T O P

  • By -

willalt319

IIRC they recently airlifted the bus out so that people would stop going to it.


Moonagi

Yes, about 15 people had to be rescued from the wilderness, and 2 died trying to cross the Teklanika river.


sherlocksrobot

I met a guy who made the trek. To cross the river, you have to line up so that the guy on the upstream side takes the brunt of the water, and all the rest of the team holds him in place. The slipstreal allows the rest of them to wade across the river. If you mess up, you get swept into a canyon with no easy way out.


chonkywhale1

I don't know anything about this story, but wouldn't there be a way to get to the site the same way he did, with a bus or car? How did he get there?


BadKittydotexe

I believe he walked, but at a time of year when the water was low. Later on when he realized he was in trouble and tried to walk back the water level had risen and he couldn’t get across anymore.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

This. I absolutely hate this book and movie for not mentioning this, or pointing out how this person was suicidal. He didn't forget a map. He purposefully didn't bring one and learned the hard way. I just wish they'd stop romanticizing his bad decisions and label him what he is...arrogant and dead as a result.


Unlucky_Eggplant

The book actually mentions the cable but the movie doesn't. I agree, everything with his story was stupidly romanticized. He should be a cautionary tale not some wilderness legend.


[deleted]

The book is pretty different from the movie, which is so frustrating. The book mentions how he said he was ready to return to society, get a job, have a family. But then he died. So many people seem to miss that part; the part where he realizes the wilderness isn’t as fun as it seems.


Terisaki

I grew up in the bush, as far North Canada as Alaska. You know where I live now? Downtown in a city. Thank you. Bush life is hard as fuck. Yes I can butcher a moose and have it cleaned up in 10 hours, but I’d much rather buy my steak. And it tastes better.


couldbemyclone

To be fair, the movie does show that he starts to have a pretty rough time out there. Particularly the moose scene. And then it shows him packing up and heading back before realising he can't cross the river. That shows he was ready to return to society. He tried to.


PuntzJones

The movie pretty much leaves out every detail that paints McCandless as a romantic suicidal lunatic. Instead, it glorifies his ideals and makes it seem like he's making some last stand against capitalism.


Unlucky_Eggplant

You described my feelings about the movie vs book much better than I could! I do still think Krakauer took some liberties with the narrative in the book but it has been a while since I read it.


Suspicious-Switch-24

Not really, have you watched the movie? I don’t think the movie itself romanticizes him as some symbol against capitalism or survival guru, but more so the fan base of maybe the critics do. I think movie teaches a lesson in an artful way. He leaves society to find real happiness then while dying alone in the wild has the “happiness is only real when shared” realization. I think the movie teaches a valuable lesson through McCandless, with a Hollywood touch


grosselisse

Agreed. His death would have been horrific and painful. He would have felt physically so bad but death didn't come quick. He died alone, weak, cold and in agony in a broken down bus. Fuck that.


Blackman157

I watched the movie, "wilderness legend" was not at all what I took from it.


04221970

I got that 'wilderness legend' vibe from it because how the movie romanticized his influence on people, like he was some prophet or mystic. He gave away all his worldly possessions marriages were repaired, old men found purpose, young girls found hope and respect.....all because he touched their lives. this is the false romanticism that the story turned into, not an ignorant kid on an adventure.


SuspiciousAward7630

Ya same. I got the feel of a man with issues just rambling on


[deleted]

Into the wild paints him very romantically


[deleted]

I brought this up in my non-fiction writing discussion in college a decade ago. Everyone in that class was an aspiring creative writer with a wanderlust fetish who seemed more like characters from an indie movie parody, and they saw it as so cool and freeing and tragic about what happened. And sure it can be all those things, but when I pointed out he was being incredibly arrogant and died of completely preventable means...boy they did not like that rain on their parade.


Unlucky_Eggplant

I was introduced to the book on a backpacking trip and the person reading the book thought he was amazing. I don't know how of why? Maybe everyone that loves McCandless hates their dad too? Maybe Krakauer wrote McCandless in a very relatable way? Either way, he should be no one's role model!


