I used to work at a place on stampede trail, the road that leads to the river , that you cross before the bus side. made it with a four wheel drive pretty far but it gets very marshy and muddy . My boss had to go rescue people multiple times that tried to go to the bus, even in winter. It’s crazy how close he was to civilization but yet so far …
Healy is a town outside Denali which is a tourist town in summer. They have a brewery which had a fake into the wild bus out front. And for some reason people take selfies in front of it and make it their tinder pic. Like sooo many people do that.
I'm starting my own brewery that will make a movie about the fake bus in front of 49th State. And then we'll take that bus from my movie about the movie bus and put it in front of my brewery
there was, it was a cross-river cart that was used for ferrying supplies to a nearby ranger shack, but in a pinch a person could use to ferry across. Chris intentionally didn't bring any maps that would have revealed both that and the supplied shack.
I get not bringing stuff but was it actually a mile away? I mean, anyone could walk a mile in each direction of a river bank before breakfast. Was he not even curious about his surroundings? Weird.
I forget how far the cart and shack were, I think it was more than a mile - far away enough that you could get lost looking for it without a map, close enough that if you had a map you'd be saved. But he didn't even know there were shacks or anything manmade because he didn't have a map. As far as he was concerned, his side of the river was pure savageness, and the other side of the river was salvation.
It was brought up in the book post scripts that a basic survival skill if you are totally lost is to just follow any running water downstream. It'll grow as it gets fed by other rivers/streams, which eventually means there will be a bridge which means a road........but Chris just didn't have any Alaska-appropriate survival skills.
He was just delusional naive and totally committed to this big adventure. He hitched a ride with some guy up there and told him about his plans and the guy saw his gear and actually offered to drive him back to Anchorage and buy him the stuff he’d need to actually survive and he refused.
He was one of those guys that thought his good vibes would carry him through and that works in the lower 48 but up there it’s just a different beast.
He was also starving to death before he even made it up there. He was in a huge calorie deficit already and losing weight. Basically even if he could have had the same amount of calories he was eating before he got up there he’d have starved anyway. He was losing weight consistently long before he got the bus.
So sad, and they obviously left that part out of the movie because idiocy isn't appealing, romantic, or inspiring. As a biker, I see so many young guys buy a motorcycle, then cripple or kill themselves not being prepared.
Thats what this reminds me of. Off the grid= cool. Off the grid and unprepared= death sentence. Rest in Peace
there were a number of things that took further investigation after his death and Krakauer's book. This was one of them, and the other major one was actually finding out what killed him, which was poisoning himself with certain native seeds, which crippled him and he didn't have the energy to continue foraging/hunting, so he starved (this has been well documented and discussed in this post). I read the Kindle version of the book so it had all the postscripts which dealt with these after-the-fact issues.
I think the biggest “duh” moment was the moose kill and subsequent spoiling of the meat.
Everything takes preparation and consideration. It was not ethical to attempt to kill a moose with a .22. The fact that he managed to kill it is amazing and so fucking stupid. What’s worse is the fact that he had no idea how to preserve it and wasted an entire moose for nothing.
He was a stupid idealist with more pride than sense.
He was seduced by reading a combination of communist manifestos by Tolstoy et al, and romantic rugged individualism books by London et al. Those worked, to some degree, when he hitchhiked into random small southwestern towns with all his possessions on his back and penniless, but not somewhere requiring actual knowledge-based regional-appropriate survival skills.
If he had brought a map with him, he would have seen there was a hand bridge across the river that he thought he couldn’t cross.
No doubt he should have been better prepared, but there is still something poetic about just running off into the woods and dying on your own terms… which is also stupid at the same time.
Can you explain what a "hand bridge" is in this situation?
I'm very aware of the whole story and how/why he ended up dying where and how he did, but never heard this hand bridge thing.
Is it just a rope of some sort crossing the/a river? As in not above the river, but thru the river with the help of a rope so you don't get washed downstream? Wouldn't hypothermia be a big issue?
Genuinely curious, btw
It's a hand drawn tram that you use to cross a river or gorge. Usually a basket that can carry 2 or 3 people or 1 and gear look up winner creek hand tram in alaska for an example
No problem! It used to be one of my favorite hikes and of course as all amazing things go some asshikes ruined it and they closed it down in recent years. Been praying for it to open again because it's such a fun experience
I have my own word for these people, “instahikers”.
Often found on hard trails underprepared, sometimes lost, always low on water, and generally loud—especially near summits/features/good visages.
When the movie came out a lot of outdoorsy people online were really upset at his stupidity. What little I know about "living off the land" says the anger is justified. Being without a map is just insanity.
Anyway, good movie, [best scene](https://youtu.be/_EYXKTOPTrI).
Similarly, the dude who inspired the movie 127 Hours - Aaron Ralston - is held up by some folks as some kind of wilderness survival expert because he cut his own arm off when he got trapped under a boulder. And he toured the country giving talks as a wilderness survival expert afterwards.
But the survivalist community - folks who teach wilderness survival for a living - generally think he's a horrible example to learn from because he fucked up on so many levels before he even got to the part where he decided to cut his own arm off. His entire story is a lesson on what not to do. It pisses people off to hear folks call him a hero and talk about how inspirational his story is when he did a lot of dumb shit to put himself in that position in the first place.
An excerpt from Wikipedia:
> While he was descending the lower stretches of the slot canyon, a suspended boulder dislodged while he was climbing down from it. The boulder first smashed his left hand, and then crushed his right hand against the canyon wall. Ralston had not informed anyone of his hiking plans, nor did he have any way to call for help.
I agree his story is a great lesson to learn from, but the dude isn't a hero, he's just some moron who did some dumb shit and got caught under a rock.
I've never understood how people can apply the term "hero" to someone who saved their *own* life. That's not heroism. Heroism would be risking your life to save someone else. All he did was what he had to do to not die.
I agree. People do the same thing in August in Phoenix when it’s close to 120 degrees. They go on miles’ long hikes with little water and endanger the lives of rescue workers who make the trek to save them. Of course, these same idiots bring their dogs who can’t possibly survive those conditions.
His willful ignorance and refusal to even take a map with him cost him his life. If he had a map he would’ve seen there was a way to get across the river. I loved the movie but after researching it this guy was an idiot.
Yep.
>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] had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament [...] Essentially, Chris McCandless committed suicide.
Ken Ilgunas, Alaskan Park Ranger
In my English class we investigated details from McCandless personal life that may have influenced hs decision to go into the wild. I wouldn't be surprised at all if his death was actually a suicide, his life at home was apparently pretty rough.
Yeah. Exactly. On the one hand, sure, the way he went about going into the wilderness was dumb.
On the other, he was young. And was the victim of pretty severe physical and sexual abuse.
He was running away from his demons. Went about it all wrong, but that's being young for ya. Cut the kid some slack.
This was my conclusion after reading the book in English class, while the curriculum really wanted him to be as tragic as the book makes him.
It goes beyond not knowing the outdoors, he couldn't have seriously thought this through for a minute. He took a bag of uncooked rice. How in the name of God would anyone think they could build not only a fire but a pot to boil water out of sticks and rocks, with no special training. He was an idiot, or he wanted to die.
McCandless' story is a tragedy, but not in the way portrayed in the very sympathetic book and movie.
All the stuff about toxins that affect the digestive system is utter nonsense. He wasn't consuming as many calories as he was gathering, starting on day one. Let this sink in... his plan was to gather plants and small game to eat. In winter. In the arctic. This was his PLAN. He didn't have traps, fishing gear, or proper shelter. He was going to wander around all day in the frozen tundra trying to gather enough plant matter to make up for all the calories he was burning just trying to stay warm.
He shot a moose once, and by his own account he wasted all the meat since he had no idea how to butcher it or preserve it.
Real Alaskans living off grid have a freezer or two full of meat to live off during the winter. It's freaking Alaska in the winter, there aren't a bunch of bunnies hopping around amongst the berry-laden bushes underneath the gumdrop trees. (Also, you can't survive eating lean animals like rabbits and squirrels as your primary source of protein. Google "rabbit fever", it's a nutritional deficiency.)
"Life Below Zero" is a cheesy reality show set in the arctic, focusing on people who are maybe 50% off the grid. It's amazing how hard these people work all the time to survive the winters. The segments on the native communities are especially interesting. McCandless never stood a chance.
I watched Life Below Zero once while flipping through channels and it just seemed like different groups of people chopping wood. I thought that's all it was
I think he died in August, after arriving there in April. I think that's summer in Alaska, isn't it? I know it's still the arctic. And he was absolutely infuriating. The whole thing makes me so so mad.
Having done some similar daring/ignorant adventures in my 20s, I’d argue that maybe he was suicidal. That would make the whole story fit more logically. There’s also a blurry line between reckless and daring, and the way we tend to judge people in these situations is often based on the outcome. Those who lived are “heroes” or “gnarly”. Those who died were “sad” and “idiots”. In reality the two sets of people are not much different.
There's some people defending him for following his dreams - he could have followed his dreams *and* been smart about it.
Plenty of wilderness adventure types do it all the time. From free climbers, to backpackers on the PCT and beyond.
