Into the Wild

I decided to re-purpose the title of Jon Krakauer’s account of Chris McCandless, a college graduate cum vagabond who set out alone into the Alaskan wilderness.

A little background: Shortly after graduating from Emory University in 1990 with high grades, Chris McCandless gave his savings to charity, cut ties with his family and hit the road. He drifted for about two years, working odd jobs around the country and taking extensive trips into the backcountry. Eventually, McCandless abandoned his car and hitchhiked to Alaska. There, he hiked down the Stampede Trail with only the clothes on his back, ten pounds of rice, a camera, a journal, a small caliber rifle, a couple of boxes of shells, and select reading material, including a book of edible local plants.

McCandless found an abandoned bus, and decided to make it his new home. He survived for about 100 days in the wilderness, hunting small game and foraging for local edibles. He kept a journal, which forms a good part of Krakauer’s account. McCandless’ last journal entry is dated July of 1992; Moose hunters discovered his body the following September. Here’s where McCandless’ bus is located: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=63.868397,-149.769303&cp=21&bav=on.1,or.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Plenty of people make a regular habit of pushing their limits, both mental and physical, in the backcountry. Every year, the list of people who successfully complete difficult treks increases. Due to the vast amount of human generated garbage (trash, oxygen tanks, the bodies of fallen climbers, etc.), the Nepalese have considered restricting access to Mt. Everest. The list of unexplored routes may be getting smaller, but it is rare that we hear of a case like that of McCandless. Rather than be satisfied with simply visiting the wilderness or testing his mettle with difficult routes, McCandless chose to live it. He called into question all of his sense that this might be both dangerous and dumb, and dove headlong into the wild.

What possesses people to do questionable things like make a winter ascent of Denali, free climb El Capitan, or choose to live an incredibly Spartan existence in the Alaskan wilderness? I can’t say, but in many ways, I do see the appeal. I have camped extensively in backcountry of all types and in all kinds of weather. I’ve helped find people lost in the woods as well as been the one who is lost in the woods (this is no fun. I do not recommend it). Mental preparedness is, in my estimation, 75% of what makes a backcountry trip successful. Your body will do amazing things when properly provoked, but without the right mental state, it’s all for naught.

As demonstrated in Chris McCandless’ case, the right mental state is no substitute for experience in the backcountry. You can read about all the various contingencies and complications that could occur while you’re, say, 25 miles from the nearest dirt road, and even prepare for them, but it’s difficult to say exactly how things will turn out until you’re actually in the situation. That being said, it’s always better to learn about and prepare for the dangers you might face in the backcountry.