Into the Wild

Chris McCandless starved to death. It is undecided exactly why he starved however. In his book "Into the Wild," John Krakauer implies that a toxic alkaloid was present in seeds (named Hedysarum alpinum) McCandless which caused him to be unable to digest food and therefore starve. Since this theory was presented a number of contradictory theories have been suggested, for example that a different fungus R. leguminicola managed to grow on the seeds McCandless ate. Despite all this, a lot of forensic data states that Chris simply starved in the most basic sense, from lack of food.

What he did wasn't even particularly daring, just stupid, tragic and inconsiderate. First off, he spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild. He arrived at the Stampede Trail without even a map of the area. If he had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament using one of several routes that could have been successful.

Consider where he died. An abandoned bus. How did it get there? On a trail. If the bus could get into the place where it died, why couldn't McCandless get out of the place where he died? The fact that he had to live in an old bus in the first place tells you a lot. Why didn't he have an adequate shelter from the beginning? What would he have done if he hadn't found the bus? A bag of rice and a sleeping bag do not constitute adequate gear and provisions for a long stay in the wilderness.

No experienced backcountry person would travel during the month of April. It is a time of transition from winter's frozen rivers and hard packed snow with good traveling conditions into spring's quagmire of mud and raging waters where even small creeks become impassible. Hungry bears come out of their dens with just one thing in mind-- eating.

Furthermore, Chris McCandless poached a moose and then wasted it. He killed a magnificent animal superbly conditioned to survive the rigors of the Alaskan wild then, inexperienced in how to preserve meat without refrigeration (the Eskimos and Indians do it to this day), he watched 1500 pounds of meat rot away in front of him. He's lucky the stench didn't bring a grizzly bear to end his suffering earlier. And in the end, the moose
died for nothing.

 

The bus had been there since the 1950s or 60s, and had been owned by a mining company. They put it there to be used as a bunkhouse by their employees. When their operations closed up, the area was basically abandoned. It had been more recently been used frequently as a hunting camp.

Amazingly I agree with everything else you said, ZW. The kid was a typical anti-social type who had fallen into the groove of lying to everyone about who he was and where he came from because he was ashamed of his family affluence and dysfunctional upbringing. He made every poor choice that an outdoorsman can make. And he paid for it dearly.

But I think it was a lovely story, and Krakauer told it so well, with such enthusiasm... and embellishing it with self-indulgent comparisons to his own life.

 

In my youth, I suffered a mild case of what I'll call "Chris Mcandless dis-ease"

Fortunately, I pulled myself back before it got out of hand...

I'm not trying to throw a bummer, just a warning,

in hopes of keeping a few homies alive. :cheers2:

 

He was looking for freedom. You really shouldnt judge anyone before walking life in their shoes. The man obviously was a genious, not anyone can do what he did. He didnt need much provisions because he planned on living off the land. And yes he did waste the moose, but could you properly gut a moose and harvest the meat. no one can get a process like that perfect the first time,. You act like he should be some perfect godlike being that knows what to do in every situation. He also had no childhood background in the outdoors so with what he had, he really went far.

 

Not that it's all that important but ZW and I have 30 years of living each on you. That still doesn't give us the right to judge but let's be real. We've walked that walk.

You're arguing in circles, Sprout. He had no background in the outdoors but he didn't need much provisions because he planned on living off the land. A genius in some matters he may have been but he didn't get far if he died a lonely, painful death in an old school bus in his early 20s. A person with a little sense about his surroundings and a few basic skills would still be alive today.

 

Good story, but yeah pretty much ZW & Z nailed it.

So many people want to do these wonderful out of the box type things (which is commendable), yet when it comes down to it they are not willing to put in the work required.

 

I imagine this sort of thing happens all the time, abandoning "civilization" in pursuit of some self-directed vision quest, successful or not. McCandless' journal just happened to fall into the hands of someone who would make a story out of it, an interpretation of his journal, yet the story has merit beyond the lesson in survival skills.