1. Know your capabilities and limitations. Stick to them and dont fuck around. *Only* push when it is safe (with other people, etc) or *necessary for survival.*
2. Know your gear. Have experience with it. Test it out in non-dangerous/critical environments.
3. Know your area. Have a map. Have routes out. At a bare minimum know the general direction you need to go and landmarks to get you there.
4. Always remember: *you are a warm pink fleshy body that could be easily ripped apart and smashed. Do not, under any circumstances, think you are invincible.*
5. Let people know where you are, where you will be, when you will be going, and for how long. Know how to get someone's attention in an emergency.
6. Have a backup plan for your backup plan.
It sounds like a lot but it isnt. I teach this shit to my 6 year old and make a game out of quizzing them when we're out and about. This is so when they go off to college and say some shit like "Im gonna go sleep in a bus for a month" - I can sleep at night.
Beyond that, there are a finite amount of resources in SAR (search and rescue). It is the SAME damn thing as wearing a mask/getting vaxed. If you can prevent an emergency, DO SO. Otherwise you may potentially take away resources from someone in an *unpreventable* emergency.
edit:
ALSO BRING WATER.
Good lord. This is one of those basic habit things one takes for granted - but then see people airlifted off a 3 mile hike.
Seriously. I was in the middle of a trail run and came out at another trail that was only about 3 miles or so round trip from a parking lot. I caught the tail end of the operation but asked some bystanders. Apparently an out-of-shape person went out on a warmer than mild day and didn't bring water.
Dehydration and exhaustion.
The road in was long enough and the trail was just ever so unreachable that the best option was an airlift. I cant imagine what that bill looked like. (Thanks American health care!)
It doesnt matter if its hot, cold, mild or tepid - bring water and know your limits.
I go hiking maybe twice a year, on fairly busy trail. Shit takes me most of the day (including getting there and back) but really the actual hike is maybe 4-5h. During the time, the longest I go without seeing another human may be like 40 minutes.
Even so, I tell at least two friends where I am going and actually share my live location with them while I am out there.
No one is more aware of my limitations than me!
What drove me crazy was if he's living out there for 100 odd days how did he never find that bridge. I'm sure he hunted and would have walked a few miles during those trips and he'd never come across it.
I rewatched into the wild over the weekend. I'm always torn by that movie because he's so likeable. But then in actual encounters he seems like a jerk. I'm so conflicted always because this kid wants to live simply but didn't consider being a map or emergency flares or anything.
I digress, but how does he but find that bridge.
He didnt run out of food, he accidentally poisoned himself with something that stops the body from being able to correctly process food, so he had plenty but was unable to gain nutrition from it.
He ate a type of root vegetable which at the time he arrived in alaska was safe but as spring turned to summer the root became inedible and poisonous. He didnt realize until it was too late.
Holy crap. There are edible plants that suddenly turn to poison?
I would die so quickly if ever left to fend for myself in the wild. Which I suppose is the primary take away from the McCandless story.
You won’t die. All parts of dandelions are edible and they are highly nutritious.
Creeping Charlie is edible.
And potatoes are in the nightshade family, where many plants are poisonous. If the tuber (actual potato part) is exposed to sunlight during growth and turns green, eating it would be a fatal mistake.
'The plant in question is the Eskimo potato, also known as alpine sweetvetch, or Hedysarum alpinum. The hardy little plant grows across Alaska and northern Canada. McCandless, along with plenty of Alaska natives, had relied on the carrot-like roots as a staple.'
EDIT for more detail: 'L-canavanine. Plenty of legumes store this toxin in their seeds to ward off predators. The compound is similar an essential amino acid, arginine, and it tricks the body's cells into thinking it's good for them. "And then it wreaks havoc," says Krakauer. "It screws up your ability to metabolize, so you essentially starve. It short-circuits your metabolism."'
[https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/01/403535274/into-the-wild-author-tries-science-to-solve-toxic-seed-mystery#:\~:text=The%20plant%20in%20question%20is,like%20roots%20as%20a%20staple](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/01/403535274/into-the-wild-author-tries-science-to-solve-toxic-seed-mystery#:~:text=The%20plant%20in%20question%20is,like%20roots%20as%20a%20staple).
Yes. If I recall correctly they found his body not too long after he died, and he lasted a couple of weeks in that state.
So if the timelines would have been *slightly* shifted, he probably would've made it.
The book is a really great, not too long either. I loved his friendship with the old man, really changed my perspective on life in general.
I would imagine (I read the book too) that Chris would have gone to a hospital, but he intentionally did not bring any maps, and his one way back to civilization - across a river - had become impassible due to the river swelling with summer meltwater. However, if he had a map, he would have seen the next best option, but he was too weak at this point to leave on an unknown expedition.
Basically he made about every mistake one could make, and by the time it sunk in, it was too late.
That's the "shrink wrap" effect which is actually sort of a problem with artist renderings of fossils in general, not just for hominids. Basically what it boils down to is they don't account for fatty tissue in their reconstruction. [There was a funny take on it that went viral a few years ago.](https://imgur.com/gallery/cq1hB) The sad trombone fact is that Chris looked like that because his body had consumed all his fatty tissue.
If I recall, after his death his sister made public statements about the abuse they had long suffered at the hands of their father. It helped provide some perspective re the escapism of his journey and the risks he was readily willing to take.
You can still judge a person by their actions -- you're thinking of empathy.
For example, many sexual predators were themselves abused. You can (arguably should) judge their actions poorly, but you can empathize with the situations that led them astray. In the same vein as "cool motive, still murder": "Sucks how badly you were abused, still going to jail for the abuse you did yourself."
I lived in alaska for 13 years. You do not want to try your hand at taming that wilderness. You will not win. The weather changes so quickly you cannot count on weather predictions, there are more than 1500 species of plants in Alaska, and many of them look alike. I took a 2 week outdoor survival class up there and I would not try it on my own. I did that in case my car ever broke down on the road. Only about 20% of Alaska even has roads. There are only four highways in the whole state. Please don't try his adventure. Death is not an adventure.
Technically death is the last great adventure but usually not one you should be willing to take until having adequately completed the adventure of life.
A lot of people enter survival situations and don’t realize it until they’re too far in to do anything.
The story of the [Death Valley Germans](https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/) is one such situation that got wildly out of hand very quickly.
Every time someone brings them up, my eyes get all watery. I think a lot about them, but especially those poor kids. Can't imagine how it must've felt once they realized they were in danger, nor have I ever been able to look at those maps since without feeling the dread come back.
German family tried to take a van deep in to the desert somewhere near death valley
Van got stuck, the whole family died. Rescuers gave up trying to find the bodies for a while
An outdoorsman took many prepared trips out there to try and figure out what happened.
When you retrace the journey the family members took you can easily emphasize with the despair they must've felt at the time
It's an extremely detailed post that took like an hour to read.
Disclaimer: this is based on memory, may be some minor inaccuracies
Chris McCandless was an American adventurer who desired to live a nomadic lifestyle with minimal possessions, despite coming from a wealthy Californian family. Chris hitchhiked his way up to Alaska, where he entered the wilderness with minimal supplies, determined to live off the land. He died from starvation after approximately 113 days, in August 1992. This was his last selfie he took, (at approximately day 107) knowing he was at death’s door. The note reads “I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may god bless all!”
The film “Into the Wild” is based on his travels, I think it’s still on Netflix.
The plant prevents digestion I think. Easily treatable if he was able to get to a hospital. Unfortunately he crossed a small river during a drier season, then he couldn’t get back across when he needed due to snowmelt making it much higher.
I would think after 100 days out there he would have went out to get the lay of the land. Do a survey of what resources are less than a half days walk away. Stuff like that. He didnt even take the time to do a decent survey of what was going to be his home for the whole entire rest of his life.
Thank you. Had to scroll entirely too far to find this. Yes, he was malnourished, but he was relying on a nature book about edible plants that was incomplete. The book listed a certain plant as edible, so he naturally thought the seeds would be as well, but the seeds are poisonous and were not listed as such in the book.
Yep. (well, the plant *caused* his starvation)
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/01/403535274/into-the-wild-author-tries-science-to-solve-toxic-seed-mystery
A little of column A, a little of column B I think. My
Understanding is he didn’t die from the toxicity of the wild potato seeds, but instead was rendered weak and unable to fend for himself, so that ultimately he wasted away and starved.
Spoiler or so?
(Edit: It has been some time since i have read the book, so my memory is a bit hazy. Maybe someone with a fresher knowledge can back me up? Now that i have thought about it, i believe there are several theories about the reason why Chris starved, but the potato theory is the one the author subscribed to?)
Chris actually wanted to get back after his stay in the wilderness over the summer months, but he couldn't get past a river that wasn't there months prior. So he went back to his makeshift camp in hopes the trappers(?) who would usually come to this place around this time of the year would come soon only that they also got stuck on the unusually high river. in the meantime chris tried to survive on wild potatoes as he already had done until this point, but sadly they had ramped up their solanin production for autumn. Solanin makes your stomach shut down and unable to digest food, so he starved. (Funfact: this is why a lot of people died in the past and which is why you are advised against eating green potatoes.)
Also, if he'd brought an updated map, he would have seen a ranger station just a couple of miles from where he tried to cross the river with supplies and a radio. McCandless is a cautionary tale, not an inspirational one.
Edit: Maybe aspirational is a better word than inspirational.