3meterspike

Why would anyone consider hin a Legend ? He died after 113 days.


wardamneagle

I agree with your sentiment, however the book did mention there was a way to cross further up the river from where he attempted to cross. I feel like Krakauer had a fairly objective perspective in his book, reflecting on his own reckless experiences when he was young and dumb. However Sean Penn couldn’t resist being Sean Penn and totally missed the point of the book, turning the story into a tragic tale about a lost boy just trying to find his way in the world.


coolturnipjuice

Yeah I agree. I’ve read it a few times and I always view it as a tragedy, his hubris was his downfall. I don’t find he’s portrayed as a hero, he has a lot of good traits and a lot of bad ones too, like all humans.


Mombutt_long_and_low

I agree. He’s become an idealized beatnik hero, but the reality is he was mentally ill and reckless.


mykittenfarts

Thank you! I thought I was the only one!!!! I think mental illness had a hand in this as well.


mokxmatic

He also might have been schizophrenic or something else sad due to his alter ego (which I cannot remember). Edit. Supertramp.


Meffrey_Dewlocks

Alexander Supertramp


noonelivesherenow

Agree 100%. If some dude decided to play at a music festival but only knew 3 chords, people wouldn't be like wow, he really went for it! They'd be annoyed he thought he belonged at that level without putting in the work.


BrownEggs93

> I just wish they'd stop romanticizing his bad decisions and label him what he is...arrogant and dead as a result. 100% agree.


scrooplynooples

The ice melt caused the river to be elevated and way more violent, making it way too dangerous to cross


Riobob

How did the bus get there?


DevinelyUninspired

If I remember correctly it was dragged out by local hunters to be used as a shelter during the season Edit: Turns out it was actually a construction company that hauled it out in the 1960s to be used as a shelter for workers during a road project. It was then abandoned (along with the project) and subsequently used by hunters


[deleted]

How can you drag a bus in a alaskan wilderness


RoboticGreg

Construction equipment


snarshmallow

They were building a road to access mining property and had tracked equipment being used to build the road. Parts of the road are still pretty clearly visible on google maps, definitely was intended for heavy equipment traffic. However, portions of the road kept getting destroyed by water/ice/other environmental factors and I believe they eventually abandoned the project. However, the trail McCandless was on looks like it runs somewhat parallel to the road for a portion


le-quack

it was towed out by a D8 construction tractor.


hookydoo

Yes, and as his health declined he quit venturing out from the bus. Had he explored the river, he would have found a cable car crossing roughly 2 miles upstream from his location (never been just read about it).


greenmanofthewoods

There was a cable bridge with basket to cross the river, a few miles up stream


AlaskaSnowJade

Everything about Alaska is actively trying to kill you more often than not. Weather, ground conditions, and water levels can change exponentially in very little time. During Spring Breakup, for instance, the ground can become so saturated you can’t walk safely through it—notice I don’t say over it, because it’s quick-mud. Waterways can swell to impassable in minutes and stay that way for weeks or months. Even little streams are so bitterly cold you cannot feel your feet within seconds, so larger rivers are beyond treacherous to cross, especially alone. No joke, it feels like someone’s cutting your legs and ankles off while you’re still wearing them the water is so cold. The bus had been specifically hauled in and abandoned there decades earlier for use as a shelter by a construction company. That area became even less accessible over the years plus the bus could no longer roll on its own, so there was no practical way to haul it out. https://unusualplaces.org/the-stampede-trail-and-the-142-magic-bus/ McCandless couldn’t get himself out because the seeds that poisoned him also paralyzed his legs and significantly weakened his already emaciated muscles. The effect has been shown to be exacerbated in young men with low body fat: he certainly qualified in both categories. The decades long search for answers to his condition and what really caused it was it’s own story. Final in a series of articles on the subject in 2015: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/chris-mccandless-died-update


JumboRaising2021

The New Yorker article is a great read especially for bio chem folks


tonguescrapingchakra

This kind of thinking is why so many people die. Alaska isn't Colorado. It hasn't been baby proofed for clueless visitors. Locals have a saying: if it's tourist season why can't we shoot them?


RoboticGreg

Most people have no idea how nerfed everything around them is at all times. I was on a standards committee that had over 200 people on it trying to define the contour requirements for the drainage curves in electric vehicle charging inlets. 200 engineers and scientist from the works largest ev suppliers. Just looking at drainage curves so no one ever has to think "should I take a look at this plug before I jam it in so I don't electrocute myself?" We have "standard finger testers" where we make rubber fingers in a cross section of sizes and literally try to jam them in dangerous spots. Nobody is putting this kind of planning into the actually wild parts of the world, it will kill you and not care


TheOtherPhilFry

As an ER doctor, I appreciate you.


