. It seems like common sense to me, but I grew up in the bush, on water, in the mountains, so I guess it would. I suppose we can conjecture about that for the rest of our lives, we’ll never know.
I think in the end we need to see what we can learn from Chris McCandless. Like you’ve said, many youth learn from the story, and there is great value in that.
Sometimes I think we adults in general do not put enough importance on the experiences of our youth. We feel embarrassed to admit, perhaps, that we were once the same, rebellious, full of angst, idealism and the frustration with reality that comes with that. In Chris McCandless I see somebody who was frustrated with reality, because it did not live up to his romantic ideal. A person who does not see in front of him the reality he wishes will normally go into seclusion. There is a lot to be said, also, about how Chris McCandless’ journey into the wild mirrors the old stories of hermits going to live in the mountains to spiritually find themselves. Perhaps this was a romantic notion Chris had, seeing as he was very much a hippy.
Perhaps Alaskans don’t see the value in recognizing how Chris McCandless’ story reaches out to others, because they simply are stuck with worry about kids heading out into the bush unprepared and ending up dead. Youth – hell, even some adults – are impressionable. But, that’s why it’s important to help youth be free, help them learn how to deal with what life has dealt them while at the same time equipping them so that they can survive. There is nothing wrong with teaching kids about peace and solitude while a the same time showing them how that can be done without starving to death. With some people it’s so black and white, my way or the highway. I’ve found that the truth, and reality, lies somewhere between.
You make a good point about the guy who dropped him off and then just forgot about him, didn’t notify the authorities. He should have. I’d have notified someone that the kid walked out into the bush, if only to ensure somebody would be on the lookout for him when he didn’t come back out. But, perhaps Chris McCandless asked for him not to say anything? Perhaps Chris McCandless didn’t want to be found, Tim. Maybe that’s why he disappeared from his family, too, and why he lived such a nameless lifestyle with no roots. Maybe he did not want to be found, followed. Maybe he just really wanted to be alone to know himself, without the influence of any other person. Perhaps Chris, for all his strengths, was really a fragile and lost soul.
Nichole
Thank you to Nichole for a wonderful comment on this fascinating subject.
You can view Nicholes blog at eblogger unusaul-ponderings
Hi Tim,
I am sorry it has taken so long to get to your website. (I finally got a wireless adapter for my computer here in the motel).
I want to say thank you for your kindness a week ago (Dec 6).
My family and I are from Maine and New Bruswick Canada. I am in the US Air Force and we have just moved to Eielson AFB, Alaska from Langley AFB, Virginia.
We had been traveling since November 20th. We arrived by Ferry into Whittier AK and were heading for Eielson (just outside Fairbanks). The drive from Anchorage had not been too bad. We had seen little traffic and the roads were passable. We were driving a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan that we had not put snow or all weather tires on yet. We had made it about 25 miles north of Nenana. This about where you start down out of the mountains when heading toward Fairbanks. There was about an inch or so of snow on the roads and we were on a very windy part of the road.
The road had got a little worse and I had slowed down to around 45MPH. Our heater had turned intermittent on us just before we reached Nenana and we considered stopping there, but wanted to make it to Eielson that night. In hindsight I wish we had stopped.
Ahead I saw a sign signaling a hill with a 6% grade and I took my foot off the gas, the last time I looked at the speed we were going 40MPH. We started down the hill and I immediatly began to worry. I saw a sign ahead showing multiple turns. The first was to the left and we made that one fine. The second was to the right and I could feel the van starting to slip. By the time we made it to the third turn my speedometer read 65. I was doing my best to slow down without losing control of the van but nothing was working. At the start of the turn I lost complete control. I told my wife to hold on and we spun around 180 degrees and continued down the hill backwards. My front left tire hit the snow on the side of the road and caused the rear of the van to “slingshot” backwards off the road. The side of the road sloped away at about 30 degrees and I thought for certain we would roll. My only concern was for my wife and two kids in the back. Fortunately though the snow piled up beside us as we slid and prevented the van from rolling. When we came to a stop we were facing back up the way we had come and were about 20 feet off the road. The engine was running and for the moment the heat was working. My wife and I took a quick assesment of the inside of the van and noticed that our 5 month old was still sleeping and our 2 year old was still watching Spongebob on our portable DVD player. Neither seemed to have a clue that anything happened.