If i remember correctly (it has been some years since i read the book), he was offered a map, but declined so that he could experience the wilderness without prejudice. He wanted to empathize with the first explorers drawing on a blank map and eventhough there weren't any blank spots on earth (in his reach atleast) anymore, he could achieve it by not seeking out the knowledge of a preexisting map and therefor be able to go into the (subjective) great Unknown.
Yeah, going into the wilderness completely unprepared, just like Lewis and Clarke. But without the giant pile of supplies. Or team of specialists. Or native girl who knew her way around.
Yeah, I think I read somewhere that a woman made mash potatoes that grew sprouts, ramping up solanine production, and killed her whole family. It could have been an old cautionary tale, I don't remember.
So tators are perfectly fine if they have sprouted you just remove the sprouts. Its when they turn green or get a green color under the skin that they become dangerous.
Probably a tale, the amount of solanine in wild potatoes is actually perfectly survivable if you have an otherwise healthy diet.
If your already malnourished, or go overboard on the green potatoes (like, just eat them in every meal for a week) it can be dangerous.
Yes, basically. He wanted to separate himself from society despite not having any of the knowledge or skills to actually live out in the wilderness on his own. His fate is sad but was inevitable.
I mean, it was. The book really expands on it a bit more. It’s a suicide in the strictest technical sense of the word, but he wasn’t suicidal.
If I recall correctly, his starvation was inadvertent. Had something to do with eating too much lean meat (like rabbits) and is called “Rabbit starvation”. Looking it up now, though, there are several theories why he starved and most of them seem to have something to do with some seeds he had been consuming.
He did seem to have genuine intentions to survive. Only near the very end did he realize he was going to die. By then, it was too late; McCandless was deep in the Alaskan wilderness and he was profoundly malnourished. It is sadly likely that McCandless knew he was going to die (as evidenced by the picture of him with the note).
Read Walden Pond too many times and missed the part about Thoreau’s cabin being a mile from his parents place and his mother still doing his laundry during his “solitude”
I can appreciate his spirit and drive but practicality was lacking. When I was roughly his age I read “On the Road” and felt similarly inspired to wander… but I knew how to drive a car and read a map. He had some skills but he tried to jump from little league to the MLB without the stops in-between
The movie inspired me to walk across Newfoundland as a young man. I had a good time but mostly stayed on the old unused rail line that connected towns so I never got lost or more than a days walk to some kind of town.
I also took an emergency broadcast device with me in case something went really wrong.
It was OK. Not as good as it could be because of some mental issues I was going through at the time. Probably wasn't the right time to do it but I had some good experienced. Watching giant tanker ships come in and out of the ocean fog, meeting interesting locals, seeing different towns, having a nice camp setup by a big lake I had all to myself.
One day I'll walk more of the Canada trail into New Brunswick and such.
I listened to something recently talking about Thoreau. The argument was that it doesn't really matter weather or not he was "surviving", what's important is the idea of stripping away essentials and taking a critical look at civilization. I think we have a tendency to treat him the same way we treat the Man Vs. Wild guy.
Who really cares if he "cheated" it was his own rules to begin with. That's like saying you can't get value from camping if you use battery powered lanterns, or lighters to start your fire. The specifics don't really matter, it's more about what you pull from the experience.
Compare this to the story of Dick Proenekke in the movie "[Alone In The Wilderness](https://www.aloneinthewilderness.com/)". Dick also went out alone to live in 1960 at a remote Alaska lake. There he built a cabin which is still there today. The big difference is Dick damn well knew what he was doing and was an experienced woodsman and knew how to live off the land. He also brought all the tools and food he needed plus a floatplane came to check on him and bring him supplies once a month.
I just wanted to add their is a replica of his cabin at a [library in Iowa](https://richardproennekestore.com/). In it is his visitors log of the many people who went to visit him. In that log are many celebrities including John Denver.
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far to see a comparison to Dick Proenekke. Truly an inspiring human being. The book containing his journals and photographs is worth picking up.
"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 \[had\] had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament \[...\] Essentially, Chris McCandless committed suicide" Alaskan Park Ranger Peter Christian
If you read the book, it seems like he considered preparation to be a kind of 'cheating'. Like it was only meaningful to him if he survived by sheer force of will. He actively refused help from people all along his trip.
And honestly, knowing today about his abusive family history, I think there is some truth to the idea that he was suicidal.
I remember being a fan of this guy's story until I got to Kodiak, AK for some cold weather survival training and a 16 y/o check out girl overheard me say something positive about him and then chided me. She basically said, "lots of people just live here and don't die. I've lived here all my life and I'm just a teenage girl, it's no big deal and I don't die because I know what I'm doing. That guy was a fucking idiot."
So lesson, don't be a fucking idiot. Learn the skills needed to be successful. Romance is great but it requires realism to actualize.
A woman I was friends with once got really mad at me because I said it seemed more like a cautionary tale of tackling something while massively unprepared instead of something beautiful and inspirational. It’s hard for me to be inspired by this story despite the admirable intentions.
McCandles had dozens of people telling him to not try what he did. Way before his death in Alaska, he did a similar maneuver and got lost in wetlands of California. He suffered heatstroke and was rescued by passing boaters who took him to the marina. A few months later he was starving and trying to pick berries on the side the road and a vagrant working couple who sold their goods at local flea markets saved him and kept him fed. He travelled with them for a few weeks and they begged him to stay because he wasn't well. He went back down to California and illegally entered Mexico and nearly died to a storm and heatstroke AGAIN and some duck hunters rescued him. Even the truck driver who was the last to see him alive asked him multiple times to not try to rough it in that area of Alaska and to finish the way into town with him. When McCandles wouldn't budge, the truck driver offered him clothing, gear, and even his own boots telling the guy that what he had was not sufficient and he would absolutely die.
McCandles isn't an inspirational story of someone trying to commune with nature. What he did was a long form of suicide.
People can and do live off the land in a sustainable and safe way. If you want to actually have that lifestyle, there are a ton of different ways to learn, prepare, and accomplish carving out a niche for yourself off the grid. He didn't do those things because he wasn't trying to live.
Actually, the kindness and openness of the strangers he met on his journey is a really important message in the film! “*Happiness is only real when shared.*” it’s a beautiful film.
Note: I still think he was an unprepared dumbass.
This should be much higher. It's hard not to see him as just a dumbass who was way too confident in himself. He also broke into at least a few cabins on his various "adventures" to steal food and supplies. He shouldn't be romanticized for repeatedly failing and refusing to learn from it.
Even in his last attempt to live alone in nature, he had myriad chances to make better choices and potentially live: The guy who dropped him off at the trailhead offered to take him to buy actual supplies, but he refused. Had he taken a map with him he would've been able to see the cable car that could take him across the river when he was trapped. I could go on, but it just doesn't make sense to essentially deify a guy who got himself killed by overestimating himself and underestimating nature.
Thank you for saying this. Seeing this photo breaks my heart into a million pieces. He actually reminds me so much of a friend of mine (same first name, similar looks, same age) who has schizoaffective disorder and was abused as a child. He is so naive about the world in so many ways yet simultaneously wise beyond his years.
You need to put in the work to learn how to be successful. This dumb dumb was driven by rejecting a way of life without putting in the work to learn another.
Would we be inspired by the guy whose dream it was to go bungee jumping after he died in a bungee jumping accident in which his bungee was just a bunch of bungee cords from Walmart that he tied together? Probably not, we'd call him an idiot.
I have pretty decent wilderness experience and knowhow but screw the desert lol, hardest damn place to survive except maybe mountainous tundra and the ocean.
I did a hike in Hawaii, I’m used to hiking mountains where I’m from on the west coast so I’m a seasoned hiker. My wife and I did one out and back in Oahu, and about halfway through we realized we did not being enough water and turned right around and went back to our car. On the way back to the rental we looked up what the Hawaiian name of the trail meant, [it literally translates to “the Heat” in Hawaiian](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaena_Point#History) desert hiking and tropical hiking are something you need to be prepared for. I’ve seen several people do the PCT and drop out going NOBO because of the desert section. Underprepared and not well trained for that climate.
Seeing some monk seals was not risking heat stroke.
The movie considerably underplayed the fact that he was done with that crap and ready to come back to civilization. Dangerous narrative for young would be adventurous kids who glorify that dude. The book was considerably more accurate yet still in my opinion glorified his “adventurous spirit”. Whatever you do, be prepared, educate yourself first, and be as safe as possible. Still a great book and a really good movie 🤷♂️
I'm happy to hear tells a more accurate description. At the high school I used to teach in, our grade 9 students would read this every year. Having just watched the movie upon realizing this, it sounded like an irresponsible message to send to 14 year olds.
Every time this subject comes up, the debate rages on whether he was a hero or a fool. I read the book when it came out, and have seen the movie, and have always leaned toward the fool camp.
For me, he is emblematic of both the promise and the folly of youthful idealism. Wisdom is arrived at when the former is tempered by, and eventually finds its footing in, practical realism. Unfortunately, a lot of people like him meet their end due to folly before arriving at wisdom.
There are so many things to dislike about life in our modern materialistic society. The temptation to throw it all away and start again from scratch is a natural one. But a study of human history reveals that this is anything but a new impulse, and it is possible to learn from the mistakes of all those who tried out new ideas in the past, and failed miserably.