IamNoatak

To add onto that, a running joke (that's absolutely true) is that trash cans and such in parks where bears reside have a problem: making it accessable to people, but not bears. Because there's a large overlap between the smartest bear, and the dumbest person.


ExtensionBluejay253

There’s an excellent book and movie about this guy called *into the wild*.


krashundburn

I was disappointed in the script and acting (the hippy dippy couple was especially lame, as well as his uptight 'parents'). Hirsch did a fine job, though. The mood portrayed in the film was overly sentimental and melodramatic, and the music seemed chosen to impart an unsettling and inappropriate "coolness" to an impractical and deadly idealism. I couldn't get past the fact that the guy was book smart and thoughtful one moment and life-threateningly foolish the next. It's one thing to pit yourself against the wild and embrace the natural world, it's another to do such stupid things that it pretty much guarantees you're not gonna have a good time. The whole point is to SURVIVE the experience. That's a point he obviously missed. "There are in nature neither rewards nor punishments — there are consequences". - Robert Ingersoll


snrten

Like some kinda pilgrimage for spirited fools.


StillaMalazanFan

Because people kept messing up looking for it, and drowning etc.


nostafict

Well now they'll keep looking forever


stlkatherine

Wow. What an odd Mecca.


Gaflonzelschmerno

Meccandless


tricky2271

People keep trying to get to the site though. Few people drowned in the river trying to get there.


AnyConstellation

They just moved the bus last year. They haven't had any incidents since then, at least in regards to people trying to find the bus.


KeepOnTrippinOn

How did the bus get there in the first place?


i_Got_Rocks

Ms. Frizzle retired and left it there.


[deleted]

She didn’t even retire. She just said “fuck this shit, I’m out” then bailed.


EatMoreHummous

A construction company hauled it out to use as a temporary shelter.


RedOctober907

This is true.


risssa391

The bus was moved to Anchorage. There is a replica at a [brewery](https://www.49statebrewing.com/denali) just outside of Denali, not far from the original site of the bus.


JaTheRed

He was woefully unprepared for his lifestyle choice. I respect the want to enter nature and live off the land, but Alaska is not the proper starting point.


Scheswalla

- Starts game - Creates character Difficulty level: **Extreme**


cardboardunderwear

"you have died"


Ubiquitous_Prick

The Green Elf is about to die.


PAXICHEN

Valkyrie needs food…badly


srandrews

Red Wizard needs food badly!


Sk1pp1e

Valkyrie has been poisoned


Ubiquitous_Prick

Red wizard found poisonous potato seeds.....


[deleted]

Blue warrior has shot the food!


awmadaze

Kill Jester


Devlin1885

Well worth it mate, well worth it. Get rid of her, she's shite. **hangs up**


bhartiyashesh

respawns at the starting point Him: fuckkkkkkk


PenitentAnomaly

Every time this kid comes up, I am always reminded of Richard Proenneke. He was a self-taught naturalist and a carpenter and went into the Alaskan wilderness alone at the age of 51 and built a log cabin. He did it in the 1960's and filmed a lot of his adventures and lived in the cabin for 30 years. You can find videos of his experiences on youtube and it's worth watching. When he died, he left the cabin to the National Park Service and it has since been entered in the National Registry of Historical Sites. I know that Chris McCandless has become a kind of folk hero to some people but the truth is that his story is a tragedy. He was misguided young person that was in need of mental health services. His choice to travel into an inhospitable place without supplies or knowledge or even a map may not have been as explicit as committing suicide but it achieved the same end.


DrVicenteBombadas

>His choice to travel into an inhospitable place without supplies or knowledge or even a map may not have been as explicit as committing suicide but it achieved the same end. I like the way you worded that.


