He reminds me of some people my uncle saved year back, they were trying to “live off the land” and being completely unprepared & had a super unrealistic idea of how hard it was to do that. He found them starving & dehydrated miles from the Rez. He & my dad helped them & it turns out they had this idealization of Native people living off the land & wanted to be more “real” like them. My dad & uncle are Native Lakota & was talking to these people like everything you’re telling us you learned about how Native people lived off the land is wrong & how no Native person would ever venture out without any gear or preservatives. I think people romanticize the wilderness - it is beautiful- but they forget that nature is unforgiving & only the prepared & smart survive.
It's this weird paradoxical romanticization. On the one hand, idealizing Native people and wanting to emulate how they think they live... but on the other hand, totally devaluing all the knowledge, skills, and work involved, and assuming any fool can wander off on their own and be fine.
@@jakual339 Kind of also ignoring that they did have a civilization and that they did rely on one another in a cvilized manner,. you know, expecting things of one another and roles in society same as modern civilization. Yes, I realize civilized people can often be very uncivilezed but anyone who scorns others to live ultimate freedom is a fool. What did he base this on? Novels. Two of my favorite authors but funny I got quite a different impressin from those books. London's made me react with an oh my God but I'm so glad I don't have to try surviving like that. And Twain''s - well, he kind of uses humor to point out how we do need one another. Huck Finn isn't independent of his fellow man.
Red of claw and tooth - wish that were more in the foremost of people's minds than glorification of living off the land. There is no such thing as total freedom. We are limited by what our bodies need to survive Good on your father and uncle for helping them - though how could one do otherwise? There's a reaosn we have compassion. It's called survival of the species. Good on them for helping the survival of their fellow man. These people are lucky that they were found by good people, not bad.
Reminds me of the couple that went off to Alaska to live with the bears which worked for awhile until the bears decided the couple would make for a tasty meal and that was the end of that story.
@@BlazeDuskdreamer That's also a very good point! While ideas about individual vs. community obligation vary a lot among cultures, when you come from a climate that's challenging to survive in, mutual obligations become extremely important.
The Alaskan man who wanted to drive Chris into town and buy him new gear was trying to save his life. That man knew that Chris was mortally unprepared and would probably die out there. Most Alaskans understand that the key to surviving the extreme wild is to take care of one another. If you pass by a stalled or wrecked vehicle on the highway you always pull over and offer aid, because it could be hours or days before the next vehicle comes along and it's likely that the person stuck on the side of the road doesn't have cell service. You don't shovel only your own driveway after a snowstorm, you help to dig out your neighbors even (especially) when the snow is deep. If you meet a stranger that clearly doesn't understand what he's getting into by wandering out into the woods unprepared, you do your damnedest to make sure he at least has basic survival gear. You give him the boots off your feet if you have to.
I was parked on the side of the highway like 100 miles from Fairbanks to hike to Tolovana hot springs and when I got back to the car and was clearing ice off it a native Alaskan pulled off to make sure I was alright cause there weren't tracks in the snow behind my car since it had been sitting there for a few days at that point, I was fine but having a random person pull off to make sure was awesome to see and not at all how people here in California are
Its the same in central Australia there are places that its like being on another planet and everybody watches out for and over each other and you learn to never to take it for granted that you will return and always tell someone where you are going and when you will be back, and if you don't return on time no effort is spared searching for you, the golden rule is always carry and epirb.
Mallory Dover, what if the stranger has different sized feet than I do? Wouldn't shoes too small or too big create a whole other problem the person would have to deal with?
@@jediknightjairinaiki560 it would but those problems are much preferable to losing your toes/feet to frostbite, my boots weren't waterproof enough and I'm amazed I didn't get frostbite on the hike I did up there and that was at the begining of the snow season when it's still like 20-30 degrees during the day, even still my feet have never been that numb before getting back to the car and that was only an 11 mile hike
The whole story is full of Irony, Chris wanted to escape civilization; but found when he did he was actually trapped by the wild. The bus which was his home, tomb and memorial out in the wild was the cast-off of civilisation, and causing such a draw and danger to people after his death that it had to be moved out from the wild to a concrete museum, the very epitome of civilisation.
It's a hell of a thing to think about. I guess the biggest thing blocking that mind set with me is knowing I could've died as a baby from easily operable conditions, I don't want to be caught out in the woods needing surgury. There's a lot civilization has to offer but overstimulation and hubris in the modern world boils into this.
@@kevin6293 - Good point. I'm a raging introvert who hates interacting with people. However, i recognize i am dependent on "society" and civilization for my survival.
@@christopherweise438 he didn’t even bring a map. Does he think any human in the past 2 million years has ever survived in the wilderness without supplies? He’s stupid.
It's such painfull irony and so typically human that people heard about how this guy died because he was poorly prepared, went to visit his bus and then died because they too were poorly prepared.
I’ve only ever visited Alaska and I personally cannot fathom the utterly staggering overconfidence this poor fool had to have to wander off into the wilderness without any gear
iirc, he had a little gear. Some fishing equipment, a gun, etc. The major problem was his lack of skills (which also meant he didn't know what gear he was missing, e.g. a bag of salt would probably have been helpful in preserving that moose), and his complete lack of a back-up plan when things went wrong (i.e. no map, no satellite phone, no one coming to check on him).
I lived there for 11 years (my son was born there and will never leave) and it's definitely not an environment to be taken lightly. I love AK, but it's nothing like the lower 48 - which is why I love it.
I am actually friends with Jim Gallien who was the electrician that saw Chris last. He gave his boots to Chris like you said in this video but what wasn't said was that Jim's name was in the boots so when they found Chris' body the police called Jim's dad and told his father that Jim was found dead. Jim actually had a warrant out for his arrest till it all got sorted out. Jim actually played himself in the movie.
Thank you very much for sharing that piece of very relevant information. Jim is a thoroughly good bloke it seems. Go well. I send my respects to your friend Jim Gallien.
I remember when I lived in Alaska, anytime this guy and his story was brought up, people would usually get pissed about it. Especially people who had lived there their whole lives. Anyone with common sense knows you can't just wander out into the Alaskan wilderness with no gear and expect to survive. The guy was extremely naive and insanely overconfident, and his death was a totally needless one.
man i must be from alaska at heart then, cause all i think anytime i see this guys story, is just how dumb he was. I heard it from my father to start with, and the second he said the guy went out into the alaskan wilderness i just interrupted him and said, " so he died" ..
I was in that area around 2014 and was taking a tour somewhere and this story/movie came up and the tour guide said everyone in the area considered him to be an idiot, so it would seem he was correct.
Based on the fact that he did not burn his money and ID and social security card, as it is indicated in the film ($300 cash and his ID cards were found among his belongings after his death) I think he had every intention of going back to the real world after he had some fun/adventure/experiences. And he was hardly in the wild, he was living in a bus with a wood stove, and there was a McDonalds 30 miles away. If only he had had a map, he would have been able to hike a mile up the river to that cable crossing. And the things he wrote in his journal at the end, about how being alone wasn’t what it was all about…I don’t get how he has been idolized. People say he died living his dream - but I’m sure at the end, when he knew he was going to die, he would have given anything to go back and make different choices.
I’ve never seen anyone idolise him. I’m confused at this. Why does everyone feel the need to state it is a cautionary tale?? Isn’t that blatantly obvious? Isn’t it redundant to have to state it
@@henrymorgan3982 I’ve rolled my dice many times. Have to say, I’ve been lucky, considering all the risks I took. But I admit, I never felt the urge to go off into the woods alone, with no provisions. I know my limits, taking a chance trying to live off the land isn’t something I would even want to try. But the gypsy life, that’s not so hard, lots of people do it when they are younger.
When I was in HS I had a teacher that was of the opinion that McCandless was one of the greatest men to ever live. She had us write a 2 page report on him, I wrote a 4 page report on his follies, hubris and the realities of survivalism. Probably the best paper I ever wrote and she failed me for it. It was worth it.
I’m not going to lie, the more I think about this man when watching the video and reading the comments and Wikipedia article, the more he is the same as all those fake Instagram “influencers” who take pictures of themselves in these nature vistas and “roughing” it to get by. He is the embodiment of arrogance when he refused help and thought he was smart enough to know what he was doing. He wrote in his diary and took pictures of himself not to be free from civilization and his parents’ abuse; he did it for fame and notoriety. If he was born in the era of social media, he would be posting pictures of himself on Instagram. He is not a hero you should admire, but someone, as other people put it, chasing “clout” in the early 90’s.
@@KoopaBOOEY To me he was pretentious attention seeking and foolish. I don’t fancy myself some great outdoorsman in fact at the time I wrote my paper the year prior I had gotten myself lost on a hunting trip (was only lost a day) that incident taught me some extremely harsh lessons I never forgot, namely surviving in the woods is serious business that if you don’t know what you’re doing it will kill you very quickly. So heres this prick trying to do something more dangerous with less training and experience than I had been who strangely enough failed spectacularly and I was supposed to admire him for it.
@@maryeckel9682 she was a very… opinionated individual, her excuse was I did NOT perform the task assigned. I can say that it was one of my very best reports if not the best and I usually got good grades when it came to reports (everything else I sucked at). I went from an A to a B in that class but it was worth it I think if I hadn’t done it I would’ve always regretted it.