Due to the angle we were at and the snow piled up beside us I could not get out the drivers door so my wife and I switched places. I tried to open her door but again, due to the angle, the door kept slamming shut so I climbed out the window. While I was climbing out a car passed heading towards Nenana and I tried to wave him from the window. Our lights were on and shining up onto the road but he didnt stop.
I walked out onto the road and finally got to a spot where I could get one bar on my cell and called my friend in Anchorage and asked him to call to Fairbanks for a tow truck to pull us out. He said he would and I went back to the van. When i got back another vehicle was coming so my wife started flashing the lights and they stopped. It was another van with some people coming from Anchorage. The didnt have a tow rope but offered to help. About that time we saw lights coming from the direction of Fairbanks and we started waving.
A vehicle pulled up and the first thing I thought was “This guy is ready for anything”. It only took a short time to realize I wasnt far from wrong.
Tim jumped out and immediately offered his assitance. A short while later and my van was back on the road.
I tried to offer compensation for his time and help but he would have none of it. All he asked is that I visit his website.
I would like to thank both him and the other family that stopped to help us. Often times in situations like this people who have the ability to help, for whatever reason simply dont. However there are some people who, no matter what they have been doing, no matter how tired they are, see a need that they can fill and put down whatever they are doing and help. Tim mentioned that he had just driven the Dalton Highway, and while I have never driven it, I am sure that he was probably tired and wanted to make his destination for the night. Yet he stopped to help a family driving from Virginia who were not prepared for the weather or the road conditions. Many would say that it served us right to have to sit in the snow, but there are some that have the compasion to help no matter what. I can only hope that should I come across a similar situation that I have that same compassion, even if it’s only to offer a warm seat in my vehicle while waiting for their vehicle to be rescued.
Tim, My family and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts! My God bless you and yours!
As parent/grandparent of this family, I certainly would like to add my “2 cents worth” of thank yous to you for “aiding and abetting” them in their distress. Thank you! Thank you!. We had been following them via phone calls all through their trip and had not heard from them for a couple days – past their call-in times agreement – and knew something was wrong. So, many many thanks for helping them. God surely had a plan for you and for them!
Hi Tim,
Raymond’s dad here. Thank you so much for helping our children and grandchildren out in their time of need. Family and friends back here in Maine really appreciate what you did for them. May God’s hand of protection and blessing be upon you as you continue to journey around the world. If you’re ever in the vicinity of Calais, Maine, I would like to shake your hand, and I bet my wife would give you a big hug!
Hey Tim
Hey Tim
Both Ray & Michelle
grew up in our church and we had been praying for them and their boys as they traveled across the country. As it turned out you were one of the answers to those prayers. Thank you so much for your willingness to be a help. May God bless you and protect you on your journey. That is a serious looking buggy you have. take care, God Bless.
Chip Howell
From Tim to Raymond Michelle family,Karren and Phillip Pastor Chip
Thank you for all your kind words of thanks, i would help anyone in need my whole life has been rewarded and guided by these acts.
Taking this journey around the world is showing me that we all have the same needs and love will bring us together.
Thank You Tim,
For helping my Little Brother.
As an American living in Europe I know that this is not something that is Standard, Usually it causes Grid Lock on the highways over here cause everybod drives by super slow to see exactly what happened but not to even think of helping. If yoou are every in Germany let me know Dinner is on me.
Phil Durrell II
(bet you never thought such an act sould go around the world did ya!!!!)