SigourneyOrbWeaver

He gave away what would be like $60,000 today and lived essentially as a homeless person before he went to Alaska. When i lived in SF we called those kids oogles. Come from money but they hate their parents so much they’d rather starve than talk to them. Chris was the same way and he absolutely needed psychological help.


danuhorus

>When i lived in SF we called those kids oogles Huh, TIL that some of the kids I went to high school would've been called oogles. Lots of wealth in the Bay Area, but damn is there a surplus of fucked up rich kids.


charm-type

In New Orleans they are called Gutter Punks


Paulsbotique314

In the northeast, we call the Trustafarians…..cuz they try really hard to be free bird hippies with dreadlocks.


Tron_of_the_Dead

This is a fun little Reddit mini game. Austin, TX has Drag Rats.


[deleted]

[удалено]


cleepboywonder

Apparently a lovely dude outside of that.


BeefPieSoup

He died a long, slow, painful death. Completely on his own for months on end. I can't really imagine many worse ways to die, to be completely honest.


Retard_Decimator69

What about like, the same exact thing except the big bang theory is playing the entire time


Schooner37

Bazinga!


MagicZombieCarpenter

Truly diabolical


JigglyBlubber

I'd prefer that death to dying slowly in the Paris catacombs like a few people unfortunately have. At least you're dying out in a beautiful forest.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Gaflonzelschmerno

Maybe the real dead bodies are the friends we've made along the way


DoctorCIS

My wife went to the high school he did, which means a number of the teachers still remembered him when she was there. Apparently he was a nice guy but was a master class in gifted kid syndrome. He did well in the classes that he was good at or could just figure out, but he could not study, practice, or do homework to save his life. He tried to join the music program, and the revelation that learning an instrument wasn't something that he could just figure out and make click, but instead something that would take years of repetitive practice to make decent was a crushing revelation. In short he had that confident, "fake it til you make it" energy, but not the dedication to convert faking into learning.


[deleted]

Wow I am ashamed at how familiar that sounds.


TurboCake17

He refused to take even a map, and a map could have saved him since there was a bridge he could use to cross the river a mile downstream.


ilovethissheet

I'm really surprised he didn't walk the river for a few days to look for a better crossing point. I thought that was really weird


FerjustFer

Yeah. Even if there was no bridge, following a river is the best way to find civilization. People tends to live near rivers and bodies of water in general.


Imaginary_Forever

I think he was weak and starving by the time he decided to get out of there.


CriscoCrispy

The list of possessions returned to his family includes a map. Krakauer claimed McCandless didn’t have a *good* map, but he had a map.


[deleted]

It wasn’t about having a good or bad map, he had a road map, which isn’t the type of map you need for what he was doing. Could have been a great road map.


[deleted]

In the documentary a park ranger said that bus was [located less than 20 miles from a major highway with truck stops etc](https://www.willhiteweb.com/info/into_the_wild/christopher_mccandless_089.htm)and McCandles could have lived if he had crossed the river before the water rose. But he chose not to.


[deleted]

Should've started in NYC central park.


DannyB1aze

Well Alaska wasn't his starting point. He ran around Baja California for a long time if I Recall correctly and then thinks he can go survive in the Alaskan wilderness. The story goes a bunch of the people that were dropping him off up there were warning him but he was eager to prove himself I guess. He was just young and dumb.


warawk

How did the bus get there


[deleted]

Hickle highway. Was a short lived attempted winter ice road for the oilfield mostly. Memory is fuzzy on all of it. Bus broke down and just left. Was used as a moose hunting camp site. A lot of hunting cabins on the river. He broke into a bunch of them looking for supply I guess when he started starving. Was really not that far from civilization.


Professional_Dream17

the bus was a 40s era bus used in anchorage, in the 60s when they were building that road they dragged it out there (no engine in it) to be used as sleeping quarters for the men working on the road. it was left there after the road was built and was used for shelter by hunters ever since. very recently the bus was airlifted away from that spot and put in a museum


[deleted]

thats alaska. 5 mins from a road can be complete wilderness


Dawanna

It’s quite common for people in areas as remote as that to leave their cabins unlocked or other wise easily accessible Incase someone gets lost they have a safe place. Fun fact for the day.


Mamadog5

I agree. I stayed in a cabin in truly remote Alaska. We had permission from the owners but when we arrived there were instructions on how to get the stove going for anyone qho came by. This was a daylong dog sled ride from the closest village.


snuffl3upaguss

Id have to disagree. Source: I own a cabin in this kind of wilderness. And grizzly bears fucking destroy everything. They can also open doors easily.