The thing I find funny is that Jon Krakauer wrote “Into The Wild” as a cautionary tale. The book (and movie naturally) is not a manifesto to convince youth to throw caution to the wind. It’s a sad story of a kid who let his intelligence overcome common sense, and it cost him his life.
Exactly! The movie made him out to be some kind of sympathetic and romantic hero. There's nothing heroic about throwing your life away from a lack of common sense.
@@Gamble661 people throw their lives away all the time in society, working jobs they hate, buying things they don't need, having kids they can't take care of ect. Lots of wasted life here, we just find those paths "acceptable"
@@chrism8180 the problem is that Chris poisoned himself eating wild plants that he had no real knowledge of except reading about edible plants in a book. If he had taken time to lean from others he may have survived.
I remember reading his book in English class when I was 14. My teacher found his journey absolutely inspiring, but I personally found it wreckless. While I can understand an urge to break out of society, his way of doing so was plain dangerous due to lack of preparation, survival skills and gear. We also watched the documentary and it felt extremely forced that everyone interviewed claimed he was wonderful and insightful, with only one employer having the guts to say he was kinda obnoxious. I'm not saying he deserved his fate but 6 years after that class I still believe his tale is one of caution and not inspiration. I do feel pity for how hellish his final days/hours must've been.
It is odd that he never seemed to venture along the river to search for a crossing, I think that’s literally the first thing I’d do upon realizing the initial crossing point was unavailable.
This man's death has been studied countless times over the years. Recent conclusions and re-evaluation of the evidence proved he ate a poisonous plant that slowly killed him. He was too weak and unable to forage for food any longer. Sad but his inexperience killed him. I don't understand why people are idolizing him.
To be honest, this should be a message to parents about what abusing your kids does to them. To Chris, I believe it made him resent the things he had, and felt like he needed to do something, anything on his own just to spite his parent's Middle class wealth. You gotta remember, he graduated with good grades from Emory, that's not small task. Do I believe it was foolish to try and hike through Alaska as ill equipped as he was? Yes. I also believe he saw it too, hence why he stayed in the bus. I do think it's sad he had to choose what he did to prove to himself he didn't need the things the parents who had abused him had, and I think it's dumb. However, I can understand it.
I believe people idolize him for his fearless spirit knowing full well he was not that prepared … I can understand people wanting to be like that , but that’s absolutely no reason to risk your very life to experience something so mundane
@@craigdurso3005 There's a difference between being brave and being foolhardy. This guy was definitely the latter. And there's nothing inspiring about willingly going into a situation unprepared. The people who should be admired are the people who were prepared and knowledgeable and thrived because of it.
3rd generation local to area he died in. Growing up we called “the bus” a Venus Flytrap for the out of touch. It seemed like every summer multiple people would need rescued and ever couple of years people would die. You’re hard pressed to to find anyone within a 100 mile radius with a positive opinion of the guy.
I can imagine. It is a shame that Chris' arrogance made him refuse help. It sounded like that Electrician would have been willing to spend money and time to help Chris survive. the Electrician is the true hero of the story.
Congratulations on its recent removal. I agree that it was bait for a particular type of guy with something to prove, and now it's where no one can do stupid self-destructive crap in it again. Well, I mean, okay. Now without someone noticing in time to help. My best wishes to the staff who might eventually have to deal with some other joker trying to die in it now that it's harder to do.
I've read a lot about Chris's story, and it sounds like he was a very charismatic young man- nearly everyone that interacted with him claimed to like him. That being said, he was a pretty terrible survivalist- he really had no idea what he was doing. There were ways he could've easily preserved the moose to make it last him much longer, learned more about the area he was in, and learned what plants were and were not safe to eat. Like I said, I think he was probably a very charming and likable young man, but once he was out in the wild on his own, none of that mattered.
Great young man? I think the worlds you’re looking for are cocky, underprepared, no respect for the power of nature and a complete and utter lack of care for all his friends and family that loved him. There, I fixed it for you. Dude couldn’t tell the difference between an elk and a deer. This kid shouldn’t of been allowed outside of his house by himself let alone in the middle a forest by himself. And that’s even more supported by the fact that the surrounding city has removed the bus because tons of other ignorant, under prepared kids lacking a shred of respect for nature were getting stuck and needing rescuing SO OFTEN that they need to increase their tax rate to fund the obscene number of morons they kept having to rescue. The surrounding areas HATES these idiots. I have zero respect for anyone who thinks what this kid did was courageous or even remotely intelligent. He is the definition of a psychopath. No empathy whatsoever even for his own loved ones, thinks he knew everything about the wilderness and ignored everyone who told him not to do this. It drives me absolutely insane that this kid has been turned into some sort of hero to look up to. No, no he wasn’t. He is the perfect example of how easily you can get yourself killed doing something you didn’t have a shot in hell at completing and leaving your loved ones to pick up the pieces their lives because their sons childish immature decisions. Stop idolizing him.
I read a book about him in 2011 in my first year in University and fell greatly in love with his tale, and never forget it to this day. Thanks again for making this video.
A bus that was, eventually, removed from the wild by significant technology and brought to be enshrined in a safe warm museum to be looked at by presumably paying tourists.
It gets so romanticized in most retellings, unfortunately. For instance, the movie completely excludes the fact that there was a river crossing less than a kilometer away, and that he died because he'd refused his last ride's offer of a map.
Very sad - he refused multiple attempts by people who were starkly warning him he was un-prepared and even offered to buy him all the necessary supplies before dropping him off. Those facts really change the glorification of his "free spirit adventure" that this is often made out to be. Many people do what he did and survive because they aren't completely stubborn and idiotic
This is a reminder of what "leftists" are prepared to do to prove their immature points. Today by 2020s this kind of realism is brought to the very gates of society itself.. Consequences are already terrible and will get worse by time.
@Bujf vjg the fact that he died proves he was idiotic. many people do what he does and live simply without falling victim to delusional thinking. the opposite of consumerism isn't throwing your life away in pursuit of idealism, that's the definition of stupidity.
@Bujf vjg Ay, bish, we can have electricity and not burn the planet down. We don't have to strip down buck nekkid and leave all our man-made structures behind to stop climate change. Cut down on the excess, vote appropriately, drive less... But if you wanna follow the lead of good ol' Chris, then be my guest. Have fun eating a poisonous plant and wasting away all on your own while I survive within walking distance of a store and my backyard garden.
I had one ex with Asperger's and another ones little son seemed to be on the spectrum in that way too. They're going to do it their way and they're a little egotistical about it because they're smarter then average, but that can come back and bite them. This kid seemed a lot like that
i'm alaskan. everyone i ever knew growing up HATED this guy. he was essentially a joke about how outsiders foolishly underestimate and romanticize the harshness of our wilderness. we are literally raised from birth not to contend with the elements unprepared the way that he did, because even seemingly innocuous activities like a mountain hike or a quick trip on a fishing boat can become life or death at any moment. my parents saw mccandless as an idiot too, even though they also lived that nomadic hitchhiking lifestyle themselves for many years. it wasn't until i moved to the lower 48 that i met people who genuinely idolized him or found his story inspiring, and i couldn't believe it. also: funny that he went to emory, i didn't know that. i go to emory now. weird coincidence
Its the same in central Oz there was a time when not a summer would go by with out one or more tourists underestimating the dangers of the death valley heat and over estimating there ability's, then they get bogged in sand and do the worst thing you can do and leave the vehicle, what you do is dig a hole and set fire to the spare tire in it and wait for some one to come and find out what is burning.
One need not be a local or describe themselves as naturalist or familiar with the wilderness to see the "problems" with this guy’s thinking. It’s not just his unpreparedness because even if he had survived out there, he’s not proving any worthy point against civilization, because under the weight of a thoughtful argument (he probably was never put under) he simply is just as bad and nothing more than a mini-representation of the ills of civilization. He was just looking out for number one, selfish, and destructive. The fact he was solitary didn't change that. He was living an illusion of independence, and in no way truly free of civilization. He was merely off-the-grid, but still very much dependent on benefits of civilization. He basically just didn't want to be told what to do and take the credit of too much about his being alive. The simple test is if thousands of people did the same thing, would it be horrible, and clearly it would have been. The only thing that fooled him into thinking there was anything "valid" or sustainable or laudable about his life was that almost nobody else follows it. To put it simply, he basically was a city boy shitting in a reserve. When it got to the part he killed a whole moose and the whole thing spoiled, that's frankly despicable and claiming to live off the land is absolutely no excuse. Native peoples would kill game, but they truly WERE at one with nature (as best they could) and a moose would have gotten entirely used or not taken down. Anyway, I agree with all your locals’ opinion, but where you live give it no more weight at all. Anyone anywhere would agree.
@@seeingeyegod I think he is quite off putting in his writing and general world outlook. I wouldn't wish harm on the guy or glory in his tragic end, but I find his outlook and hubris to be annoying.