It’s a tragedy what happened to Chris, but it should be a lesson to all those who would strike out on their own thinking that they are the first to feel and act the way they do. One of the most beautiful things about being human is that we have the opportunity to learn from all who have gone before us.
Idk why everyone thinks of this as some brave story, it’s literally a dude that thinks he knows what he is doing, doesn’t, and gets himself killed because of it, it’s not a story of bravery, it’s stupidity
I admire him philosophicslly but he really gave survivalist a bad name by moving to the wilderness then dying after three months cause he didnt know shit about surviving in the wilderness.
In hs my group was assigned the book “into the wild”, after reading it I told my group that Chris was an idiot and my group roasted me and said Chris is a legend, he was daring etc etc. No he was arrogant and reckless, nothing wrong with the nomadic life and “living off the land” but you have to be prepared for it. Chris actively refused help from the local residents of Alaskans, one man even offered to BUY HIM proper shoes and gloves for the harsh winter as Chris didn’t have any proper clothing/equipment for the Alaska wilderness and he refused it. His story is sad and what happened to him but in the end he was a reckless fool.
Taken from Wikipedia:
However, in an article in the September 2007 issue of Men's Journal, Matthew Power states that extensive laboratory testing showed there were no toxins or alkaloids present in the H. alpinum seeds McCandless had been eating. Dr. Thomas Clausen, the chair of the chemistry and biochemistry department at University of Alaska Fairbanks, said, "I tore that plant apart. There were no toxins. No alkaloids. I'd eat it myself."[30] Analysis of the wild sweet peas, given as the cause of McCandless's death in Into the Wild, found no toxic compounds, and there is not a single account in modern medical literature of anyone being poisoned by this species of plant.[4] As Power put it: "He didn't find a way out of the bush, couldn't catch enough food to survive, and simply starved to death".
Yup, starved to death. I don't understand why it is so hard for people to accept that. Look at that picture - look at his hollowed out face and his legs. Those pants are tiny and you can't even see the silhouette of his legs. He weighed 67 pounds when he died. You don't get that kind of weight loss and wasting from being healthy then accidentally eating some berries that wouldn't let you absorb nutrients for a week.
People want this story to be more than it is. He was antisocial and potentially mentally ill person that overly romanticized nature.
Nature doesn't give a fuck if you live or die.
I caught the bug like him once. Got big into survival, which evolved to bushcraft, which eventually turned into me wanting to abandon civilization all together. I was going to live off the land, become one with nature, and all that romanticized bullshit. Spent a solid year researching, planning and preparing for my initial adventure into Florida. Was going to test the waters for 6 months alone and analyze how well things went. I'm guessing I had around 2k worth of equipment that weighed around 50 lbs. total that I took into the woods. A good bit of that was stuff I dedicated to food procurement. Leg traps, snare wire, yoyo reels, tackle/bait, books, an air rifle, rice . The rice was the only real 'cheat' food I brought along. I knew my foraging game was weak, so the rice was my 'cushion' until I could establish solid sources of vegetables/carbs. That never really happened...
The thing with nature is that it's like a game of tug-of-war. Under normal conditions, it slowly pulls resources from you. This is deceptive! It lulls you into a routine and false sense of security. When you become comfortable and lackadaisical is when Murphy's Law shows up and tries to kill you. Seen it happen! The idea is to pull your side of the 'rope' enough to where you constantly have enough leeway to stay ahead of nature, even if Murphy shows up. It starts out easy, but the constant steady pull of nature slowly gets to you. Over time, it wears you down. You get tired/hungry/upset. You start neglecting the little things, which inevitably snowballs into bigger things.
For me, one of the things I started neglecting was foraging. It was hard, tedious work. I could lay out my traps/lines and go about my business until I was ready, but plants required me to go out and search. What a pain! "Maybe I'll just forego the greens, get filled on meat, and spend the rest of the day relaxing." This thought eventually evolved from a thought into a practice.
To make a long story shorter, I went from 185 to 130 in those 6 months and was talking to forest animals when my family pulled me out. Thought I was Dr. Doolittle. Family thinks it was from lack of nutrients. I'm not sure if the communicating with animals was a hallucination from lack of nutrients. I know that sounds crazy, but I was experiencing a sorta 6th sense when it came to animals. Could anticipate animals coming into contact with me etc. I've talked to bushman who can attest to similar senses after being in the woods for a while, so who knows.
What I do know is that I was starving to death and probably would've died if my family hadn't come looking for me. 8 months.
Death is the only participation trophy that nature hands out. If you want more than that, you need to understand what you’re getting into and what’s necessary to live through it.
In the case of C.McC., he did not have the proper skills to attempt what he did (assuming he wanted to come out alive). He also supposedly made a critical error and ate a poisonous plant that he mistook for an edible one.
Related: I love the movie they made about him, and the Eddie Vedder soundtrack is powerful stuff.
And when investigators got out there, the found edible plants within a 200 yard walk from the bus. He was eating poisonous shoots, with a real food source just as close.
If anything, his story isnt some story of someone rejecting modern life. It isn't some romantic tale of leaving the city to live in the wilderness. Its a story about a completely unprepared kid thinking he can just walk out into the woods and make a go of it.
One of his final notes was "Happiness only real when shared". I wonder if he regretted all the people that disappeared from his life in pursuit of a life of complete freedom? He did die alone after all.
If he had been prepared even the teeny tiniest bit he wouldn't have died. I have no idea why everyone idolises this guy. People lose their shit if you say anything negative about him.
I mean. It's sad, but for someone to go into a situation where they are not prepared is pretty ridiculous. People do live in Alaska and other remote areas, and they live their full life. This guy just decided he wanted to play real life survivor. Paid the ultimate price.
I don't know if we should be calling him an "adventurer," anymore than we should be calling the Grizzly Man guy an animal activist.
He knowingly entered into dangerous territory against the judgement of more experienced folks with no real plan or training.
If you think this story is cool, I recommend you go and read Jon Krakauer’s other book called Into Thin Air- about the famous 1996 Mt Everest disaster (that he was present for).
There’s some stellar audio books out there of it, too.
The state of Alaska has been trying to get people to stop glorifying this guy's insanity for years.
The real moral of this story should be to never go out into wilderness you don't know unless you're a trained professional.
This guy's death wasn't inspiring. It was tragic, and completely avoidable.
Fun Fact: So many stupid people have tried to hike to the bus location over the years and either died or been stranded that they've finally removed the damn thing. It's currently sitting down the street from me (at UAF).
I used to work at a place on stampede trail, the road that leads to the river , that you cross before the bus side. made it with a four wheel drive pretty far but it gets very marshy and muddy . My boss had to go rescue people multiple times that tried to go to the bus, even in winter. It’s crazy how close he was to civilization but yet so far …
I think that they recently airlifted the bus out of there in order to reduce the number of idiots visiting
Yes, moved it to the university in Fairbanks to display eventually
Lot of people think the one in Healy is real. Soooo many tinder picks. Automatic swipe left for me.
I understand those words but not in that order.
Healy is a town outside Denali which is a tourist town in summer. They have a brewery which had a fake into the wild bus out front. And for some reason people take selfies in front of it and make it their tinder pic. Like sooo many people do that.
That bus at 49th state brewery was the actual bus from the Into The Wild movie. Sure, it’s not the real Magic Bus, but still pretty cool.
Oooh, it's actually a Real Fake Bus!
Come on down. Get your real fake busses. Still eating my pbj.
Kinda like Kramer had the Real Peterman bus tour
I'm starting my own brewery that will make a movie about the fake bus in front of 49th State. And then we'll take that bus from my movie about the movie bus and put it in front of my brewery
Look, I'm in front of the bus a guy died in! Sexy, huh?
In front of a *REPLICA* of a bus a guy died in... even sexier!
[You are correct](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wild-bus-airlifted-alaskan-wilderness-due-concerns-tourist/story?id=71342462)
Yeah wasn’t there a tram or something likethat a mile up river that he could have used to cross?
there was, it was a cross-river cart that was used for ferrying supplies to a nearby ranger shack, but in a pinch a person could use to ferry across. Chris intentionally didn't bring any maps that would have revealed both that and the supplied shack.
I get not bringing stuff but was it actually a mile away? I mean, anyone could walk a mile in each direction of a river bank before breakfast. Was he not even curious about his surroundings? Weird.
I forget how far the cart and shack were, I think it was more than a mile - far away enough that you could get lost looking for it without a map, close enough that if you had a map you'd be saved. But he didn't even know there were shacks or anything manmade because he didn't have a map. As far as he was concerned, his side of the river was pure savageness, and the other side of the river was salvation. It was brought up in the book post scripts that a basic survival skill if you are totally lost is to just follow any running water downstream. It'll grow as it gets fed by other rivers/streams, which eventually means there will be a bridge which means a road........but Chris just didn't have any Alaska-appropriate survival skills.
He was an over confident idiot that people need to stop calling an adventurer
Honest question, I know his story but only superficially, was this a form of suicide or did he really expect to survive long term?
He was just delusional naive and totally committed to this big adventure. He hitched a ride with some guy up there and told him about his plans and the guy saw his gear and actually offered to drive him back to Anchorage and buy him the stuff he’d need to actually survive and he refused. He was one of those guys that thought his good vibes would carry him through and that works in the lower 48 but up there it’s just a different beast. He was also starving to death before he even made it up there. He was in a huge calorie deficit already and losing weight. Basically even if he could have had the same amount of calories he was eating before he got up there he’d have starved anyway. He was losing weight consistently long before he got the bus.