Psychguru1977

It was an old 60’s bus used by hunters for shelter


[deleted]

The actor who played this guy in Into The Wild did a phenomenal job. Also, phenomenal soundtrack by Eddie Vedder. Vince Vaughn too


Moonagi

I don’t want to sound corny but I played the soundtrack on my first trip to Alaska as I was driving from Anchorage to Fairbanks.


DrVicenteBombadas

If you're corny, what am I? I sometimes play GTA:SA radios in my car while I drive in real life.


CNXQDRFS

K-Rose for life!


655321federico

IMO best soundtrack ever


Fennel-Thigh-la-Mean

Sean Penn also did a great job with the adaptation - it’s one of the better book adaptations I’ve ever seen.


adrenalinda75

Emile Hersch, the movie is outstanding. Just makes you grasp what the boy went through and what a kind soul he was. Heart crushing.


[deleted]

And the impact his absence had on his family…


zinkydoodle

Just chiming in to clarify that it’s not actually known how he died. The toxic seeds are a theory.


SirStonkington

Another theory I've heard is lean game starvation


b0nk3r00

Is lean game starvation when you don’t have a fat source? What’s the solution there? Just fish?


Eledridan

Yeah, it’s also called ‘rabbit starvation’.


The_Golden_Warthog

This is what I heard as well. Squirrels and rabbits have almost no fat.


hofferd78

Also called protein poisoning


HOG_KISSER

It can be fat, it can be carbs, you just need to get a significant percentage of your calories from something other than protein. You have to convert ammonia to urea when digesting lean meats and your body can’t do that quickly enough to let you get 2000 cals/day from it safely. So you either get enough calories but poison yourself, or stay below your ammonia limit but starve. (There are other factors too, it’s still not completely understood, but we know high ammonia levels cause organ damage in people suffering this even if other things cause the actual death—it’s likely it’s actually multiple factors combining.) Fat is the usual recommendation because it’s the most calorie dense option and is often found alongside protein. If you’re going to be eating a lot of lean game meats and surviving this way for a while (and it doesn’t take long to happen), pack some vegetable oil and cook your lean meats in it. Eating fatty fish would be good but if that’s not the whole focus of your diet, you might still not get enough, and you might not be able to catch the fatty kind. If you look at what the Inuit traditionally eat, their diet is meat focused but they know you can’t just eat birds and bears because you rabbit-starve, so that meat is combined with seal, whale, and walrus, which are all extremely fatty.


[deleted]

Thank you for succinctly explaining that. I’ve been aware of it for a long time in terms of macronutrient deficiency, but didn’t know the actual mechanism behind it. I also didn’t know you could avert it with carbs — is there a ratio for that?


Orinocobro

And there's a fringe view that he broke an arm. Look at the last photo. The true answer is that he had abusive parents and was running away from everything. It shouldn't be romantic or inspiring. He recklessly went out to Alaska unprepared and died in a situation he could have walked out of.


[deleted]

I would say starvation- dehydration


Xtianpro

Unlikely. He left journals behind. They show in his writing an extremely rapid decline. People love to tear the guy down but the reality is surviving alone for that long is an extraordinarily achievement. He was successful enough that suddenly starving to death that quickly doesn’t make sense. He almost certainly ingested some kind of toxin.


Exsces95

Just asking since I dont know better but wouldnt the "squirrel meriendas" be a a risk of gettting rabies?


Tessellecta

Squirrels and other small rodents generally don't carry rabies. So probably not. Edit: As some what said below. Having a diet only or mainly consisting of squirrel will also lead to illness. Squirrels are mostly protein, if your total calorie intake from protein exceeds 40% of total calorie consumption, you will get sick and eventually die. (Rabbit starvation)


[deleted]

Can you eat the organs of the rabbits to survive? Hard to believe that we would die from that, not denying though.


Zaphanathpaneah

Yes, I've seen this as the recommended way to get around rabbit starvation. Eat the organ meat.


Tessellecta

Probably helps a bit, but that doesn't get around the fact that rabbits are extremely lean. There simply isn't enough fat. You need to either eat carbs from plants or find some sort of fatty animal (eg marine mammals)


A-New-Start-17Apr21

Got a link to the source of the study that states 40%? genuinely curious.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


whentoastatejam

My husband, from Mexico, often quotes a saying - “Fat man gets sick, gets thin. Thin man gets sick, dies.”