It’s stories like his that make me feel better about being that one guy in my group who obsesses over maps, weather reports, and packing 3 days of food and water for a day hike or boating trip. The knowledge base was there for him to learn as he gradually made his way to Alaska. It’s the foolishness of not taking advantage of resources that did him in.
yeah he had an over-romanticized view of living off grid and survivalism. he didn't realize that we built society and creature comforts to escape the brutalities of nature. it's too bad he didn't realize how truly cruel and indifferent life is without societal establishments.
I remember hearing about Chris and learning about his story and I thought that he was pretty cool and I kinda looked up to him because I wanted to do something similar. Not erase my whole identity and burn my money and social security card, but go off the grid for a bit and live alone. Then I read the book by Jon Krakauer and realized that Chris was a total idiot and no longer looked up to him. He went out into the wild, especially one as unforgiving as Alaska with zero knowledge of the terrain, no survival skills, no tools or weapons to protect himself and or properly kill for food. He was totally ignorant and died because he had no idea what he was doing. What he did wasn't bold or cool, it was really stupid and careless. If you're going to go off grid you got to have the proper tools to survive, especially in Alaska or you die. That's just the truth, you die. Not making fun of him or talking trash, but he made me mad because he didn't have to die. He was just dumb.
+Rhett Regan Many idealists still look up to the guy and want nothing more than to be like him. They glorify the guys’ unfortunate but preventable death and see it as him going out on his own terms. Makes me sad to think about.
I find him pitiable. Especially after reading "The Wild Truth", the book written by his sister detailing the horrific abuse by their parents. They drove him to do something this insane and moronic. They messed him up badly.
@@darylesells19 Sorry to tell you, but those are NOT idealists. Anyone who looks up to the guy is a fool. Look, I'm not about to tell you "Don't go trying your hand at living off the land or off grid... as wild as you like... I'd be a hypocrite to try. I went... I did it. Been out for more than a year without so much modern convenience as electricity. It turns out, I rather like electricity and the internet. It was a damn good break, to be sure... simplify things a bit, learn what it is to be hungry, to be FOR REAL cold... to worry about where a meal's going to come from... if there's even going to be a meal. BUT it's not all a horrific shit-show, either. If you're up for it, it's magical... BUT you BETTER be up for it. You'd best have those essential skills and at least SOME primitive equipment to manage. It's never easy... BUT it can clear your head. It really CAN cleanse you of most of the BULLSHIT that society heaps on you like it's a fact of life when it isn't... It's opinion, social constructs, and a question of whether or not you agree to it. Nature doesn't suffer fools. That's plain old Darwinism... and there may be plenty to hold against the man, but you better respect what he wrote about. He was onto something, there. There REALLY ARE professionals and courses and camps where you can go and LEARN what you need and what to do. There are steps along the way to take before you plunge "all in" as it were for even an Alaskan weekender... which can definitely kill you, if you're unprepared. The guys to look up to in an idealistic fashion are a LOT more like Cody Lundin, simple and straight forward, without a whole lot of hooey about special forces this or expert marksmanship that... They're humble and constantly concerned about doing things the best way, with safety among the top 3 concerns, alternatives to "Plan A" and the knowledge base to think on their feet and improvise. They aren't show-offs or searching the latest flashy disgusting way to twist your face at home with something gross or morbid. They don't take two steps and dive off the deep end. They're not well known for "woo-hoo" either... It's business until the basics are covered, and then maybe... if time and daylight allows... a little fun or mischief might be okay. It's just too damn easy for your "luck" to turn sour on a dime and give you the last change you'll ever see in your life. ;o)
Thank you! Finally a positive comment not bashing this poor boy who met his fate following his heart. A widely told story because of the person and events leading up to his death. And it was well documented by Chris.
Richard Proenneke had the same idea, but he was a skilled woodsman and spent years preparing. He successfully lived alone in the Alaskan wilderness for 30 years.
@@thebirdee55 Ask anyone who lives in Alaska what they really think about people like that and they'll tell you, they're a pain in the ass. This kids story convinced people that he was some sort of martyr and they should emulate him. If you have the experience to do it fine! If you do not know how to survive in the wilderness and go anyway, you are creating an unwanted burden for the people of that community to bear!
The only legacy his story should hold is one of warning. His choice in literature shows how unprepared he was for his little adventure, nowhere do I see him reading actual accounts of wilderness survival, just romantic works of fiction. He either forgot or was never told the #1 Rule of the Wilderness, Never Go Alone. His story is exactly why this is the rule, there is nothing inspiring about it, he was a fool who died because he made very foolish decisions that could have been avoided if he had chosen his reading material a little more thoughtfully.
What confuses me was he read Jack London and while Jack London romanticizes the wild he also repeatedly writes about dumbasses who think they know better and wind up getting themselves killed. He wrote a whole short story about a guy freezing to death. There's a bit in _Call of the Wild_ about a city couple who mount an expedition into the wilderness and wind up on a grueling death march because they planned poorly and didn't ration their food right before eventually drowning in a freezing river. Jack London ****ing traumatized me with stories of poorly prepared people who died in the wilderness. This guy was definitely warned.
In Oz rule one is tell the local police where you are going and when you will be back and if you don't return no effort will be spared looking for you, because we all know that one day it might be you that needs help.
If he was a Jack London fan, surely he read that short story, “To Build a Fire”? That story is a cautionary tale about going into the Alaskan wilderness unprepared & unknowledgeable!
Took a whole class on road scholars in college. Into the Wild was one of the books. That summer I worked in Alaska and one of the first things that happened was having a conversation with a very knowledgeable local. I remember asking him about Chris and the dude flat out saying he was an idiot. I’ll never forget that.
He was very far from being a completely inexperienced idiot as he managed to survive quite a while. He was just foolish and lost. In the end he did realize the severity of his decisions. It is just a shame that he allowed his pride and imagination to stop him from realizing sooner.
@@FunkiestMonke He was an inexperienced idiot. He has no experience of winter survival and he outright refused help from others. Making him inexperienced and an idiot.
@@FunkiestMonke no, he was kind of an idiot. I think he would tell you that too. He had no business doing what he was doing, in the way he was doing it, but he was too drunk on his romanticism and people idealize him for it. I defended him against the guy in Alaska and in my essay, but there’s a point where you have to accept that what he did was stupid. Dying alone in the wilderness, unprepared and having eaten poisonous berries doesn’t make you a hero.
I find it very strange how many people, intrigued by Chris's story, journey to the site of his last days...and often get stuck or injured in the process. That's literally the reason he died. He didn't plan far ahead, and trapped in the wilderness sadly was killed by the unforgiving elements of the very thing he was so infatuated with.
He assumed all outdoor locations were the same and he could live them in all in the same exact manner. Ignoring someone who lived there and believing he knew better was the earmark of his ultimate arrogance.
@@williamlydon2554 I bet he wished he did, but he wanted adventure and so do others. Who are you to or I to tell anyone else that they can't live as nature intended
Noting highlights more that he was just a kid than that journal entry. It's all song and book quotes strung together. For instance, the lint "No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes." It is from the song "King of the Road," with one modification of the last words in the song are "ain't got no cigarettes." It's so freaking tragic and even more tragic that so many kids try to emulate him. You can live away from civilization, you can live off the land, but you have to be prepared and have the knowledge on how to do so.
I read “Into the Wild” for high school summer reading. It was quite fascinating to hear about this person. The saddest part to read was that McCandless couldn’t take the family dog with him, and the dog was still waiting for him to come home. Though considering how ill-prepared he was for tackling the Alaskan wilderness, his story probably would have been more tragic than it already was if the dog came with him
He would have been driven to eat his own dog if he brought it. No way a person starving to death would pass up on eating a pet. That pain will drive you to eat other humans nevermind a dog.
The story resonated very deeply with me when I read it in high school. Still does to an extent. It helped me put words to a lot of the challenges that I felt in my life at the time. In some ways, I wanted to emulate him. At the same time, I think his story may have helped steer me away from that kind of self destruction. I didn't realize he was ~24. I've just surpassed him in age. Weird to reflect on
I grew up living the “outdoor life,” and that’s why I never attempted to live off of the land for more than a week at a time. We need balance in this life: wild craft skills are perfect for when the need arises, but modern conveniences actually add to overall longevity.
It's notable that the myth of independent living isn't really supported by any amount of history. Folks living off the land were, virtually 100% of the time, only able to accomplish this with cooperation and community. Fraternity is what lends humanity it's strength. by that same token, there will always be those that feel the call of the wild too strongly to live in a society such as that, and desire to return to wildness, which is never a long and comfortable one, but is always a challenge, an adventure, and a noble pursuit nonetheless. The way we honor the wilders is to remember their story, just like we do here.
No, it’s not yay for me; it’s yay for common sense, the acceptance of reality, and proper preparation. If you’ve frozen your ass off on a deer stand, you know what I’m talking about.
The fact that he didn’t even have a map of the area makes me wonder what he was thinking, usually when people underestimate the gear they need they at least have a map with them.
He shunned maps on purpose because he liked the "challenge" of finding his own way, pretending he was the first person to ever cover that ground. I think if he knew ahead of time there was a bus out there, he would have avoided it on principle, but since he stumbled upon it, he loved it. He didn't recognize the hypocrisy of living off the land in the shelter of a man-made bus.