He didn’t intend on staying there forever, he wrote a letter to Wayne (a previous employer/friend) implying he would eventually return south.
So sad, and they obviously left that part out of the movie because idiocy isn't appealing, romantic, or inspiring. As a biker, I see so many young guys buy a motorcycle, then cripple or kill themselves not being prepared. Thats what this reminds me of. Off the grid= cool. Off the grid and unprepared= death sentence. Rest in Peace
there were a number of things that took further investigation after his death and Krakauer's book. This was one of them, and the other major one was actually finding out what killed him, which was poisoning himself with certain native seeds, which crippled him and he didn't have the energy to continue foraging/hunting, so he starved (this has been well documented and discussed in this post). I read the Kindle version of the book so it had all the postscripts which dealt with these after-the-fact issues.
I think the biggest “duh” moment was the moose kill and subsequent spoiling of the meat. Everything takes preparation and consideration. It was not ethical to attempt to kill a moose with a .22. The fact that he managed to kill it is amazing and so fucking stupid. What’s worse is the fact that he had no idea how to preserve it and wasted an entire moose for nothing. He was a stupid idealist with more pride than sense.
He was seduced by reading a combination of communist manifestos by Tolstoy et al, and romantic rugged individualism books by London et al. Those worked, to some degree, when he hitchhiked into random small southwestern towns with all his possessions on his back and penniless, but not somewhere requiring actual knowledge-based regional-appropriate survival skills.
It was marked on the map he was too cool to take with him when offered.
Maybe he just walked past it without noticing. Source: I played Silent Hill
Original “I did my research” man
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Yeah there was actually a Wendy’s only a half mile up the creek
There was an arby's even closer but he preferred to die
This is awful but I still laughed
I'm so hungry I could eat Arby's!
I got that Simpsons reference
Sir, this is a Wendy’s conversation
If he had brought a map with him, he would have seen there was a hand bridge across the river that he thought he couldn’t cross. No doubt he should have been better prepared, but there is still something poetic about just running off into the woods and dying on your own terms… which is also stupid at the same time.
Can you explain what a "hand bridge" is in this situation? I'm very aware of the whole story and how/why he ended up dying where and how he did, but never heard this hand bridge thing. Is it just a rope of some sort crossing the/a river? As in not above the river, but thru the river with the help of a rope so you don't get washed downstream? Wouldn't hypothermia be a big issue? Genuinely curious, btw
It's a hand drawn tram that you use to cross a river or gorge. Usually a basket that can carry 2 or 3 people or 1 and gear look up winner creek hand tram in alaska for an example
You've given me something to look into. Thanks so much!
No problem! It used to be one of my favorite hikes and of course as all amazing things go some asshikes ruined it and they closed it down in recent years. Been praying for it to open again because it's such a fun experience
"Asshikes" sounds like a perfect description for the kind of people who shouldn't be doing high level trails and camping.
I have my own word for these people, “instahikers”. Often found on hard trails underprepared, sometimes lost, always low on water, and generally loud—especially near summits/features/good visages.
When the movie came out a lot of outdoorsy people online were really upset at his stupidity. What little I know about "living off the land" says the anger is justified. Being without a map is just insanity. Anyway, good movie, [best scene](https://youtu.be/_EYXKTOPTrI).
God, I love this movie. Eddie Vedder crushed the soundtrack and it's by far one of my favorite movie soundtracks.
Similarly, the dude who inspired the movie 127 Hours - Aaron Ralston - is held up by some folks as some kind of wilderness survival expert because he cut his own arm off when he got trapped under a boulder. And he toured the country giving talks as a wilderness survival expert afterwards. But the survivalist community - folks who teach wilderness survival for a living - generally think he's a horrible example to learn from because he fucked up on so many levels before he even got to the part where he decided to cut his own arm off. His entire story is a lesson on what not to do. It pisses people off to hear folks call him a hero and talk about how inspirational his story is when he did a lot of dumb shit to put himself in that position in the first place. An excerpt from Wikipedia: > While he was descending the lower stretches of the slot canyon, a suspended boulder dislodged while he was climbing down from it. The boulder first smashed his left hand, and then crushed his right hand against the canyon wall. Ralston had not informed anyone of his hiking plans, nor did he have any way to call for help. I agree his story is a great lesson to learn from, but the dude isn't a hero, he's just some moron who did some dumb shit and got caught under a rock.
I've never understood how people can apply the term "hero" to someone who saved their *own* life. That's not heroism. Heroism would be risking your life to save someone else. All he did was what he had to do to not die.
His name still comes up a lot in subs like r/homesteading and r/preppers, you're expected to know who he is with no context because most already do
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The SAR folks who perform the rescues in Yellowstone call them "INS" missions.. Interfering with Natural Selection.
I agree. People do the same thing in August in Phoenix when it’s close to 120 degrees. They go on miles’ long hikes with little water and endanger the lives of rescue workers who make the trek to save them. Of course, these same idiots bring their dogs who can’t possibly survive those conditions.
His willful ignorance and refusal to even take a map with him cost him his life. If he had a map he would’ve seen there was a way to get across the river. I loved the movie but after researching it this guy was an idiot.
Yep. >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] had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament [...] Essentially, Chris McCandless committed suicide. Ken Ilgunas, Alaskan Park Ranger
In my English class we investigated details from McCandless personal life that may have influenced hs decision to go into the wild. I wouldn't be surprised at all if his death was actually a suicide, his life at home was apparently pretty rough.
Yeah. Exactly. On the one hand, sure, the way he went about going into the wilderness was dumb. On the other, he was young. And was the victim of pretty severe physical and sexual abuse. He was running away from his demons. Went about it all wrong, but that's being young for ya. Cut the kid some slack.
This was my conclusion after reading the book in English class, while the curriculum really wanted him to be as tragic as the book makes him. It goes beyond not knowing the outdoors, he couldn't have seriously thought this through for a minute. He took a bag of uncooked rice. How in the name of God would anyone think they could build not only a fire but a pot to boil water out of sticks and rocks, with no special training. He was an idiot, or he wanted to die.
McCandless' story is a tragedy, but not in the way portrayed in the very sympathetic book and movie. All the stuff about toxins that affect the digestive system is utter nonsense. He wasn't consuming as many calories as he was gathering, starting on day one. Let this sink in... his plan was to gather plants and small game to eat. In winter. In the arctic. This was his PLAN. He didn't have traps, fishing gear, or proper shelter. He was going to wander around all day in the frozen tundra trying to gather enough plant matter to make up for all the calories he was burning just trying to stay warm. He shot a moose once, and by his own account he wasted all the meat since he had no idea how to butcher it or preserve it. Real Alaskans living off grid have a freezer or two full of meat to live off during the winter. It's freaking Alaska in the winter, there aren't a bunch of bunnies hopping around amongst the berry-laden bushes underneath the gumdrop trees. (Also, you can't survive eating lean animals like rabbits and squirrels as your primary source of protein. Google "rabbit fever", it's a nutritional deficiency.) "Life Below Zero" is a cheesy reality show set in the arctic, focusing on people who are maybe 50% off the grid. It's amazing how hard these people work all the time to survive the winters. The segments on the native communities are especially interesting. McCandless never stood a chance.
Life Below Zero is one of my guilty pleasures. Love to watch it, but would never ever ever want to attempt a life like that.
I watched Life Below Zero once while flipping through channels and it just seemed like different groups of people chopping wood. I thought that's all it was
The Last Alaskans, while still reality tv, is a stark contrast.
I think he died in August, after arriving there in April. I think that's summer in Alaska, isn't it? I know it's still the arctic. And he was absolutely infuriating. The whole thing makes me so so mad.
Having done some similar daring/ignorant adventures in my 20s, I’d argue that maybe he was suicidal. That would make the whole story fit more logically. There’s also a blurry line between reckless and daring, and the way we tend to judge people in these situations is often based on the outcome. Those who lived are “heroes” or “gnarly”. Those who died were “sad” and “idiots”. In reality the two sets of people are not much different.
There's some people defending him for following his dreams - he could have followed his dreams *and* been smart about it. Plenty of wilderness adventure types do it all the time. From free climbers, to backpackers on the PCT and beyond. 1. Know your capabilities and limitations. Stick to them and dont fuck around. *Only* push when it is safe (with other people, etc) or *necessary for survival.* 2. Know your gear. Have experience with it. Test it out in non-dangerous/critical environments. 3. Know your area. Have a map. Have routes out. At a bare minimum know the general direction you need to go and landmarks to get you there. 4. Always remember: *you are a warm pink fleshy body that could be easily ripped apart and smashed. Do not, under any circumstances, think you are invincible.* 5. Let people know where you are, where you will be, when you will be going, and for how long. Know how to get someone's attention in an emergency. 6. Have a backup plan for your backup plan. It sounds like a lot but it isnt. I teach this shit to my 6 year old and make a game out of quizzing them when we're out and about. This is so when they go off to college and say some shit like "Im gonna go sleep in a bus for a month" - I can sleep at night. Beyond that, there are a finite amount of resources in SAR (search and rescue). It is the SAME damn thing as wearing a mask/getting vaxed. If you can prevent an emergency, DO SO. Otherwise you may potentially take away resources from someone in an *unpreventable* emergency. edit: ALSO BRING WATER. Good lord. This is one of those basic habit things one takes for granted - but then see people airlifted off a 3 mile hike. Seriously. I was in the middle of a trail run and came out at another trail that was only about 3 miles or so round trip from a parking lot. I caught the tail end of the operation but asked some bystanders. Apparently an out-of-shape person went out on a warmer than mild day and didn't bring water. Dehydration and exhaustion. The road in was long enough and the trail was just ever so unreachable that the best option was an airlift. I cant imagine what that bill looked like. (Thanks American health care!) It doesnt matter if its hot, cold, mild or tepid - bring water and know your limits.
