Into the Wild - Born in El Segundo, California, Christopher
McCandless was described as his teachers as “marching to the beat of a
different drummer.” After earning a bachelor’s degree in history and
anthropology, he donated the majority of his belongings and savings to
charity and decided to live a nomadic lifestyle. By 1992, he had
travelled all the way to Alaska. Once there, he lived off the land, or
at least attempted to. He discovered an abandoned bust approximately 28
miles west of Healy - this is where he set up camp. He documented his
experience in a journal and through self-portrait photography. He
foraged for edible plants and hunted animals, including squirrels,
birds, and geese. His journal detailed 133 days out in the wilderness.
Becoming weak, he decided he would return to civilisation. However, the
trail was blocked by an overflowing river. He returned to the bus where
he wrote an S.O.S. note which read:
“Attention
Possible Visitors. S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death,
and too weak to hike out. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name
of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by
and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?”
On
6 September, 1992, a hunter discovered McCandless’ decomposing body,
wrapped up tight in his sleeping bag on the abandoned bus. He had died
of starvation the prior month. His final journal entry that included
words read: “Day 107. Beautiful Berries.” Entries 108 through to 113
were marked only with a singular slash. The abandoned bus still remains;
there is now a plaque inside the bus in memory of Christopher
McCandless.
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