It's extremely ironic how one of his favorite authors was Jack London; but he never took away the chief message from "Call of the Wild," how unforgiving and dangerous the Alaskan wilderness can be for even provisioned people.
I enjoyed most of the books I had to read in high school. I recognized that they contained life lessons that I maybe didn't understand yet, or that I wasn't old enough to fully appreciate. One of my English teachers loved this guys story, he idolized him. My district was rather poor and rural. Some families here hunt for food, others grow a lot of their own out of necessity. Even the people who didn't have to generally knew plenty who did, or grew up having to. That section of English class did not go over well, telling a bunch of people who relied on each other during hard times that we should look up to this guys independent spirit was a tad tone deaf.
It's a terribly sad story, but I think there is a tendency for people to romanticise this sort of lifestyle. When you look at people who appear to have 'dropped out' of society, you generally find it's exactly the opposite - they have an infrastructure and a support system who they can turn to for help. People are so quick to dismiss community, yet we see time and time again what a wonderful and essential thing it is. I live in Scotland, and even with our milder weather, it's easy to die from exposure outside, people get killed while out on the hills in winter, and you couldn't survive by foraging alone. I can't help wondering if the ascetic experience was so important to him that he pushed himself beyond the limit that anyone could survive at. I wouldn't recommend that to anyone.
Thankfully my English teacher didn’t romanticize his choices I also grew up in a small rural community with a big hunting and agricultural focus, everyone knows everybody and tries to help when someone needs it
@@missmays4933 Yes. Absolutely privileged and arrogant. Both led him to have a naive, ignorant view of the world as being less difficult and dangerous and his own capability as far greater that it was. Never occurred to him that people who lived off the land had skills, knowledge, knowledge of the area... or that people rely on each other to survive, even if you hate daddy, it's still human-normal to rely on others. But no, I'm super-man, and everything I want will be easily attainable as I reject kindly help from everyone and write lofty heroic prose about myself and my personal greatness of being spiritually reborn a child of the wilderness... unlike assholes who like cities, or people who can't literally being 100% independent like me...
In the summer of 1991 I was hiking solo southbound along the John Muir Trail in Yosemite. Being solo, one tends to stop and chat with just about anybody you see on the trail. Most everybody is very talkative and very helpful. Except one northbound guy I met who was also solo who had a very bushy beard and amazingly said he has started in Mexico. I asked him about the trail ahead where he had just come from, and he had very little to say. He was different from anybody else I met being so quiet. I was amazed that he had come all the way from the Mexican border. I’ll never forget that. I don’t know for a fact that this was McCandless, but the timing and the behavior of this person, and his trail history, has me convinced that it was him. I have a vague memory of what this guy looked like that I met, and it’s very similar to what I see in the pictures of McCandless in Alaska.
Did he seem like an over blown narcissist jackass who spent all his time minimizing everyone else and couldn't even be bothered to check out a river a mile up and down from the camp he lived for months?
Read the book years ago - hard to criticize a guy for wanting to be independent, life life his way, thumbed his nose to the rules etc... on the other hand he was woefully unprepared, did not do much research. I don't think he ever intended to die, he just basically made some huge miscalculations and paid for it with his life. He was the only recorded death by starvation in the US for the last century...
@@MrKinasz I seem to remember it being mentioned at the end of the book. It's been over ten years since I read the book so I may be wrong, but it was something about what was written on his death certificate - and how long it had been since anyone had that reason given.
I have never understood the fascination of this man. He went into one of the most inhospitable lands in the world completely under prepared both physically and mentally then died. Instead of looking up this this man, we should all point and say, "don't be this guy!"
Dude had plenty of money to just move to Alaska and live there, restart his life but he gave it away and lived like a hobo, a hobo who died in a van down by the river ...🤦♀️
Exactly! Why people are inspired by this life is beyond me. If he had lived he would’ve looked back on himself and said I can’t believe what a fool I was. Why do people admire dying so needlessly?
He didn't go into the wild to die, he went to find life. Unfortunely he died after realising what life means to him. Tragic in every sense of the word.
Dude, who reads Jack London and goes out into the wilderness unprepared? I've read maybe all of two things by him and what I remember most vividly were the stories of unprepared people going out into the wilderness and dying. In particular he wrote a short story about a guy who travels when it's way too cold out and freezes to death. That traumatized me a little man.
Let's pretend his passion was Nascar driving... Christopher McCandless sets off, from California in an old car he rebuilt himself (he replaced the fenders and painted it), on a trip to the Daytona 500. He only gets across the state line when he runs out of fuel because he forgot to fill it up. Instead of simply walking to the nearest gas station or flagging down help he decides to push his car over an embankment and set it on fire. He then proceeds to walk on foot to the nearest car lot (which happens to be in Mexico for some reason, mostly because he burned up his map in the car and he's been taking backroads.) He finds an old bicycle in a garbage dump and uses that. He finally gets to the car lot and buys a fixer-upper for $50. Before leaving the car lot he has to change a tire, which he replaces with the solid rubber donut. He buys fuel and heads off to the Daytona 500 again. Only he's heading deeper into Mexico and eventually ends up broken down in front of, "Autodromo Internacional de la Jolla" due to no water in the radiator. The engine block has seized up. Luckily, there's a race about to start. Christopher...er "Alexander Superspeeder", who changed his name, pays the $125 entry fee for the race. Unfortunately, Alexander Superspeeder doesn't have a race car. He does however have an old bicycle still. He uses the bicycle to race. He makes it only 3 laps before he is too tired to steer straight and veers off into a race car and is killed. Some Jew picks up his story and writes a book about his life and how he followed his dreams. Another Jew makes a movie about it. Armchair racers around the world adore him. The End.
The more I learn about his story, the more it becomes clear just how unprepared and inexperienced he was. Anybody with bare minimum survival skills would have known to follow the river to try to find a narrow passage or crossing, which as the video mentioned, literally would have saved his life. I don’t say that as a criticism on Chris necessarily, it’s just almost stunning to me he lasted as long as he did with such little clue to what he was doing. This story is 100% a cautionary tale. Backpacking and survival are not synonymous. Nature is unforgiving as all hell. He had NO business being out there. I feel for the guy who tried to warn him that he didn’t know what he was doing and tried to talk him out of it, he knew Chris was fucked out there. It’s haunting to think of the thoughts that went through Chris’s mind when he finally realized and accepted he didn’t know what he was doing, only to start heading out and then realize he was (or so he thought) trapped out there.
For a man with a bachelor's degree that only means he's book smart. It doesn't necessarily mean he had any common sense which alot of people lack in life. For a man who had everything basically giving to him he never appreciated it or his parents. Karma is bad he got his. Just cause a person has a degree in college doesn't make them say street smart. So yeah I think he's an idiot he thought he knew it all he knew shit and got what came to him he's nuts
Agreed. Read the book years ago. Such a tragedy. Turns out, he was only 1/2 mile from a usable crossing. He was severely screwed by just thinking he could survive - especially in that area. Why not stuff a backpack w/supplies + give it 2 weeks? Really sad 😞 story + cautionary tale.
I've never met a single person who's actually been in any actual wilderness that finds this tale anything other than cautionary and induces head shakes about his stupidity. Wanting to get out of the cities and live rough is fine, and very doable. You can't just wander into the wilderness and assume you'll be fine though. Did he skip over the parts in all those Jack London novels where people died due to lack of knowledge? It happens quite a lot actually.
@@maryeckel9682 I always figure he was sort of self sabotaging. LIke how some see dying on a war as heroic, he too saw going to the forest and dying by nature as a way to die.
I've lived in Alaska my entire life. I used to feel the way you characterize people who have lived in and around wilderness feel, but I've come to admire his desire to purge himself of the narratives many of us affiliate with. I wish I had met him.
@@islandblind There's a convicted killer (who stabbed her ex bf to death in 2018) who'd legally changed her surname to "McCandless" because she so admired Christopher. (Erza McCandless).
I watched Into the Wild with my partner (whose parents are refugees and struggled with poverty) and how can I say -- it was a different experience. My coworker (middle-upper class) suggested this movie, hoping it would inspire us, like it did to her. My partner was frustrated the whole time. We both agreed that it was a very sad fate, but let's say that type of behavior wouldn't happened to someone in a third-world country...
Or even someone who grew up in the environment that Christopher died in. Ppl that grow up in Alaska know exactly how dangerous the wilderness is and how being prepared and knowing the surrounding area can be the difference between life and death. I don't understand why ppl find it inspiring. It seems like a cautionary tale more than anything else to me.
His story reeks of privilege and ignorance, the type of thing that only someone who knows nothing but a comfortable comparatively easy going lifestyle would want or hope for
@@SadisticSenpai61 I agree, I'm just from Michigan, and already respect the wilderness way too much to try something like that. Alaska is nuts. I guess some city people are like that though, I was surfing with my friend and a baby sea lion started playing with us (turns out they do that) and my first thought having grown up with bears, was "GET OUT!!! WILD ANIMAL BABY!!! DANGER!!!!" and she was "Aw cute it's playing with us!" I'm not exactly afraid of a sea lion baby, but I also didn't want to unintentionally anger a giant sea creature protecting her young, who can definitely swim better than I can.