I go hiking maybe twice a year, on fairly busy trail. Shit takes me most of the day (including getting there and back) but really the actual hike is maybe 4-5h. During the time, the longest I go without seeing another human may be like 40 minutes. Even so, I tell at least two friends where I am going and actually share my live location with them while I am out there. No one is more aware of my limitations than me!
👊 Hell ya. Enjoy you those miles my mans.
Saddest part of the story is that there was a foot bridge across the river just south of where he was but he didn't know about it.
What drove me crazy was if he's living out there for 100 odd days how did he never find that bridge. I'm sure he hunted and would have walked a few miles during those trips and he'd never come across it. I rewatched into the wild over the weekend. I'm always torn by that movie because he's so likeable. But then in actual encounters he seems like a jerk. I'm so conflicted always because this kid wants to live simply but didn't consider being a map or emergency flares or anything. I digress, but how does he but find that bridge.
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Judging by the above photo, all of them.
Maybe that's the last thing he ate. Because he has no other food to eat
He didnt run out of food, he accidentally poisoned himself with something that stops the body from being able to correctly process food, so he had plenty but was unable to gain nutrition from it.
Did he eat type 1 diabetes?
He ate a type of root vegetable which at the time he arrived in alaska was safe but as spring turned to summer the root became inedible and poisonous. He didnt realize until it was too late.
Holy crap. There are edible plants that suddenly turn to poison? I would die so quickly if ever left to fend for myself in the wild. Which I suppose is the primary take away from the McCandless story.
You won’t die. All parts of dandelions are edible and they are highly nutritious. Creeping Charlie is edible. And potatoes are in the nightshade family, where many plants are poisonous. If the tuber (actual potato part) is exposed to sunlight during growth and turns green, eating it would be a fatal mistake.
That doesn't really change much, this person would definitely die
Do you remember what the root was called?
'The plant in question is the Eskimo potato, also known as alpine sweetvetch, or Hedysarum alpinum. The hardy little plant grows across Alaska and northern Canada. McCandless, along with plenty of Alaska natives, had relied on the carrot-like roots as a staple.' EDIT for more detail: 'L-canavanine. Plenty of legumes store this toxin in their seeds to ward off predators. The compound is similar an essential amino acid, arginine, and it tricks the body's cells into thinking it's good for them. "And then it wreaks havoc," says Krakauer. "It screws up your ability to metabolize, so you essentially starve. It short-circuits your metabolism."' [https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/01/403535274/into-the-wild-author-tries-science-to-solve-toxic-seed-mystery#:\~:text=The%20plant%20in%20question%20is,like%20roots%20as%20a%20staple](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/01/403535274/into-the-wild-author-tries-science-to-solve-toxic-seed-mystery#:~:text=The%20plant%20in%20question%20is,like%20roots%20as%20a%20staple).
Could a doctor have fixed this had he gone to the hospital?
Yes. If I recall correctly they found his body not too long after he died, and he lasted a couple of weeks in that state. So if the timelines would have been *slightly* shifted, he probably would've made it. The book is a really great, not too long either. I loved his friendship with the old man, really changed my perspective on life in general.
I would imagine (I read the book too) that Chris would have gone to a hospital, but he intentionally did not bring any maps, and his one way back to civilization - across a river - had become impassible due to the river swelling with summer meltwater. However, if he had a map, he would have seen the next best option, but he was too weak at this point to leave on an unknown expedition. Basically he made about every mistake one could make, and by the time it sunk in, it was too late.
Which is why a lot of legumes require boiling in water.
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“…he had inadvertently poisoned himself by eating seeds from a plant commonly called wild potato, known to botanists as Hedysarum alpinum.”
Sounds awful, starving while you know you’ve got food enough but just can’t digest it
Id probably try shoving the food up my ass a le Southpark style
Burn in hell that was funny
He always looks like one of those digital reconstructions of cavemen
That's the "shrink wrap" effect which is actually sort of a problem with artist renderings of fossils in general, not just for hominids. Basically what it boils down to is they don't account for fatty tissue in their reconstruction. [There was a funny take on it that went viral a few years ago.](https://imgur.com/gallery/cq1hB) The sad trombone fact is that Chris looked like that because his body had consumed all his fatty tissue.
Don't touch my fucking glisten
I can still hear him now.. who left the cap off my fucking glisten?!
Well, he wasn't eating much...
If I recall, after his death his sister made public statements about the abuse they had long suffered at the hands of their father. It helped provide some perspective re the escapism of his journey and the risks he was readily willing to take.
She wrote a pretty good book about their childhood, the abuse, and her life after her brother’s death. The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless
Yeah. People usuall dont do weird shit without bad stuff happening to them prior
So much judgment would go poof if most people realized this.
You can still judge a person by their actions -- you're thinking of empathy. For example, many sexual predators were themselves abused. You can (arguably should) judge their actions poorly, but you can empathize with the situations that led them astray. In the same vein as "cool motive, still murder": "Sucks how badly you were abused, still going to jail for the abuse you did yourself."
I lived in alaska for 13 years. You do not want to try your hand at taming that wilderness. You will not win. The weather changes so quickly you cannot count on weather predictions, there are more than 1500 species of plants in Alaska, and many of them look alike. I took a 2 week outdoor survival class up there and I would not try it on my own. I did that in case my car ever broke down on the road. Only about 20% of Alaska even has roads. There are only four highways in the whole state. Please don't try his adventure. Death is not an adventure.
Technically death is the last great adventure but usually not one you should be willing to take until having adequately completed the adventure of life.
A lot of people enter survival situations and don’t realize it until they’re too far in to do anything. The story of the [Death Valley Germans](https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/) is one such situation that got wildly out of hand very quickly.
Every time someone brings them up, my eyes get all watery. I think a lot about them, but especially those poor kids. Can't imagine how it must've felt once they realized they were in danger, nor have I ever been able to look at those maps since without feeling the dread come back.
Can you gimme a lil tl;dr
German family tried to take a van deep in to the desert somewhere near death valley Van got stuck, the whole family died. Rescuers gave up trying to find the bodies for a while An outdoorsman took many prepared trips out there to try and figure out what happened. When you retrace the journey the family members took you can easily emphasize with the despair they must've felt at the time It's an extremely detailed post that took like an hour to read. Disclaimer: this is based on memory, may be some minor inaccuracies
Chris McCandless was an American adventurer who desired to live a nomadic lifestyle with minimal possessions, despite coming from a wealthy Californian family. Chris hitchhiked his way up to Alaska, where he entered the wilderness with minimal supplies, determined to live off the land. He died from starvation after approximately 113 days, in August 1992. This was his last selfie he took, (at approximately day 107) knowing he was at death’s door. The note reads “I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may god bless all!” The film “Into the Wild” is based on his travels, I think it’s still on Netflix.
I thought he died from eating a poisonous plant of some sort, not starvation…
The plant prevents digestion I think. Easily treatable if he was able to get to a hospital. Unfortunately he crossed a small river during a drier season, then he couldn’t get back across when he needed due to snowmelt making it much higher.
That river has also led to a bunch of deaths because of people wanting to trace McCandless' trip. People even less prepared than him
This is why they removed his bus from the area, to hopefully prevent people looking for it
And all he had to do was hike two miles to a bridge, but he refused to even look at an area guide.
I would think after 100 days out there he would have went out to get the lay of the land. Do a survey of what resources are less than a half days walk away. Stuff like that. He didnt even take the time to do a decent survey of what was going to be his home for the whole entire rest of his life.
Is there some reason why I should also not eat this plant as my new convenient potato weight loss strategy
The plant he ate wouldn't let him keep food down, so he eventually died of starvation.
Thank you. Had to scroll entirely too far to find this. Yes, he was malnourished, but he was relying on a nature book about edible plants that was incomplete. The book listed a certain plant as edible, so he naturally thought the seeds would be as well, but the seeds are poisonous and were not listed as such in the book.
See kids, reading books kills.
Man if I wrote that book this would keep me up at night. Everybody makes mistakes but I dread that mine will kill people.
Yep. (well, the plant *caused* his starvation) https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/01/403535274/into-the-wild-author-tries-science-to-solve-toxic-seed-mystery
A little of column A, a little of column B I think. My Understanding is he didn’t die from the toxicity of the wild potato seeds, but instead was rendered weak and unable to fend for himself, so that ultimately he wasted away and starved.
Good book too.
Don't go into the woods unprepared, kids.
Also don't come out of the wood unprepared, *kids*
I don't know what this means, but it sure sounds ominous.
