More Alaska hikers following McCandless 'into the wild'
Published Saturday, June 28, 2008
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HEALY, Alaska -- Ron Alexander has long been intrigued with the true story of a fierce idealist who met his death in Alaska's unyielding wilderness.
Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" only cemented the mystique of Christopher McCandless for Alexander and others heading to Alaska this summer to retrace the steps of the young adventurer along the Stampede Road near Denali National Park. In particular, they want to see the old abandoned bus where the 24-year-old Virginian starved to death in 1992 after more than three months alone trying to live off a harsh landscape.
"That's sort of the heart of the story," said Alexander, 44, of Arlington, Va. "It's almost like a Jim Morrison grave site, where people just want to go see it."
This is exactly what residents in the interior town of Healy, 25 miles east of the bus, feared with the release last fall of "Into the Wild," adapted from Jon Krakauer's best-seller of the same name. They envisioned hordes of copycats making dangerous pilgrimages for a character portrayed as a spiritual visionary rather than an ill-prepared misfit, as many Alaskans view McCandless.
People from all over the world have journeyed to Fairbanks City Bus 142 over the years. But there are signs this could be a boon year for those captivated by a college graduate who turned his back on his wealthy family for his restless wanderings.
The local chamber of commerce has already received a couple dozen e-mails from would-be visitors wanting to track the unmonitored route taken by McCandless to the 1940s-era International Harvester bus, used for decades as a shelter for hunters and other backcountry travelers. Former chamber president Neal Laugman writes back warning about a terrain — about 180 miles north of Anchorage — with no cell phone service, unpredictable weather, clouds of mosquitoes and the raging Teklanika River, whose swollen banks prevented McCandless from seeking help. Laugman has gotten replies from people who are determined to make it to the bus no matter what.
"I don't want people to go out there and die. It's that simple," Laugman said. "We won't know that they're there until it's too late."
The EarthSong Lodge is among the last developments along the Stampede Road, which eventually gives way to an old mining trail that traverses the Savage and Teklanika rivers, although the Teklanika is often too high and swift to cross. Alaskans say it's much easier to reach the bus in winter by skis, snowmachine or, as lodge owner Jon Nierenberg prefers, by dog sled. If conditions allow, it's a two-day hike to the bus.
As the weather warms, Nierenberg sees hikers walking past the lodge every couple of days, starting the 22-mile trek to the bus. Most of the travelers are young men.
Also, this year most of his guests are familiar with McCandless. Or rather, Nierenberg said, they're aware of a romanticized figure, a characterization not shared by many Alaskans or others. Released about the same time as Penn's big-budget movie was the independent documentary, "The Call of the Wild," in which filmmaker Ron Lamothe attempts to debunk what he calls lingering myths about McCandless.
A musher and former backcountry ranger, Nierenberg has experienced his own share of wanderlust and found himself in situations where he could have died. He understands the draw for other like-minded travelers.
"I don't look at them as nut jobs," he said. "I can easily see where they're coming from. But I think they're sort of idealizing an idea rather than a person."
Alexander, who plans to make the trek with a friend or two in late August, considers himself a bit of a wanderer with a passion for the untamed West in general and hiking national parks in particular. Leaving his urban surroundings as much as possible is crucial for him, said Alexander, a salesman for a Washington, D.C., documentary production company.
McCandless reminds him of himself — to a point. Alexander said he'll be much better prepared and will visit other parts of Alaska not connected to the doomed young man.
"We're not coming up just to do this little pilgrimage," he said. "This is one little element. We're not completely nuts."
Even tourists without plans to see the bus can still view a piece of the saga. Excursion businesses in Denali National Park and Preserve are offering popular off-road McCandless tours that take visitors partway along the muddy, rutted Stampede trail. Some people are disappointed that the scenery is flatter than the flashy snow-covered peaks shown in the movie, only to discover those scenes were filmed closer to the tiny town of Cantwell about 40 miles to the south.