His story only gets more tragic when you see how narcissistic his parents are, and how far into denial they are. It's clear that all Chris wanted from them was real human love, but they just kept giving him *things* instead of giving themselves. I have a hippie friend who reminds me a bit of Chris, although this friend is way too smart to attempt what he did. But this person also has a narcissistic parent. They seem to always be looking for something they cannot find. It is super sad. They have a hole in their heart that cannot be filled.
The apple didn't fall far from the tree, sadly, because Chris' own narcissism drove his delusional belief that he had the ability to live out there with no survival equipment.
@@damonroberts7372 Hear hear ! I could not agree more with what you said. I find so many who think like Chris did to be unbearable to be around. Very pompous and arrogant to be so critical of society and yet they still rely on it. eg. If it wasn't for other people working and spending their hard earned money on vehicles Chris could not been to half the places that he went to. This notion that so many have, that they can call it quits and remove themselves from society and 'live off the land' is just so naive and very urban. People who live near nature, understand just how brutal and unforgiving nature can be. You don't wander off into the Alaskan land scape without even proper foot wear and think you will do just fine, that you can beat nature at it's game. There is a good reason why man lives in proper housing and have invented heat sources and figured out how to have a constant food source even if it means not being 'real' or 'authentic', to quote Oprah the day she cannonised him, "Saint Chris, patron saint of the bush. Zzzzzzzzzzzz. In the end was just a silly boy who was running away from life and responsibilities because he was too weak and fragile to deal with them. I hope youth will someday grow up and come to the same conclusions and no longer worship his foolish dreams.
I look at it a bit differently. I see parents who are realists and tried to promote the need to be active, productive members of society so that you can be financially stable through your adult lives. He rebelled. Didn't want anything to do with that life style because for some reason he wanted to be a rebel, be his own man following his own rules. To ignore that life can be extremely cruel and if you don't have the resources to weather hard times you pay the price. I'm not even sure he learned his lesson even as he reached the end of his life. He learned that this was a bit too much for him to take on. But had he survived this due to some human intervention, he likely would have only taken from it that he needed to stay in the continental US. He would have told people not to try life in the Alaskan frontier but he would still be that guy living on the streets as a hobo. Working just enough to make money to keep his basic survival needs met. At some point somebody would probably come across him in the woods in Oregon. Living in a makeshift camp on property that he doesn't own but was too remote for anybody to care. Only civilization eventually finds and he becomes bitter that civilization won't leave him alone to live that hermit lifestyle. He chose Alaska because he knew he could probably spend the rest of his life being left alone. And that is what he wanted.
My husband could have been this young man. He loved the outdoors, was a boy scout, learned hiking and camping in the rough. Later as a young man of about 20 he took off on his own. He wandered around the country, living in Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado to name a few hitching rides and occasionally picking up jobs. He lived this young mans life up and even he says that if Christopher was truly as experienced as everyone says, he would never have gone into the wilds of Alaska with the meager preparations he did. It is very possible to do what Christopher wanted to do...go off grid, live off the land in the wild. But to succeed in doing it, you HAVE to be prepared unless you are willing to die like this young man. To go so ill prepared is foolish. His wanderings can be an inspiration...to live free with no set schedule or rules. Many people dream of that. But once he stepped into the wilds of Alaska with the small preparations he had made...he was already over his head and was too blind to see it. That was his major misstep...confidence is good but when it becomes over confidence, that's when things can go terribly wrong.
Sounds like he got over confident on his skills and how the needs/skills to survive in one location are the same to do so in others. Easiest would be to ask a local "what is the minimum to survive doing x" and often they would say it. Biggest is knowledge of the area.
As a child and well into my teens, I used to camp with my family every spring and summer. We stayed in our fifth wheel. It taught me early not to f*ck with nature. I got to see it up close and personal but always had the trailer, stocked with food and water, to retreat into. This guy, pure as his intentions were, made every mistake in the book. He shouldn’t be seen as an inspiration but as a cautionary tale.
When i watched the film, i admired his self sufficiency and his desire to break from society and to just disappear, however ''going it alone'' in the Alaskan wild is just suicide, he may as well had put a gun to his head. Alaska and Siberia are the second most hostile environment on the planet and not planning ahead makes his demise predictable. Make no mistake berries, animals there may be but it is a coniferous wasteland and strong rivers that deserves respect.
Reminds me of the explorer Percy Fawcett. Before he and his group went off into the Amazon he told everyone, if we disappear don't come looking for us or more people will be lost. They ignored him and over 100 died searching for them.
I've seen this story in different forms over the years, and it still shocks me. Not the naivety of one man, but the fact that there are so many other people who think this is "inspirational" and want to be like him. One man making bad decisions that led to his tragic death is bad enough. But realizing that there are so many others like him just paints a grim picture of our species in general.
I can understand it being inspirational. I want to get the hell away from society myself. But I'm not going to just traipse off into the Georgia wilderness just to get bitten by and cottonmouth and die. I'm going to stack cash, buy a farm, and GTFO.
To have the audacity to think you’re just gonna go into the Alaskan wilderness having never lived there and thinking you can make it with nothing is insane.
I was fascinated by the story when I was younger but as I've aged I realized Chris was a complete idiot. On the surface, living off the land sounds like the adventure of a lifetime but when you find out Chris knew next to nothing about how to do that, and even less about planning the story sounds utterly ridiculous. The movie glorified Chris's life and travels like some kind of romantic trip to experience life unchained but all I could see was a kid haphazardly roaming the land in what could only end in disaster. There are countless stories of idiots feeling they can take on the world only to end up having fate slap them down for their stupidity. This story should be a learning experience and Chris the poster child of the 'don't let this happen to you crowd'. I know I'll get shit on for this but only by those who romanticized this story and probably need some help themselves.
I think the people who look up to this guy are like minded fools. I mean his whole story isn't even that compelling. It reads like a kid who's read too much romantic wilderness fiction and thinks becoming a hobo is some great moral journey. I think he was full of himself.
@@ericbustamante1064 Exactly right. What's the take away. What is the lesson. Lesson is; don't be a fool who gives away a golden opportunity his parents offered him to be a complete idiot who winds up commiting suicide. What made this suicide worse is he didn't mean to or think he'd die. Now that's worth of some kind of achievement.
What? And society is all that great, I give him thumbs up on escaping a horrible society, just wish he learned a little more about survival before he took on this path, but he had it 100% right on society, don't believe me, just look around at today
@@doreenolsen3259 No one person can control todays society. You either find your place among it or move out of the way. But once you've reached what I like to call 'the age of reason', you control your own destiny, leaving your guardians teachings behind you. There are plenty of success stories out there of people beginning their life from far less and accomplishing something others can look up to or aspire to be like. Chris's path is not one of those cases. Great that he felt he was part of an unhealthy environment and attempted to find a path to happiness, but his lack of ambition and direction turned his life story and final outcome into a life lesson parents can teach their kids to avoid.
Christopher's life just became a fruitless rebellion against his parents' aspirations they had hoped for him. I think he hated his father and did not want to be like him even in the face of losing his health and his dignity. Could you imagine graduating from a prestigious University and then becoming a Homeless Traveler eating out of dumpsters half of the time to survive? I feel sorry for this man, but his story should never be looked upon as something virtuous and/or desirable.
Yeah but if he did what his dad wanted he could have been the next Martin Shkreli. Really just proves that prestigious University education is just for prestige.
I wish more people understood that hating your dad is not a virtue. I find especially with young men their hatred of their father is simply a projecting of hatred for themselves. They see their father as the embodiment of every masculine sin that they themselves engage in.
It’s a tribute to your thoroughness that just as I thought, “Hang on, what’s a school bus doing out there?” You explained just how the bus had arrived and its purpose. I’ve read about Christopher a few times, and no one has ever mentioned those details, just as it’s never until now occurred to me. Also, I don’t think anyone else has made plain his *total* lack of money, and that he’d been on the road for a couple of years already. That must surely have made him malnourished to some degree, making any illness or injury more significant. Thank you, Fascinating, a good production with, as always excellent research and narration. Kudos
"I want to live free from society" but he was quick to use the abandoned bus, the first sign of civilization he found in the forest. It shows why we moved out of wilderness
I've never understood the need to either canonize or demonize Chris. I can relate to his desire to forge his own path and transcend the consumerism and shallowness that has become common in our society. I can also see that he was woefully unprepared for what he tried to do in Alaska and died because of it. And those things don't conflict at all.
People dislike him for good reason, he had every opportunity to learn of where he was going, refused help early on, and his naivety did him in. I don't think there's demonizing him as much as disliking his choices. His death was needless and pointless, and was entirely his own fault. It's hard to feel sorry for idiots when they are as over confident as him
100% agree. The people who followed his legacy and died are just as tragic and disappointing but there's no need for animosity. Just educate people, y'know?
thank god for this comment. i deeply relate to McCandless in a lot of ways (we both had a similar upbringing and i also live a semi-nomadic life now, albeit with a sort of income and a reliable car) but while reading his story i also took it as a lesson in what not to do when facing nature. he wasn’t a bad person, even his harshest critics can only call him “annoying” and “unprepared” - he was a young man who was overly brash and searching desperately for something that he was missing, whatever that was. his story is tragic in a variety of ways and i think it’s okay to look back at him as both a well-intentioned free spirit and a lesson as to how harsh this world can be to those who are unprepared for it.