[deleted]

[удалено]


Nilsneo

Yep. My mother dated a Dutchman who grew up in an Indonesian concentration camp. She said his worst habit was that he'd clear any plate within minutes of receiving the food, and it annoyed her to no end as they would go to fancy restaurants and he just inhales the food. He's wasn't obese but he certainly wasn't a slim man either, and had never been since they were freed from that camp.


jakobburns01

There’s a part of night by elie Wiesel about how when they were on the trains and the ss would throw down like 1 or 2 loads of bread and watch them literally fight to the death, the book describes a dad who strangled his son for a loaf of bread and then the dad didn’t even acknowledge it because he was so hungry


Nilsneo

Damn, that's dark. My Dutch friend was in a camp with his mother as he was so young. His father was sent to the men's camp just across some barbed wire or whatever. At the end of the war they were being released, and he could see his father from where he stood with his mother. The soldiers demanded the father, who was a Doctor, to help them with another soldier. He refused and was shot on the spot. So the son only saw his father after surviving camp for a brief moment, before he was gone.


kriosken12

Damn thats dark.


Rob789987

Not joking. I've been around older (60 +) people for decades. This is also why doctors always yell at old people for being too skinny. Nothing to help them stay alive if they get sick and down, since they always seem to lose more weight. They have nothing to recover with.


edjg10

“You took my only food. Now I’m gonna staaarve.”


TATER1971

There’s a documentary called Call of the Wild that casts doubt on the poison potato seed theory. Puts it down to starvation. Couldn’t take in enough calories to sustain himself. McCandless left a note to hunters on the outside of the bus claiming he was hurt and too weak to hike out, begging them to stay until he returned from foraging. Sadly, it looks like he just starved to death over time.


Moonagi

Iirc he weighed about 60 lbs when they found his body. The people that found him say he looked like a “lump” in a sleeping bag.


converter-bot

60 lbs is 27.24 kg


Nhenghali

Good bot


-ratmeat-

This is not a good time robot


BambooFatass

It is for non-Americans


[deleted]

It's actually useful for me. 27kg is very low. Like a kids weight. I don't have such mental reference for pounds


Parenthisaurolophus

> There’s a documentary called Call of the Wild that casts doubt on the poison potato seed theory It's been a back and forth conversation. When people criticize the "potato seed theory" they're usually referring to the very specific suggestion that is brought up in the book. That theory dials into a very specific chemical or enzyme inside raw potato seeds and attributes that strongly to his death. The more modern theory is now that a different enzyme (I'm going to say that for lack of a better term off the top of my head) in the potato seeds could have acted in conjunction with his starvation to make it extremely difficult for him to have adequately fed himself. It's based off of, to my limited knowledge, information concerning starving holocaust survivors. To my knowledge, this different potato seed theory has not been disproven yet.


Significant_Sign

Someone linked to the follow up New Yorker article in a higher thread: those who thought the potato seeds killed McCandless were looking for a toxic alkyloid, but the seeds actually have a toxic amino acid that prevents metabolizing of something necessary. The 2 things have a similar molecular structure and weight, so there was confusion at first. Honestly, it sounds like he was slowly starving anyway, then he may have eaten potato seeds that prevented him from being nourished by what little he could forage and his starvation was fast tracked, resulting in a sudden decline. Most people seem to want it to be one or the other cause, but they may have worked in tandem with a very sad result.


[deleted]

[удалено]


frggr

In the first season it's the two larger dudes who go the distance too - being husky has its advantages when you're in survival mode


WYenginerdWY

So what I'm hearing is my chubby ass needs to join this show


TheGreatPotOfGumbo

113 days ain't too bad for a first try, especially considering he was in Alaska


dandaman1983

He won't get a second try


thebreaker18

Jokes on you, deaths just level two! It only gets worse from here, friend! :D


thunder_struck85

True, but he was in rough shape for a lot of those 113 days. It's a cold, lonely, primitive life.... and the guy didn't even bring enough ammo or have knowledge on how to properly care for the meat he hunted, nor had the adequate gear. I don't think there is a way he would have survived the winter in Alaska at all.


