The Soft Parade

Chris McCandless – A Reflection

Most of us live our lives tightly woven in the embrace of modern society. There are people like me who do manage to get away a few weeks in the year to the wilderness and throw off the shackles of technology and the conveniences of indoor plumbing and soft memory-foam beds, but even I am guilty of punching the clock and watching the world go by. Chris McCandless was an idealistic young man who shook off his shackles for good and set out to find himself and ultimately meet his end in the place he held so high.

Many of you will have probably read the Jon Krakauer book or seen the Sean Penn docu-drama film “Into The Wild” and know the general basis for this article while some of you may be reading about this for the first time. This amazing story (the film being based on the book) chronicles Chris McCandless from his comfortable suburban life and University education and follows his travels across America. Having given all of his money to charity, abandoning his 1970s Datsun B210 after it (and nearly he) was washed away in a flash flood, he set forth to his ultimate destination of Alaska. It was his ambition to live a period of solitude in the Alaskan countryside before returning to his life in society. Chris had no survival experience, very little money, and no means to get there. But that wouldn’t stop him.

Chris, renaming himself to Alexander Supertramp (a direct reference to the 1908 book The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by William H. Davies), would make his way on foot to the far North. Along his way he would take any opportunity for exploration that he would encounter, almost always going into dangerous situations (such as canoing down the Colorado River into the Gulf of California) with very little preparation, experience, and equipment. For a time he worked in South Dakota in a grain mill where he began to prepare for his final destination and acquiring hunting and meat preservation tips from local hunters and friends. Having prepared, at least in his eyes, for his “Alaskan Odyssey,” he set for Fairbanks, Alaska where he bought a Remington Semi-Automatic .22LR (with 400 rounds), some very basic camping supplies (such as a sleeping bag, cooking pot, etc.), and a book on the local Alaskan flora and fauna.

This is where he encountered the last person to see Christopher alive. Jim Gallien (who coincidentally played himself in the movie Into the Wild), a Fairbacks local, picked up the woodby woodsman and took him to the entrance of the “Stampede Trail,” an abandoned mining road long overgrown with vegetation. Gallien pleaded with Chris to abandon his quest during the drive, but was in vein. He even offered to drive him to Anchorage to buy further supplies, but Chris turned down this assistance. The only help (apart from the drive) that Chris accepted from Jim was a pair of rubber boots, two tuna-melt sandwiches, and a bag of corn chips. Christopher McCandless, a.k.a. Alex Supertramp, set down the winding trail without even a compass or map for an adventure and a period to truly discover himself.

Chris kept a simple journal of his journey containing mostly one line entries. The journal reflects the excitement and exuberance Chris felt while making his way down the snow-covered trail, his discovery of “The Magic Bus,” a Fairbanks City Transit bus that had long-since been abandoned on the old road and converted into a makeshift survival cabin by hunters. The journal became darker and more telling of hardship as time went on. While Chris was able to trap and shoot a variety of small game (hares, porcupines, etc.), he felt his body wasting away. He did manage to kill a full grown moose but was unable to properly preserve the meat. While in South Dakota, he was told to smoke the meat immediately to preserve it, but for whatever reason he failed. The usual method of meat preservation in the Alaskan wilderness is to cut the meat into thin slices and air-dry it in the sun, thus making it into a jerky.

One of last image of Chris McCandless alive.

While Chris was getting a somewhat steady diet of meat, he was suffering from what is known as “rabbit starvation.” This is when one eats only extremely lean meat and doesn’t get any fat intake.His journal covered 189 day, 113 of which were spent in the bus itself. His final entry, keeping with his one-line posts, simply read “Beautiful Blueberries.” He also tore out the final page from Louis L’Amour’s memoir (one of many books he took with him) which reads:

Death’s a fierce meadowlark: but to die having made
Something more equal to centuries
Than muscle and bone, is mostly to shed weakness.
The mountains are dead stone, the people
Admire or hate their stature, their insolent quietness,
The mountains are not softened or troubled
And a few dead men’s thoughts have the same temper.

On the back of that page, he wrote his farewell.

“I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!”

His body was found 19 after the time of his death bundled inside of his sleeping back inside of the bus. His estimated weight at time of death was only 67 pounds with the official cause of death reading as starvation. Author Jon Krakauer stated in his book that Christopher also ingested toxic plant seeds known as Hedysarum alpinum, but toxicology reports there being no alkaloid toxins in his system. This was also portrayed in the movie, but is indeed incorrect.

There has been much controversy over his death. While there are countless thousands who have been inspired by his life and his journey, many also see his death as needless and completely avoidable. I personally am astonished by his story and his journey, but as an experienced outdoorsman I also agree with those who feel his death was a waste. Alaska, and the far North in general, is a harsh and unforgiving environment. Had he taken Jim Gallien’s advice and went to purchase all of the necessary equipment, it would have been almost guaranteed that he could have walked out safely.

Where the bus is located is only 28 miles hike from the main road at the beginning of the trail where he was dropped off. Chris did plan on returning to the road and made an attempt at doing so, but the Teklanika River which he was able to forge when he entered was impassable due to raised water levels and a strong current. Had he purchased just a basic $10 topographic map of the area he would have known that,no less than 1/4 of a mile down the river was located a hand-operated tram. It would have taken him in his condition only a few days to make it back to civilization had he known there was a tram down river. There are also several survival cabins along the trail as well which are erected by the Alaskan government for lost hunters and campers. Each cabin is well-constructed, warm, dry, and contains food and medical supplies. Again, a map of the area would have shown the location of these. Chris also didn’t study the local hunting and preservation techniques either, as mentioned earlier in this article. Had he cut the meat from the moose he had killed properly and simply sun dried it, he would have had more than enough protein and fat to survive and even gain back some of the weight he had lost.

So this brings me to the moral of the story I guess you could say. It’s a beautiful idea to connect with nature and to shake off the materialism we have all become accustomed to. Living a simpler life with nature in solitude, if even for a month or two to “escape” isn’t beyond the realm of possibility for some, but for most it is. Most people have become spoiled with the modern conveniences and people simply lack the common sense of survival. So if you plan on going out into the wilderness off the beaten path, or even if you plan on going camping for a night or for a day hike, it’s important to prepare for your journey well in advance.

Carry with you the tools you will need for survival and keep a variety of things on your person. A simple multi-tool and a good, sharp knife with a knowledge on how to sharpen and maintain it can ensure your survival indefinitely. Being able to start a fire without man-made fire starting implements is also an essential tool for anyone planning any sort of extended wilderness adventure where matches or lighter fluid may run out. But most importantly, know your surroundings and know your self. Chris McCandless didn’t know the Alaskan wilderness at all, had no pre-existing survival skills, and despite being very strong willed and physically fit, over-estimated his own endurance.

Chris McCandless was idealistic, spiritual, and lacked the fear that holds most of us in our 9-5 jobs. But he was also wreckless. He leaves behind him a legacy and a story that has touched and inspired countless people and will probably continue to do so for generations. In his short life he accomplished more than most could ever dream of, and he died accomplishing his dream. So in that sense, maybe his death isn’t a bad thing. How many of us will die in a place we love in the middle of our life’s dream? Not many, so in essence he’s one of the lucky ones.

If you’d like to learn more about Chris McCandless, then please visit www.christophermccandless.info. There you will find his complete story as well as photographs and information on both the book and the movie.You might also check out The Road Chose Me, a blog about the adventure of “Dan,” making a trek down the Pan-American road from Alaska to the furthest tip of South America. He made a pilgrimage to the site of Chris’s amazing adventure and his death and chronicles it in his posting.