He was disrespectful of Alaskan land and specifically the wildlife (moose are protected in this state, and what he did to that moose was a crime) PLUS he inspired others to do the same stupid thing and multiple people died trying to get to the bus, these tourists endangered themselves and rescue crews doing this. The bus had to be removed to prevent people from following in his arrogant foot steps.
@@nikolachiara9285 but don’t hate him. The need to demonize him just because he was naive makes no sense. He made stupid decisions in a tragic amount of times, and that’s literally it.
I remember reading "Into the Wild" when I was in high school, and it was basically McCandless's diary. I resonated with the story somewhat, and I think that's fine to do, as long as you remember how it turned out for him.
"He was a courageous young man." Perhaps in other escapades of his, but that final trek? No. Courage is facing danger that cannot be avoided. Stupidity is putting yourself into danger for no reason. It's pretty obvious which one he was. 🤦♀️
Thank you for saying that!! Too many people think it's not that hard to go off the grid, and they always ascribe those who do it with some sort of depth that they may or may not have.
Based on his last entry, I think he may have eaten some Nightshade berries thinking they were blueberries. Nightshade can cause paralysis which may be why he stopped being able to forage. Day 107 he says "Beautiful Blueberries."
The book "Into the Wild" was assigned to my freshman year class for composition 1 (University) in 1999. As was/is my custom, I read it in a day. At that age, I admired his ability to walk away from controlling parents and disappear, but his trip to Alaska seemed rather foolish to me. All in all, I thought was he did was cool until after we took our exams for the semester, when our professor revealed she thought he was a spoiled brat. It's funny that you posted this, as Friday I was just talking to someone about having read it and that it was--at the time--the only non-fiction book me and a lot of my peers at a US state university had read that wasn't a text book and it was so compelling that we all talked about how deep it was. The following year, all the freshman talked about the book they had to read, and the same the year after (Nickel & Dimed), and the year after that (Super Size Me). In reality, it was just the first non-fiction book we had to read was in Freshman Composition in College. But I digress---I don't know how I feel about this guy now that I'm 40. At 18, it was easy to admire him, at 25, when the movie came out (I never saw it), I saw that he was arrogant....and well, now, I know lots of upper-middle class and upper class kids & younger people who reject money, only because they have never truly had to live without it and they romanticize the reality. Self sufficiency in humans is an illusion.
Self sufficiency isnt an illusion He was a spoiled brat that didnt know what he was getting into. He was throwing a tantrum. Actual self sufficiency is attainable it had been the main mode of human living for centuries until very recently. Learning and preparation is key. Chris was a child playing make believe pioneer and was just homeless not self sufficient
@@chrismanaloe3507 Self sufficiency has not been "the main mode of human living until recently." Humanity has lived in family & other groups since the beginning. It's only now that we have become isolated and believe that we can wholly support ourselves as a single human---we can easily get sick and die, as evidenced. I agree that Chris was cosplaying a pioneer, and preparation, knowing one's environment does help, but ultimately, we need each other to survive. We are pack animals.
I've been watching your videos for a few months now. You do such a superb job on these. No dramatic music or crazy narrating. Just real, fascinating facts. Thank you.
He may have cast off civilization for two years but he certainly wanted what it had to offer near the end when he was getting weak and ill. Live your dreams but there's nothing wrong with preparedness and a backup plan.
Yes. It would have been avoidable if he had brought enough supplies and knowledge in survival skills. You can live similarly to Chris as long as you bring enough recourses and knowledge of what you need and how to do things, and a way of access back into society to obtain medicine or in need of a hospital if you ever need it. That way you can go back and forth in-between the wilderness and civilisation however much you like, and live a more “wild” life without such a high risk of death from starvation, dehydration or injury.
There's a story of a woman older woman she did the same thing she decided to go live off the land out in the woods not needing any money or anything bartering for anything she couldn't do herself unfortunately she had to put that all to an end because you can't barter for cancer treatments so she had to rejoin society to save her life
I read the book, watched the movie. He seemed like a cool guy but he must’ve been super depressed. Walking off into the woods without adequate amounts of supplies seems like a guy whose given up
No, I'd say he was a young man who thought he was bullet-proof, a common malady for males especially under 25 years old as the brain is not full formed yet. Also, a victim of his own prior successes of rafting down the Colorado River and other adventures; I'm sure he caught some good breaks on those adventures that might have otherwise killed him, but his good fortune ran out in Alaska.
He was suffering inside because of how his mom and dad interacted around him and his sister. I lived it also and it does depress you, somehow you have to work it out in order to survive. God saved me. Parents don't consider how their behavior affects the children.
I'm firmly in the "he was an idiot" camp. Only people who have money can afford to throw it away. God forbid you buy a tent and supplies with it first.
Agreed. There's a difference between leaving an abusive family and making something of yourself using resources you have at hand, and just going and burning it. He had contempt for middle class families, and it was foolish. Even characters in the novels he read were prepared. Huckleberry Finn may have had to deal with an abusive father who wanted to keep his son dumb, but Huck understood how to use tools, and wasn't against taking charity; he'd go as far as crossdressing to get food. But Chris here... Stupid. Sheer idiocy. Clearly he didn't truly read those books with a brain.
When someone has money, they don't understand its worth. When someone grows up not knowing what constant hunger feels like, they grow up not realizing how painful it is. He was an idiot who went through life with rose colored glasses. If he grew up in any other circumstances, he wouldn't have died this way. It was the wealth he was born into that caused him to not understand the outside world, and it sounds like his parents didn't help, although if they did I doubt he listened.
@@Pbness Yes. Many today would scorn him for his opinions on middle class social status, considering how many would love to be in the middle class stable living.
A tragic example of an unprepared young man trying to live in the wild. He should have accepted the offer of more supplies that a man offered (the man who picked him up when he hitchhiked). Thank you for airing this story.
I remember watching the film with my friends many years ago, it was polarizing even among ourselves, some of us thought that even when his actions were reckless, he did live a full life on his own terms that sadly ended with his chaotic idealism, but some of my friends thought about how stupid he was and needlessly threw his life away. This story reflects a lot about people's perspectives on life, specially who is willing to sacrifice commodity for their ideals.
What was the movie's name? The narrator never identified it, which I think is appropriate, this is Chris' story not a promo for the film, but I am curious. This story reminds me of the life of Timothy Treadwell. The tragic end of his life has also inspired polarizing analysis.
It's sad that some people don't understand how Alaska Natives survived for centuries by relying on community and learning from people who are more experienced.
@@Spearca Yeah, true. And to continue being fair to Treadwell, he does seem to have realised that what he was doing was extremely dangerous - in a clip from one of his videologs, he says "Come here, try to do what I do - you will die." He just thought he had figured out a way to live safely among the bears.
I think they admire his intentions more than his actual actions. He was a good guy who made a terrible mistake. Many people do that all the time. Hundreds die every year in the Alaskan wilderness, even very experienced hikers and hunters.
Child abuse will do that. I had a similar life, similar timeline I was born in 1975. Father was an ex-military, alcholic wifebeater. Trust issues. Complex PTSD.
I live in Anchorage, Alaska and I remember hosting a Couchsurfer that wanted to visit the bus in the wilderness. My wife and I tried to tell her how remote it was and how long it would take to get to and how many supplies she would need. We tried to talk her out of it. Nonetheless we took a motorcycle trip up that way and only got so far as Hurricane Gulch. The weather was overcast and we turned around to my mother-in-law's cabin in talkeetna. Thank god. You can't even really drive on the Denali Park road anyway, at least at that time. This woman was completely completely obsessed with getting there and she was completely crushed knowing that she came all the way to Alaska and didn't get there. However, many tourists to Alaska don't realize how freaking big Alaska is and how remote things are and how much trouble you can get into just a dozen miles away from a road. Our saving Grace might have been the fact that we picked berries at the Berry farm in talkeetna the night before, and then decided to stay at my wife's mother's cabin. I guess we wouldn't have been able to drive on the road anyway at that time. They only open it up to normal people by lottery once a year in the fall. When I offered to bring handheld radios, she balked like it was too much. It's no joke. Those radios wouldn't have gotten very far anyway.
@@platinumpineapple9943 i'm pretty sure he's talking about several years back when the bus was still there. Not recently. The bus wasn't moved immediately after Chris died.
His sister had arranged to get the bus moved to another location. Too many people were taking to high a risk to get to it to pay their respects. Corrine wrote another book called The Wild Truth that goes deeper into details about her family.
she never planned to get the bus moved the cause even her was surprised to hear that they were moving it. She even participated in a mouvement against it .
In the theme of this episode, maybe you can look into the story of Timothy Treadwell. The "Grizzly man" who spent a while living in alaska with bears until he was attacked and killed by one. If it peaks your interest and is worth a video, id love to hear your narrative on the story.
@@glenndouglas8822 this is a stupid requirement to make. Did you hate Hitler? Oh but did you know him personally ? John Wayne Gacy? Watson and Crick? Machiavelli ?