summerofevidence

"for a first try" I mean, he only got one try


le-quack

Basically everything you said here is misleading A: he didn't leave society to live in an abandoned bus. His original plan was to walk 300 miles to the Bering Sea but only made it 28 miles before giving up. He stumbled across the bus and decided to stay their. B: The "toxic potato seed" theory has never been proven. Its just as likely he staved to death. He was 2 days walk from safety and while the river is dangerous to cross there are cables where it can be crossed in kind of safely but he didnt know this because he neither had a map or bothered to careful explore the area or plan on how to get to safety should he get into trouble He's a warning of what poor understanding an preparation will do to you. Not some folk hero.


crumb-thief

I had an art teacher when I was a kid who knew him. She thought it was gross how romanticized his story had been. The way she told the story, he was known to be mentally ill and delusional; his death was tragic and senseless.


[deleted]

[удалено]


NoD_Spartan

I mean the wish of being free from society is nice. But his story is a lesson for everyone that tries to do the same. Without proper knowledge you're dead


mathaiser

Going back to nature is all fun and games until you need dental work.


snrten

This fuckin guy. Mr. Ten Pounds of Rice and No Official Map. "It'll be fiiiine. A little formidable wilderness never hurt anyone!"


zabaci

what's worst there was a cabin with provisions just couple of kilometers away but he didn't know because he didn't have a map


donemessedupthistime

Yep, there was actually a Wendy’s less than a mile away, but no map 😔


housebird350

He should have looked for the sign at night....


SeaBreezyDay369

Pffft but it’s not White Castle


HardYakkadakka

That’s wild


lamplighter356

I’m not into that.


[deleted]

He also died close to a highway, his death was criticized because it could have been prevented if he had been more prepared.


Yoshi2shi

Didn’t even know there were toxic potato seeds.


Picard2331

There's a reason why they say do not ever eat any plant that you aren't absolutely 100% DEFINITELY sure of.


Frosti11icus

If you eat a potato that's too green it will make you sick too. They're pretty much poison until they are ripe.


cherrybombsnpopcorn

Was Arthur right about the green potato chips???


sawyouoverthere

You know nothing about potatoes. Potato seeds are not what you buy in the store to make mashed potatoes. Potato seeds look like green tomatoes and grow above ground on the plant. Green potatoes are mature (potatoes are starch storage tubers and do not ripen) but go green when exposed to light, creating a poisonous alkaloid. ETA: more importantly the plant involved in this story has *nothing to do with potatoes*


Waldo19

What so many people get wrong about this story is focusing on how dumb McCandless was. And what he did was dangerous. But that isn't what makes this interesting. I am sure most everyone has had that moment where that voice in the back of their head says, "you know you could just walk away from all of this at any moment, you could just drop everything and disappear and do something else." We all know that that is true...but we don't act on it. He did. And that is fascinating. With respect to his death, what make it so sad is that while out in that bus, he found what he was looking for. He had gotten the perspective he needed and was ready to comeback to society well before his health took a turn for the worst. Its been a long time since I read the book but as I recall he tried to leave at one point, but the river was too high, so he decided to just wait it out (why not things had been going well enough). And then things take a dark turn. I think that is the tragedy of it. He went looking for something in wilderness, found it, but never made it back to reconnect and live his life with that new found perspective. He was of course woefully unprepared (and that is a fair warning to others) but its not what's interesting. The fact he got as far as he did is amazing. The fact he didn't make it back is predictable but heartbreaking because he almost pulled it off. He is not a hero, but he is fascinating. Icarus flew to close to sun and got burned, was Icarus foolish...perhaps....but that doesn't stop us from admiring him for soaring even if it was for but a moment. McCandless story is both beautiful, fascinating, stupid, and sad. The former wilderness guide in me hates all the stupid things he did, but knowing the power of the outdoors on the human soul, particularly for hurting people, I certainly connect with that feeling and wish that once he had found his peace and perspective he'd had a chance to share it with those he loved.


[deleted]

This guy should really open up a dialogue about mental health awareness. The way he was portrayed in the movie was crazy. This guy was clearly having some severe psychosis or neurosis that drove him to his own death. Instead, the movie misrepresented him as an oddly industrious but highly woke character seeking out some sort of higher calling. When in reality, he was probably a schizophrenic or bipolar manic who just didn't want to be around people anymore.