Ridership is significantly higher in the "backcountry safari" offered by Alaska Travel Adventures, which this summer is noting the "Into the Wild" connection. Also up are the backpackers tramping past a cooking camp where safari riders stop for a wilderness meal, said manager Nick Prosser. Many hikers heading back are dehydrated, blistered and "pretty beat," he said.
Prosser, who has read the book and seen the movie, plans to hike out to the bus himself before he heads back home to Celina, Texas, at the end of his seasonal job.
"I just would like to go for the adventure," he said. "I'm up here. I might as well go."
For those who prefer the Hollywood version, there's a junkyard Harvester bus that was painted by set designers to look exactly like the real thing, rust spots and all. The vehicle, stripped of its interior, is parked in Gordon Carlson's yard in Cantwell, far from the fabled McCandless zone.
"Maybe three people have seen it since the movie came out," Carlson said. "It just sits there in limbo."
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On the Net:
http://denalichamber.com
http://www.earthsonglodge.com
http://www.terraincognitafilms.com/index.htm
http://tinyurl.com/5v3wen
Community Discussion
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If they are as idiotic as they sound from this article, then let them come, let them hike, let them starve as McJacklass did, ... the residents of Healy, and of Alaska, should not have to pay to come rescue a bunch of granolas who have idolized a complete bonehead.
I swear if I ever meet Sean Penn I will commit physical violence against that man for being such an incredible nitwit.
I did some pretty extensive research into this incident during a protracted argument with my mother, and as an end result I don't believe McCandless was a total idiot, and that his death was a complication of Giardiasis. Granted, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but he shouldn't have starved like he did.
Giadiasis (Giardia, Beaver Feaver) is caused by an organism which can often be found in untreated water found in lakes, rivers, streams etc. It causes symptoms in about 1/3rd of people exposed to it, and the symptoms include diarrhea and blocked nutrient absorption. Many people can overcome it on their own, or don't have symptoms. But for someone like McCandless who was potentially drinking continually from a contaminated source he would have been MUCH more susceptible to protracting the disease, being symptomatic, and not being able to get over it.
McCandless had 10lbs of rice, and he had previously been able to survive for a month on 5lbs of rice and fish he caught himself. Going off that I believe the rice, supplemented with what he was able to hunt/gather could have lasted him a month an a 1/2 while at the bus. He got to the bus on approximately April 29th, and was able to only minimally hunt until about May 11th. For the next 6 WEEKS he was able to successfully hunt for squirrel, grouse, duck, goose, and porcupine on a regular basis. Even a moose, though he wasn't able to preserve it, it would have given him great eating for the 4-5 days before it was too spoiled to consume.
According to his drivers license which was a couple of years old at the time of his death he weighed 135lbs. Since he had been out wandering lets estimate his weight at 130. When found he was estimated to weight 67lbs.
Now, it is known from his journal entries that until at least early July he was fairly healthy. I figure by this time he was out of the rice, and was subsisting solely on what he was able to hunt/gather. Over the last 3 weeks of July he was able to kill 35 Squirrels, a few grouse and a consistent diet of wild berries, potatoes, mushrooms, and rhubarb. Not an amazing diet over the summer, but it was a consistent enough intake he should not have been loosing as much weight as he did.
He was out there alive for an estimated 112 days, and lost about 60lbs during that time. More that 1/2 lb A DAY the entire summer. At the beginning of August his diary entries say that he was feeling very weak and starving. Up until that point he wrote down nothing about being that ill or a grave state of health. He was able to shoot 5 more squirrels before they estimate he died between August 13th and 18th. His official date of death is the 18th.
The theory about the poison plant was debunked. The wild potato has been eaten by Native Alaskans for ages, and tests done at UAF showed that the similarly looking plant the wild pea was so harmless the researcher doing the testing said he would eat the plant himself.
