Into the WildIn April 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a party of moose hunters. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild. Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild. |
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Alaska Range Alex Anasazi Annandale arrived backpack Brooks Range Bullhead Bullhead City bush cabins called camp canyon Carthage Chris McCandless Chris's climb Colorado Datsun Davis Gulch death Dena'ina Denali desert Devils Thumb drove Emory Everett Ruess Fairbanks feet Franz Gallien George Parks Highway glacier going hard head Healy high school Highway hitchhiker ice cap Jan Burres JON KRAKAUER journal killed Krakauer Lake later live look McCand McCunn miles months moose mountains National Park never night parents ride road rock Ruth Glacier Salton City says Carine seeds snow South Dakota spent Stampede Trail Stuckey summer Supertramp Sushana River swainsonine talk Teklanika Teklanika River tell thing thought told took town trailer trip turned walked Walt and Billie Walt's Waterman Wayne Westerberg week wild potato wilderness young