I found it ironic his epiphany in the end was questioning the value of the solo experience. It seemed to me his biggest regret (beyond his inevitable demise) was the lack of companionship to share his experience with.

 

Sure our personal philosophy of whether we should influence others by being part of society is subjective, but the consequences of not being part of society are very real, in the sense that our environment is affected by those who are, regardless of where we decide to live. If all of us who care about the environment disconnect ourselves from our government, leaving policy decisions in the hands of those who would desecrate our earth, we're all in deep shit.

 

When you want water, go to the well! (Lao Tsu)


Free your mind. (anon.)


ZW eace:

 

Alright dont play the age game. We all know there are plenty older folks who are very ignorant. Hitler was older than me too. The fact of the matter is that Alex McCandless found exactly what he was looking for. The question isnt whether or not he was a great explorer who knew what he was doing (even though he had experience even from his summer after senior year in highschool). The question is did he find what he was looking for. he found freedom, happieness and adventure,the three things that he was searching for. I would say thats a job well done. He payed a price, but to him im sure it was a price worth paying for the experiences he had.

 

I have to disagree with that.

It may just be me, but though he may not have lived for too long, he definitely learned more in that time then most will learn throughout their whole lives. Not only that, but he taught so many people so many things.

 

one of the biggest things about his experience was the people he touched along the way and how he influenced them. Not any ole' unprepared beatnik could do that.

 

I don't think anyone s going to deny the spiritual and/or emotional experiences he, and his encounters with others, had. Just simply that he was more than a bit foolish when it came to the logistics of surviving in that environment. Who knows maybe he was slightly suicidal, certainly he wasn't concerned enough with his welfare.

 

And in this case it wasn't what he knew, but what he DIDN'T that cost him his life and the dreams he never got to fulfill. It was a complete waste of the life of a young person who had a head full of greatness that will never be realized.

Worse, it could have given other young urbanites and suburbanites the idea that they can try what he tried, with disastrous results on a larger scale. Life is not always about what you believe, it's often about what you can prove and he failed at proving that he could simply walk into the harsh Alaskan wilderness and be the master of his destiny. But there is no dishonor in failure. He could have spent the rest of his life full of regret for not trying.

 

Yeah. I'm not disagreeing with any of you guys there. I just wanted to say that I didn't think it was a wasted journey. You are right about the fact that he should have prepared better for this, and known a lot more about what he was getting in to. And it's kinda undeniable that he wouldn't even have survived as long as he did in the case that he didn't get lucky and find the bus.

So yes. He should have been more prepared, like, as far as knowledge/survival skills/logic goes. But at the same time, he made a huge difference in the lives of those he encountered along the way, and I do think that's impressive. It's unfortunate he had to go so soon

 

couldnt have said it better myself

 

I share your dream but I just don't know if I could ever go through with it :/ If you do, I would say bring lots of seeds with you, hunting/fishing/gathering will only get you so far, you need a reliable food source. I would plan on having a warm place to stay during the winter too so life doesn't become miserable. But since you studied carepentry you should have no problem building a shack with a chimney fireplace. I would say the lonliness would get to you after awhile but bring some things to occupy your mind like books especially.

i don't know, maybe it's better to just do something like this temporarily you know, take the summers off and live off the land or something, then re-enter society during the year. Try going for a week, then a month, and build up to it. GL!

 

Thanks

 

you are very welcome!

 

If you wanna see an inspiring Alaskan success story, check out "Alone in the Wilderness" starring Dick Proenneke. Here's a documentary about a guy who moved to Alaska at the age of 51 back in the '60's, built a cabin, and lead a life of self-sufficiency there until it got too rough for him in his 80's. He did it right though, learned the survival skills and practiced them before he went, and had an agenda for a time frame in which he needed to have his cabin and fire place built, fire wood cut, etc. His cabin is now part of a national park.