McCandless wasn't prepared, but he shouldn't have died when he did. The 60lb weight loss indicates something else was going on during that time. Something like giardia could cause intermittent symptoms and block nutrition absorption, accelerating the process of him becoming malnourished to the rate that it happened in him.
Never ceases to amaze me how completely stupid some people are, to forgo a 6 million acre National park in order to slog through swamp, mud, and mosquitos to see an old rusty bus where a moron croaked...
i read the book saw the movie...and i think this poor guy was having more problems then people care to notice.... his parents were not happy and his life was not one of fun and movies.... i feel mental ilness really was a part of this.... you can be book smart but that does not mean that mentally you are on top of your game.... and to the man that let him off at the park you have done all you could have to atleast offer an alternative.... i live off the parks and i wonder some days what if some one would have stepped forward to really help him . would he be here today..at the end of his journal he was ready to come home as if maybe this experience showed him reality and that life was important enough to try and cross the river......one last note....... what are theese people and tourists really trying to find...what are they looking for....just like people who watch when theres an accident or some one is in troulble with the police..... if healy is worried then maybe they should help get the bus moved it was brought up a few months back to move the bus....... is this just some thing to bring tourists here. is alaska profiting from this stupidity of man .......
"McCandless reminds him of himself — to a point. Alexander said"
If Alexander is like McCandless in ANY way, then he is a complete and total moron....just like McCandless was. Read the book. And from what I have read about the movie it is a complete and total distortion of the truth. It makes the guy out like some sort of hero when all he was ....was very stupid. Fortunatly for mankind McCandless was a Darwin award winner before he was able to reproduce.
Bogtrotter-
Mcandless had a belief system and moral code different from you and me. While I don’t share his beliefs, you won’t see me calling him a moron as it’s not polite to speak ill of the dead. In fact, I would even consider it impolite to call you a moron since you seem to have a problem with spelling and writing a complete sentence. Instead, I offer you this helpful advice. “Fortunately” has an “e” in it. Avoid beginning sentences with the word “and” and do not comment on people whom you know nothing about.
Add to the mix the well-known (locally and by NPS) conclusion that the kid maliciously vandalized three cabins just miles upstream, and you get a different picture of a seriously disturbed person. Most people have no problem with someone going out to "find themselves" or whatever, they have a problem with the story being inaccurate and romanticized. Krakauer knew a year after the book that the kid did not poison himself, and knew soon after that he did not burn his money and had no map...see Ron Lamothe's documentary "Call of the Wild". His wallet was found by a local debunking many of the cool things about the book and movie. The kid wasn't a moron, just mentally ill. Krakauer and Penn are morons and liars, and there is plenty of proof behind that.
Spending three month alone is not something that a "normal" person would be able to do with out losing some marbles. Only one in a hundred could do it. Try it some time, my record is four days and it seemed a lot longer than that. Say what you want but Mcandlles was not a moron. Most people just stereotype other people that they do not understand and there is plenty of that going on here. He was just young and idealistic. To dismiss him as foolish is foolish.
The makers of the movie do a real dis-service by glorifying and romanticizing what was a pretty pointless stunt, and a nasty meaningless death. It virtually encourages many of the slower wits among us to copy the guy. McCandless's adventure was fundamentally ill-conceived to begin with, let alone going out on it poorly prepared. It was like taking a "no money back" guarantee, or a "heads I win, tails you lose" bet. The 'reward' didn't even close to justify the 'risk'. I have a ton more sympathy for those he left behind than for him; he got Naturally Selected outta the gene pool for a reason. I think it's odd how AK seems to attract guys like him (and that one that 'fed the bears' a few years ago).
AND any belief system that leads people to do things like these is likely to have a high number of Darwin Award winners and few senior citizens (and the old saw that one shouldn't start sentences with the word 'and' is pretty out-dated...).
Can we get the Air Force to hit the bus with an air strike?
It would sound like Freeeedooommmm.
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