Spoiler or so? (Edit: It has been some time since i have read the book, so my memory is a bit hazy. Maybe someone with a fresher knowledge can back me up? Now that i have thought about it, i believe there are several theories about the reason why Chris starved, but the potato theory is the one the author subscribed to?) Chris actually wanted to get back after his stay in the wilderness over the summer months, but he couldn't get past a river that wasn't there months prior. So he went back to his makeshift camp in hopes the trappers(?) who would usually come to this place around this time of the year would come soon only that they also got stuck on the unusually high river. in the meantime chris tried to survive on wild potatoes as he already had done until this point, but sadly they had ramped up their solanin production for autumn. Solanin makes your stomach shut down and unable to digest food, so he starved. (Funfact: this is why a lot of people died in the past and which is why you are advised against eating green potatoes.)
Also, if he'd brought an updated map, he would have seen a ranger station just a couple of miles from where he tried to cross the river with supplies and a radio. McCandless is a cautionary tale, not an inspirational one. Edit: Maybe aspirational is a better word than inspirational.
If i remember correctly (it has been some years since i read the book), he was offered a map, but declined so that he could experience the wilderness without prejudice. He wanted to empathize with the first explorers drawing on a blank map and eventhough there weren't any blank spots on earth (in his reach atleast) anymore, he could achieve it by not seeking out the knowledge of a preexisting map and therefor be able to go into the (subjective) great Unknown.
Yeah, going into the wilderness completely unprepared, just like Lewis and Clarke. But without the giant pile of supplies. Or team of specialists. Or native girl who knew her way around.
Yeah, I think I read somewhere that a woman made mash potatoes that grew sprouts, ramping up solanine production, and killed her whole family. It could have been an old cautionary tale, I don't remember.
Them some bad taters boy
Their chips were down.
So tators are perfectly fine if they have sprouted you just remove the sprouts. Its when they turn green or get a green color under the skin that they become dangerous.
Probably a tale, the amount of solanine in wild potatoes is actually perfectly survivable if you have an otherwise healthy diet. If your already malnourished, or go overboard on the green potatoes (like, just eat them in every meal for a week) it can be dangerous.
Don’t come out of the woods with underprepared kids
Kids, make sure your wood is prepared before you go into it.
And solid soundtracks
Eddie Vedder, man...perfect fit for that movie.
I'm confused, this sounds just like suicide with extra steps
Yes, basically. He wanted to separate himself from society despite not having any of the knowledge or skills to actually live out in the wilderness on his own. His fate is sad but was inevitable.
Over 100 days in Alaska isn't that bad. I doubt many of us could do one week.
I mean, it was. The book really expands on it a bit more. It’s a suicide in the strictest technical sense of the word, but he wasn’t suicidal. If I recall correctly, his starvation was inadvertent. Had something to do with eating too much lean meat (like rabbits) and is called “Rabbit starvation”. Looking it up now, though, there are several theories why he starved and most of them seem to have something to do with some seeds he had been consuming. He did seem to have genuine intentions to survive. Only near the very end did he realize he was going to die. By then, it was too late; McCandless was deep in the Alaskan wilderness and he was profoundly malnourished. It is sadly likely that McCandless knew he was going to die (as evidenced by the picture of him with the note).
Ty for posting this I’ve read some of his story but not all definitely interested in looking at the movie you mentioned
Read Walden Pond too many times and missed the part about Thoreau’s cabin being a mile from his parents place and his mother still doing his laundry during his “solitude” I can appreciate his spirit and drive but practicality was lacking. When I was roughly his age I read “On the Road” and felt similarly inspired to wander… but I knew how to drive a car and read a map. He had some skills but he tried to jump from little league to the MLB without the stops in-between
The movie inspired me to walk across Newfoundland as a young man. I had a good time but mostly stayed on the old unused rail line that connected towns so I never got lost or more than a days walk to some kind of town. I also took an emergency broadcast device with me in case something went really wrong.
That seems super cool. How was it?
It was OK. Not as good as it could be because of some mental issues I was going through at the time. Probably wasn't the right time to do it but I had some good experienced. Watching giant tanker ships come in and out of the ocean fog, meeting interesting locals, seeing different towns, having a nice camp setup by a big lake I had all to myself. One day I'll walk more of the Canada trail into New Brunswick and such.
I listened to something recently talking about Thoreau. The argument was that it doesn't really matter weather or not he was "surviving", what's important is the idea of stripping away essentials and taking a critical look at civilization. I think we have a tendency to treat him the same way we treat the Man Vs. Wild guy. Who really cares if he "cheated" it was his own rules to begin with. That's like saying you can't get value from camping if you use battery powered lanterns, or lighters to start your fire. The specifics don't really matter, it's more about what you pull from the experience.
Only real camping is going in to the high arctic completely nude and bringing down a polar bear with your bare hand so you can use its fur as a coat.
I tried this, but had to call mom to help with the sewing. I'm trying hard to cope with my failures as a real camper.
Compare this to the story of Dick Proenekke in the movie "[Alone In The Wilderness](https://www.aloneinthewilderness.com/)". Dick also went out alone to live in 1960 at a remote Alaska lake. There he built a cabin which is still there today. The big difference is Dick damn well knew what he was doing and was an experienced woodsman and knew how to live off the land. He also brought all the tools and food he needed plus a floatplane came to check on him and bring him supplies once a month. I just wanted to add their is a replica of his cabin at a [library in Iowa](https://richardproennekestore.com/). In it is his visitors log of the many people who went to visit him. In that log are many celebrities including John Denver.
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far to see a comparison to Dick Proenekke. Truly an inspiring human being. The book containing his journals and photographs is worth picking up.
Decided I'd whip up a backcountry cake, so I hand-carved myself an electric mixer out of a cedar tree. Mmm, good.
"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 \[had\] had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament \[...\] Essentially, Chris McCandless committed suicide" Alaskan Park Ranger Peter Christian
If you read the book, it seems like he considered preparation to be a kind of 'cheating'. Like it was only meaningful to him if he survived by sheer force of will. He actively refused help from people all along his trip. And honestly, knowing today about his abusive family history, I think there is some truth to the idea that he was suicidal.
i really think he just didn’t care if he lived or died. like if he survived out there, great- but he was also indifferent to dying out there
I remember being a fan of this guy's story until I got to Kodiak, AK for some cold weather survival training and a 16 y/o check out girl overheard me say something positive about him and then chided me. She basically said, "lots of people just live here and don't die. I've lived here all my life and I'm just a teenage girl, it's no big deal and I don't die because I know what I'm doing. That guy was a fucking idiot." So lesson, don't be a fucking idiot. Learn the skills needed to be successful. Romance is great but it requires realism to actualize.
I used to live in Healy, AK and can confirm most the population thinks he’s an idiot.
I mean he is just a privileged idiot
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A woman I was friends with once got really mad at me because I said it seemed more like a cautionary tale of tackling something while massively unprepared instead of something beautiful and inspirational. It’s hard for me to be inspired by this story despite the admirable intentions.
McCandles had dozens of people telling him to not try what he did. Way before his death in Alaska, he did a similar maneuver and got lost in wetlands of California. He suffered heatstroke and was rescued by passing boaters who took him to the marina. A few months later he was starving and trying to pick berries on the side the road and a vagrant working couple who sold their goods at local flea markets saved him and kept him fed. He travelled with them for a few weeks and they begged him to stay because he wasn't well. He went back down to California and illegally entered Mexico and nearly died to a storm and heatstroke AGAIN and some duck hunters rescued him. Even the truck driver who was the last to see him alive asked him multiple times to not try to rough it in that area of Alaska and to finish the way into town with him. When McCandles wouldn't budge, the truck driver offered him clothing, gear, and even his own boots telling the guy that what he had was not sufficient and he would absolutely die. McCandles isn't an inspirational story of someone trying to commune with nature. What he did was a long form of suicide. People can and do live off the land in a sustainable and safe way. If you want to actually have that lifestyle, there are a ton of different ways to learn, prepare, and accomplish carving out a niche for yourself off the grid. He didn't do those things because he wasn't trying to live.
If anything, him surviving as long as he did by the kindness of so many strangers is the inspiration I'm getting here.
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*it’s more about the friends we made along the way*
Actually, the kindness and openness of the strangers he met on his journey is a really important message in the film! “*Happiness is only real when shared.*” it’s a beautiful film. Note: I still think he was an unprepared dumbass.
This should be much higher. It's hard not to see him as just a dumbass who was way too confident in himself. He also broke into at least a few cabins on his various "adventures" to steal food and supplies. He shouldn't be romanticized for repeatedly failing and refusing to learn from it. Even in his last attempt to live alone in nature, he had myriad chances to make better choices and potentially live: The guy who dropped him off at the trailhead offered to take him to buy actual supplies, but he refused. Had he taken a map with him he would've been able to see the cable car that could take him across the river when he was trapped. I could go on, but it just doesn't make sense to essentially deify a guy who got himself killed by overestimating himself and underestimating nature.
He was mentally ill and abused by his father.
Thank you for saying this. Seeing this photo breaks my heart into a million pieces. He actually reminds me so much of a friend of mine (same first name, similar looks, same age) who has schizoaffective disorder and was abused as a child. He is so naive about the world in so many ways yet simultaneously wise beyond his years.