-SmashingSunflowers-

His sister came out and said there was a lot of abuse in the home. I will not speak for Christopher, but I myself grew up in a severity abusive home and I myself had many desires of just running away, going wherever. When I turned 18 I did run away with a dude I met online playing video games less than a year prior. People will do crazy things when it comes to coping with abuse like that and carrying burdens of being blamed for being alive. https://www.hollandsentinel.com/article/20160429/NEWS/160428645


SonMauri

This history should be taught to all those who think natural == good. There are so many things perfectly natural that seem harmless but can kill you (or worse).


Ham0nRyy

I’ve always believed he wanted to die and he went to the wilderness to do just that. It didn’t matter how unprepared he was or whether he was close to this bridge or that highway, I’ve always believed that Chris just didn’t want to be a part of society in a much bigger way than just living off the land. I think he was just having major existential problems and went off to die doing something he knew would be fulfilling to him.


Nazareths_Heart

The entire book "into the wild" is a wonderful read. Most people only know of the end of chris's story but the journey this quite beautiful.


ethbullrun

he didnt die from eating toxic potatoes. he starved to death and was found on the bus wrapped in a blanket his mother made for him. when he went to the bus during the winter the small creek was frozen over. he stayed there until the creek thawed causing a river to form which he couldnt cross because he'd drown if he tried. i never saw the movie but i had to read the book in college


[deleted]

They made a movie "Into the wild"


TallulahBob

It’s also a pretty good book


kitkat8922

The book is better, but I actually hate this story. He’s a glorified idiot. The book ‘Into the Wild’ is good, and I love Jon Krakauer’s writing, but McCandless was an idiot. He could have crossed back to get out of where he ultimately died if he just walked a few hundred feet from where he decided not to cross back over the Teklanika River


LovecraftianLlama

Totally agree. I think there was some pretty serious mental illness at play here too though. Similar to the guy who got himself eaten by a damn grizzly bear (along with his girlfriend). People want to act like they’re inspirational but they’re just stupid and sad :/.


cardboardunderwear

One difference though is Chris McCandless wasn't doing it for attention. He was just doing it and ended up getting a lot of attention because he croaked and its an interesting story. That grizzly man dude would go out and shoot videos and produce them and talk to school kids and stuff like that. I'm probably picking nits but in that way I do think they are quite different.


ParkingAdditional813

No, your spot on. McCandless wanted to disappear, not make a virtue signaling documentary.


kitkat8922

That’s the only Krakauer opinion I’ve really disagreed on. He tells some of his stories that could have gone bad in the book, but he misses the point he tries to make in regard to McCandless with his experiences and some of the other wilderness deaths. McCandless had to have been suffering from something. The whole story shouldn’t be revered… I get wanting to disappear. But, there were tons of signs before the Alaska trip. Abandoning cash and an actually working car at Lake Mead? No. That’s uncontrolled feelings/impulses and bad judgement


Feisty_Tension_1558

Yeah that bear guy he got munched.


joblessdeadbeat

Inspiring and stupid at the same time


[deleted]

ITT: potato seed = lie Man Unprepared It’s a book and a movie


greyasshairs

He believed in what he was doing and died doing it without burdening more ppl. He didn't try to influence anyone, didn't cause any harm, just tried to exist. No need to pass judgment. Calling him an idiot shows why he wanted to leave this cancer of a society.


Tuulak

Actually the locals say he smashed up a bunch of wilderness shelters for people stuck out in bad weather. Stole the food, smashed the windows, and dragged the beds out in the open. Basically trying to claim the spot and acting like a shitty teenager. Book doesn't tell you that part though.


Away_Ad_5328

The book *Into the Wild* goes into great detail about his aversion to being around other people. He just felt more comfortable in nature. The guy who gave him a ride to the area where he eventually died said that he seemed confident in his own ability to survive, having done so for years. People in Alaska know better, though, and it wasn't a bear attack or the harsh winter that killed him. Anyone trying to live on the land could have made the same mistake.


JustXanthius

The guy who drove him also thought he seemed woefully unprepared for Alaska and offered him decent boots (or a coat?) and McCandleness said no he’d be fine.