@@hello7032 I would not put Chris in the same manner as the people you mentioned. Can't remember him killing 6 million Jews or being a serial killer. He was just a misguided young man. What you just commented to myself was total shite.
I would highly recommend reading "The Wild Truth" written by his sister. It provides a lot more detail as to why Chris did what he did. He and his sister grew up in an incredibly toxic household with two parents who were physically and emotionally abusive for the majority of their lives. He was certainly not the brightest person for doing what he did, but there were many more important details to the story which the movie and original book left out.
Thank you for the book recommendations I do find it really odd a lot of people gloss over allegations of abuse while discussing his actions I feel that's a pretty big and important part of why he did what he did
I was gonna say the same thing. His mom and dad were very toxic people. His dad literally abandoned his first wife to marry Chris’ mom, and then before he got his second wife pregnant with the daughter he went back and got his first wife pregnant with like his 5th kid from her. He also left his first family to live in poverty later in life while his second family was upper middle class. Chris’ mother was also abused by the father, but she also did a lot of crappy things herself, such as letting her daughter be sexually abused by her dad. The sisters mother literally responded for her calling and begging for help by calling her daughter a slut.
So probably trauma and delusions of grandeur type deal. Still not inspiring, it was still a mentally unwell man wandering off and dying because of his choices.
This is an important aspect. However many people with similarly traumatic childhood experiences just want stability in their life. The ones I know went for a lower degree of studies just to get an education and a stable job. A stable 9-5 job, an own condo or house, a happy marriage, life free of any drama, etc. That's truly a dream life for someone who grew up poor with alcoholic parents and violence.
To seek self-sufficiency by living off the land but to end up starving to death is possibly the most profound example of irony I personally have ever heard.
Irony? People have been choosing to live alone & independently, and then dying of starvation in the wilderness, for as long as human civilization has existed. There's nothing new about this story, nor is there anything particularly "ironic". This man simply failed.
@@Gilliganfrog The irony is that the wilderness he sought out with earnest was his coffin (disregarding the fact he could have walked a mile or two upstream and been safe), he basically says so himself in his last days' writings.
This was a really solid summary of the whole topic, while introducing many of the themes that make his story so relatable and controversial. Thank you!
Whether it was caused by the psychological abuse growing up or some inherited mental instability from his father this guy was not emotionally stable. He had a kind of death wish disguised as a sense of adventure. Who sets the last of their money on fire? That's not normal. People who envy his lifestyle choice and his insistence on charging into any situation unprepared are romanticizing psychosis. I haven't seen the movie, but if it doesn't take on this subject as a cautionary tale then it is an irresponsible story conveying the wrong message. I feel really bad for this guy, for his mother and sister, and for the families of the people that lost their lives trying to trek out to where he died.
You put it into words better than I did. His behaviour may not have appeared to be "scary" to others, but he was still very much acting illogical and delusional. If people want to find mentally ill inspiring then that's their problem I guess lol
@@kitt3ncake445 I totally agree. I cannot judge someone else's actions and perspective unless I have experienced the vastness of their life and all the things that shaped their outlook. I only say what I said because I have people very close to me that have lived through abuse and, by the grace of providence, came out the other side mostly intact. (But even this doesn't make me an expert on anything.) This guy was an adult and free to make his own decisions, dangerous or not. I just feel bad for him and that he seemed to have been battling with inner daemons that pushed him to do things that most people would deem overtly dangerous. Just me with my opinion. And I fully appreciate and respect yours.
He was a poacher who wasted the animals he shot. If he'd used that whole moose he'd have been set, but he didn't even know how to do that, another area in which he wasn't prepared. Beyond not being prepared, he shot that animal not even intending to be out there long enough to use it if he *had* known what he was doing, and I think that highlights his arrogance and how little respect he had for the situation, the land, and the wild.
I’m just guessing off of your comment but I don’t think you have any idea how you would have “used that whole moose” because I don’t think you can live off a carcass for extended periods unless it’s sub-zero.
@@benamor22 *that's kind of the point*. it's not just my pov, many hunters, game wardens, indigenous people in Alaska, survivalist, etc. have commented on this. don't shoot a huge animal you can't preserve *and don't intend to use anyway*. He could have at least smoked some small amount of it, but he didn't even do that. He shot it intending to waste it. I don't know if you are referring to my YT handle being disrespectful.... It's literally my name haha
As someone born and raised in New York City I just can't imagine doing anything close to what Christopher McCandless did. Like some people from a metropolis I do get tired of living in a big crowded noisy city and fantasize moving away to live off the grid close to nature at least for a little while. But this man died needlessly, he could have spent years living out on his own in solitude and enjoying every minute of it if he'd only prepared for it first before stepping off civilization. With the amount of money he had in the beginning, he could have stocked up on all the supplies he needed, if only his stubbornness and over-confidence didn't get in the way. He was the complete opposite of another man who lived alone in Alaska successfully, Richard Proenneke, and recorded it in a fascinating documentary Alone in the Wilderness.
He could have taken 1k and bought himself a low-profile tent, a mess-kit, all weather gear, fishing and camping equipment and a nice pack to carry it all and still had money left over for bits and bobs that he could have used to live in the wilds for years if he was committed. Instead he basically rendered himself a homeless drifter and walked off into the sunset gormless and delusional... He shouldn't be admired, he should be looked at as *the* example of what "not to do" for people who want to live such a lifestyle.
@@planescaped He seemed such a lovely lad and a beautiful soul. So i think, maybe he shouldn't be admired for his actions but certainly admired for the kind, loving person he was. At the end of the day, he paid with his own life, and what right or wrong things he did or didn't do, he didn't deserve to die. It must have been an awful realisation at the end for him 😢. Bless him. Alaska climate must be bloody horrendous if you're stuck out in the wild and open. RIP Christopher 🙏 😘😘🐞🐞xxxxx
Well put. He could’ve set himself up really well in a tiny house or something on the outskirts of civilization. He was nuts to think you could live off the land in Alaska w/o preparation or supplies. He sealed his fate. Sad 😞 He was only 1/2 mile from a river crossing.
I think it's interesting to compare McCandless to other outdoor enthusiasts/zealots, say, Gary Paulsen, who grew up for a time in norther Minnesota, returned to live in a similar area for part his adulthood, ran sled dogs and participated in the Iditarod three (?) times, and actually understood a lot about surviving in the wild. He started running away to the woods when he was a teen, and later wrote several wonderful books about his experiences. Or how about Christopher Knight, "the hermit of North Pond" (Maine), who retreated to the woods near a lake surrounded by cabins and a children's camp, and avoided detection for 27 years. I've tried to imagine his life during winter according to the story he tells--it's disturbing and difficult to accept. (Although some people don't believe his story, claiming he must've left the woods at times, the police who finally arrested him for theft believed him.) McCandless has gotten a lot of the attention, but these other people fascinate me just as much.
Is this the same Gary Paulsen, the author? I've always wondered how come his books, Hatchet, and Brian's Winter, which are two of my favourite books, seemed to resemble Into the Wild. Makes sense to me now if he was also an outdoor enthusiast!
May Gary Paulsen RIP, Hatchet was a big part of my childhood. Read it so many times to remind myself of how unforgiving the woods around me really are, and to appreciate the comforts I have.
Alaskan wilderness is unforgiving. Even the most proficient trappers must prepare themselves for injuries and lean days, stocking on reserve of cured food. Living from day to day is fatal in these parts, you can't just be like a bear, stuffing yourself and hibernating for the winter.
"He wanted to find his own, more meaningful path in life" What he didn't realize is that finding your path in life is a luxury reserved for those with a full stomach.
I never met him but feel sorry for him. I don't know why some hail him as a hero, when his mistakes should be seen as a cautionary tale because of how he died. May he rest in peace
Initially people theorized he may have been poisoned by eating the wrong plants. This was widely reported. Later Coroner's Report showed he actually died of starvation. Lab tests had come back and the wild potato seeds he was eating were not poisonous. Still most people report he died of poisoning from eating wild potato seeds. Thank you for getting it correct and not simply repeating what other videos said.
The seeds were in fact found to be poisonous in 2015. Research into this is still ongoing. It is possible that he became crippled from poisoning, was unable to collect food and consequently starved to death.
@@haraldlund9261 No. You are quoting news reports that quoted other news reports. The coroner tested the seeds he had with him and they were not poisonous. The ones he was eating. Also tested the contents of his digestive system. Anybody else doing "ongoing research" doesn't have access to the seeds and to the body. The theory was that he misidentified the potato seeds and ate another plant that looks the same but is poisonous. This was proven to be false. He ate the edible type of plant. Stop repeating false information.
@@haraldlund9261 Also he kept a log of every animal he killed and ate, plus all the berries and other plants he collected and ate. He averaged around 1200 calories a day at first when he was healthy. As his health deteriorated his calorie intake declined. It is estimated he burned at least 3000 calories a day. Walking, hunting, gathering firewood, water, berries, plants, takes a lot of calories to perform all that activity. He starved to death. Go read his journal: June 21: 1 racoon June 22: 2 squirrels June 23: 1 Blue Jay June 24: Berries He knew he was starving even early on. That is why when he shot the Moose he wrote Moose!!! This could save me! Then the next day Moose rotted, I'm fucked! He was starving the entire time and he knew it. You look at his photos and he gets more and more emaciated. Scientists know how many calories a person averaged from eating a racoon, a squirrel, a bluejay, and wild blueberries. They did the calculations. Anybody eating what he ate would have starved to death. Based on the calculations and how much he weighed at the start, he would have starved to death right around the time he did starve to death. This is all science. Not news reports and hollywood movies and Reddit repeating crap they heard somewhere.