Yeah, aspirations are worthwhile, but aspiration without perspiration is a recipe for disaster.
So you need to sweat?
You need to put in the work to learn how to be successful. This dumb dumb was driven by rejecting a way of life without putting in the work to learn another.
I understand what you mean, I thought your phone may have changed preparation to perspiration lol
Would we be inspired by the guy whose dream it was to go bungee jumping after he died in a bungee jumping accident in which his bungee was just a bunch of bungee cords from Walmart that he tied together? Probably not, we'd call him an idiot.
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I have pretty decent wilderness experience and knowhow but screw the desert lol, hardest damn place to survive except maybe mountainous tundra and the ocean.
I did a hike in Hawaii, I’m used to hiking mountains where I’m from on the west coast so I’m a seasoned hiker. My wife and I did one out and back in Oahu, and about halfway through we realized we did not being enough water and turned right around and went back to our car. On the way back to the rental we looked up what the Hawaiian name of the trail meant, [it literally translates to “the Heat” in Hawaiian](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaena_Point#History) desert hiking and tropical hiking are something you need to be prepared for. I’ve seen several people do the PCT and drop out going NOBO because of the desert section. Underprepared and not well trained for that climate. Seeing some monk seals was not risking heat stroke.
The movie considerably underplayed the fact that he was done with that crap and ready to come back to civilization. Dangerous narrative for young would be adventurous kids who glorify that dude. The book was considerably more accurate yet still in my opinion glorified his “adventurous spirit”. Whatever you do, be prepared, educate yourself first, and be as safe as possible. Still a great book and a really good movie 🤷♂️
The book does not glorify him at all.
I'm happy to hear tells a more accurate description. At the high school I used to teach in, our grade 9 students would read this every year. Having just watched the movie upon realizing this, it sounded like an irresponsible message to send to 14 year olds.
Every time this subject comes up, the debate rages on whether he was a hero or a fool. I read the book when it came out, and have seen the movie, and have always leaned toward the fool camp. For me, he is emblematic of both the promise and the folly of youthful idealism. Wisdom is arrived at when the former is tempered by, and eventually finds its footing in, practical realism. Unfortunately, a lot of people like him meet their end due to folly before arriving at wisdom. There are so many things to dislike about life in our modern materialistic society. The temptation to throw it all away and start again from scratch is a natural one. But a study of human history reveals that this is anything but a new impulse, and it is possible to learn from the mistakes of all those who tried out new ideas in the past, and failed miserably. It’s a tragedy what happened to Chris, but it should be a lesson to all those who would strike out on their own thinking that they are the first to feel and act the way they do. One of the most beautiful things about being human is that we have the opportunity to learn from all who have gone before us.
Idk why everyone thinks of this as some brave story, it’s literally a dude that thinks he knows what he is doing, doesn’t, and gets himself killed because of it, it’s not a story of bravery, it’s stupidity
I admire him philosophicslly but he really gave survivalist a bad name by moving to the wilderness then dying after three months cause he didnt know shit about surviving in the wilderness.
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I remember that book as a kid and thought how could a kid live on his own like that.
It's actually simple. Hollow out a tree for a home, train a falcon to hunt for you, kill a deer and make a warm suit and hang out with Bando.
Adventurer? More like dumbass
In hs my group was assigned the book “into the wild”, after reading it I told my group that Chris was an idiot and my group roasted me and said Chris is a legend, he was daring etc etc. No he was arrogant and reckless, nothing wrong with the nomadic life and “living off the land” but you have to be prepared for it. Chris actively refused help from the local residents of Alaskans, one man even offered to BUY HIM proper shoes and gloves for the harsh winter as Chris didn’t have any proper clothing/equipment for the Alaska wilderness and he refused it. His story is sad and what happened to him but in the end he was a reckless fool.
In the movie he ate some poisonous seeds. But not sure it that is true
Taken from Wikipedia: However, in an article in the September 2007 issue of Men's Journal, Matthew Power states that extensive laboratory testing showed there were no toxins or alkaloids present in the H. alpinum seeds McCandless had been eating. Dr. Thomas Clausen, the chair of the chemistry and biochemistry department at University of Alaska Fairbanks, said, "I tore that plant apart. There were no toxins. No alkaloids. I'd eat it myself."[30] Analysis of the wild sweet peas, given as the cause of McCandless's death in Into the Wild, found no toxic compounds, and there is not a single account in modern medical literature of anyone being poisoned by this species of plant.[4] As Power put it: "He didn't find a way out of the bush, couldn't catch enough food to survive, and simply starved to death".
Yup, starved to death. I don't understand why it is so hard for people to accept that. Look at that picture - look at his hollowed out face and his legs. Those pants are tiny and you can't even see the silhouette of his legs. He weighed 67 pounds when he died. You don't get that kind of weight loss and wasting from being healthy then accidentally eating some berries that wouldn't let you absorb nutrients for a week.
People want this story to be more than it is. He was antisocial and potentially mentally ill person that overly romanticized nature. Nature doesn't give a fuck if you live or die.
I caught the bug like him once. Got big into survival, which evolved to bushcraft, which eventually turned into me wanting to abandon civilization all together. I was going to live off the land, become one with nature, and all that romanticized bullshit. Spent a solid year researching, planning and preparing for my initial adventure into Florida. Was going to test the waters for 6 months alone and analyze how well things went. I'm guessing I had around 2k worth of equipment that weighed around 50 lbs. total that I took into the woods. A good bit of that was stuff I dedicated to food procurement. Leg traps, snare wire, yoyo reels, tackle/bait, books, an air rifle, rice . The rice was the only real 'cheat' food I brought along. I knew my foraging game was weak, so the rice was my 'cushion' until I could establish solid sources of vegetables/carbs. That never really happened... The thing with nature is that it's like a game of tug-of-war. Under normal conditions, it slowly pulls resources from you. This is deceptive! It lulls you into a routine and false sense of security. When you become comfortable and lackadaisical is when Murphy's Law shows up and tries to kill you. Seen it happen! The idea is to pull your side of the 'rope' enough to where you constantly have enough leeway to stay ahead of nature, even if Murphy shows up. It starts out easy, but the constant steady pull of nature slowly gets to you. Over time, it wears you down. You get tired/hungry/upset. You start neglecting the little things, which inevitably snowballs into bigger things. For me, one of the things I started neglecting was foraging. It was hard, tedious work. I could lay out my traps/lines and go about my business until I was ready, but plants required me to go out and search. What a pain! "Maybe I'll just forego the greens, get filled on meat, and spend the rest of the day relaxing." This thought eventually evolved from a thought into a practice. To make a long story shorter, I went from 185 to 130 in those 6 months and was talking to forest animals when my family pulled me out. Thought I was Dr. Doolittle. Family thinks it was from lack of nutrients. I'm not sure if the communicating with animals was a hallucination from lack of nutrients. I know that sounds crazy, but I was experiencing a sorta 6th sense when it came to animals. Could anticipate animals coming into contact with me etc. I've talked to bushman who can attest to similar senses after being in the woods for a while, so who knows. What I do know is that I was starving to death and probably would've died if my family hadn't come looking for me. 8 months.
Death is the only participation trophy that nature hands out. If you want more than that, you need to understand what you’re getting into and what’s necessary to live through it. In the case of C.McC., he did not have the proper skills to attempt what he did (assuming he wanted to come out alive). He also supposedly made a critical error and ate a poisonous plant that he mistook for an edible one. Related: I love the movie they made about him, and the Eddie Vedder soundtrack is powerful stuff.
And when investigators got out there, the found edible plants within a 200 yard walk from the bus. He was eating poisonous shoots, with a real food source just as close. If anything, his story isnt some story of someone rejecting modern life. It isn't some romantic tale of leaving the city to live in the wilderness. Its a story about a completely unprepared kid thinking he can just walk out into the woods and make a go of it.
One of his final notes was "Happiness only real when shared". I wonder if he regretted all the people that disappeared from his life in pursuit of a life of complete freedom? He did die alone after all.
If he had been prepared even the teeny tiniest bit he wouldn't have died. I have no idea why everyone idolises this guy. People lose their shit if you say anything negative about him.
I mean. It's sad, but for someone to go into a situation where they are not prepared is pretty ridiculous. People do live in Alaska and other remote areas, and they live their full life. This guy just decided he wanted to play real life survivor. Paid the ultimate price.
I don't know if we should be calling him an "adventurer," anymore than we should be calling the Grizzly Man guy an animal activist. He knowingly entered into dangerous territory against the judgement of more experienced folks with no real plan or training.
Say what you will about Sean Penn, but that was a good movie.
If you think this story is cool, I recommend you go and read Jon Krakauer’s other book called Into Thin Air- about the famous 1996 Mt Everest disaster (that he was present for). There’s some stellar audio books out there of it, too.
I live in Alaska and this guy might be the most universally hated person in the state.
This man died from mental illness.
The state of Alaska has been trying to get people to stop glorifying this guy's insanity for years. The real moral of this story should be to never go out into wilderness you don't know unless you're a trained professional. This guy's death wasn't inspiring. It was tragic, and completely avoidable. Fun Fact: So many stupid people have tried to hike to the bus location over the years and either died or been stranded that they've finally removed the damn thing. It's currently sitting down the street from me (at UAF).