@@BrettonFerguson I’m not gonna defend Chris McCandless or say that he didn’t die from starvation. I’m also no expert on toxicology in plants, but I have read Jon Krakauers scientific article, published in Wilderness & environmental medicine, in 2015. The article concludes that the seeds of the plant he did eat (H alpinum) contains the amino acid L-canavanine, which is poisonous. In the movie Into the wild, McCandless mixes up H alpinum with the similar H mackenzii, which was presumed to be poisonous. However, the article claims that even if he ate the «correct» plant, he could still have been poisoned. This doesn’t prove anything, but it provides new knowledge on the toxicology of H alpinum that we otherwise wouldn’t have.
@Bretton Ferguson As someone who hunts deer, moose etc for meat (I only eat meat that has been hunted when I know the animal lived a natural life and proper respect for its gift of food was shown to it). I am really curious how the hell it rotted in a day. Properly dressed meat absolutely doesnt rot in a day even in the dead of summer. Did he just not clean and quarter it properly so the contents of the digestive system got all over the meat or what?
Sadly for Chris when choosing to live as a free creature of the wilderness, idealism does not gain you anything. Sustenance, shelter, water, and the ability to begin your endeavor with the supplies and equipment a fragile human needs to support themselves in the search for those things is what matters. This is really nothing more than the story of an unprepared, ill-equipped, and delusional human underestimating the harsh reality of living off the land. He couldn't do so and died just as any wild animal would that is physically unable to fend for or sustain themselves. We as humans can romanticize this but I don't think that has anything to do with what actually happened. Without the bus, a vestige of the society he was trying to prove he didn't need, he wouldn't have even had shelter and would have likely perished without a trace. I feel sorry for him, he didn't deserve the fate he built for himself. If anything this is a stark representation of how human ideals and belief systems are completely incompatible with natural life and reality.
No man. Humans can live out in wild nature and in many parts of the world they still do. But they live in big groups and have the knowledge and manpower to build shelter and secure food.
@@LauraGrrrr5370 I'm confused. You say "no man" what are you disagreeing with? I never said humans cant live in nature, just that he obviously couldn't. Of course humans can live in nature that's why there is a human race that exists now. He was an unprepared, ill-equipped, an uneducated human that died because he didn't take nature seriously. Unfortunately for him the "one-ness with nature" or whatever romantic ideal he envisioned he could manifest doesn't exist in reality. In nature you either have enough calories/shelter/water to sustain your procurance of those things or you die. its very fair.
@@LauraGrrrr5370 but those humans are not unprepared, ill-equipped or delusional. And they wouldn't think that just because they can live off the land at one place they could definitely do so at a completely different location.
@@kumaahito3927 Exactly. This is basically the story of a suburban kid thinking they had the wisdom and experience of an indigenous person and could just wing it and they would succeed. The only reason we know his name is because he lucked out and found a ready made shelter in that bus. I don't think he was a bad person as far as I can tell but this romanticized idea of him as some kind of wise and in-touch nature guru is ridiculous. He was a proud fool and paid the price for his foolishness and pride.
one of my favorite channels and specifically this story. It takes a special talent to narrate a story and it be interesting. I was already entertained by your voice, but your reading of Mr. McCandless' diary somehow really brought home your genuine talent and ability. I wish you much success on your channel.
when I was fifteen years old, I got myself involved in school bullying and unhappy family relationships. I thought my real life is meaningless and became addicted to book reading and self thinking.I want to got out of control from society. It was at that time I saw this movie. I also regard freedom as my “lifelong” belief. But being twenty years old now, I realize it was not for the freedom but for escaping from those damages from real life. However I still love this silly boy and his story. Just like he said, if life was determined only by rationality, it will be meaningless.
This story reminds me of the guy who was obsessed with bears and was eventually eaten by one. (Grizzly Man) It doesn't matter how much love and respect you have for nature, the feeling isn't mutual. Nature doesn't give a shit about you.
@@alicerose512 luckily for you, it's fake. the real audio was never released. you could also look at the series of events/description of the real audio
Same would apply to society regardless of how much “safer” you think you are in it. Society could truly not care what happens to you and you will 100% be left living in survival till death unless you are wealthy. At least animals are reacting according to their nature. Humans go around it just to do heinous things. Just pick a struggle.
I think the younger we are, the easier it is to romanticize this story. As we get older, it becomes a warning, a tragic tale....not so romantic anymore.
I thought it was stupid when I was 19 and the movie came out back in 2007. Not the movie it was pretty good, I just don’t see how he could have done this what was he thinking?
@@Tommy88- I'm not making a blanket statement that EVERY young person found it romantic or inspirational. Just that it's easier to find it all appealing, to go off and live a dream, damned the consequences. Just that, as we get older, we see that life is intricate. And sometimes, what we want isn't what's best for us in the long run. Life creates skepticism. And while I would've been one to try this adventuring in my younger years, and did to some smaller degree, it left me with deep psychological scarring. And now, my adult self, sees this story now as a warning.
@@GenXfrom75 I have found generally, that the people who enjoy his life have led either fairly horrible or fairly happy lives in comparison to reality of the situation. He was a young man who wanted to adventure but could have done so with more preparation and perhaps done better as a freelancer and filmographer instead of going out to the woods underprepared and over confident. They either want to escape what they need, (ironically, therapy and more interpersonal help) or what they don't realize was a privilege and a blessing. Aside from his parents, whom I believe should only be complimented as far as the fact that they had children. His siblings ,at least, were closer and happier than they could have been. Even if their parents never acknowledge the situation, with time, they could have grown together and experienced some healing, which to a certain extent they will never do again. Their brother is dead, running away from his problems in an attempt to find freedom, when wild living does not breed loneliness but civility. The rules of the desert are often that you take in your enemy and house your family because at all else everyone would die if they were alone. Only when they have harmed you in an irredeemable way do they usually get thrown out into the wilderness to die, and die they usually do. So far as human existence, themes, and culture go, hospitality and sociability are two of the key characteristics of every human culture because people die when they are alone.
I've always found the outcome of this story fascinating. Since his death McCandles has been praised as some sort of hero by those with little to no experience in the wild, all while those who are survival experts consider him a dumb-dumb. I have no experience myself but in this case, I think I'll base my opinion by referring to the experts.
@@DrawciaGleam02 I saw a documentary where his sister explained that there was in fact abuse in their family by the dad as well as mental issues her brother struggled with. Him not seeking help may have been the cause of his irrational decision-making.
If you have any experience camping you can better understand how his approach was unsuitable. Sure you can go without multiple pairs of clothes, but to not have tools for keeping yourself protected against game and elements? Man, those boots only gonna do so much.
@@terrahatvol7960 Mother nature is brutal and unforgiving. What's troubling to me are those who don't recognize that he clearly had mental issues but instead worship him all while attempting to follow in his footsteps. This should be more of a cautionary tale rather than hoisting him up to folk-hero status.
I saw the movie based on this guy during my last deployment. The general consensus in Berthing 1 was that his arrogance got the better of him. I caught the news story about the bus being airlifted out by Chinook in the morning paper. It's for the best and should be considered a warning for those who try to follow his path.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to escape the rat race and run into the wild…. But ffs, if you aren’t a highly experienced hiker and/or survivalist - PLEASE study extensively (particularly about the area you’re running to) before actually trying to do it! 🤦♀️
And do smaller test runs, don't just jump in with both feet! Even for things like hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, it's recommended that you start with day hikes, then a couple of days, etc. Start to figure out what it is you *don't* know, what gear you need/don't need, etc. And for goodness sakes, have a safety plan, where someone checks in on you regularly.
At bare minimum bring a map so you don't starve to death "trapped" in a location that actually has a way out a mere half a mile away that is marked on maps.
I am a sophomore in my English class we are reading Into The Wild which gives a whole aspect on Chrises journey in the wild and life as a whole. I can’t wait to watch this video.
Knew about this man's story. Did not know that his story literally inspired other individuals to also venture into the Alaskan Wilderness, _completely unprepared_ as well! Causing apparently two more of them to die trying to find this abandoned bus. Now the bus is in a museum.... as what exactly? A tribute to Stupidity? Would be the most appropriate thing.
Romanticism of the wilderness l guess. Fools like me live in the wilderness and l can't actually enjoy the nature most days because I'm busy doing all the stuff an idiot has to do living in the f*cking wildernes, and even though l shop in town every week it's painful and it's difficult and it often sucks. Still, it's better than the rat race, and especially his parent's particular suburban hellscape.
When the universe gives you a demon possessed bus that kills stupid people you don't ask why, you just move it somewhere with higher population density. This is just common sense.
Thing is, if he just remained a rambler, moving from place to place, spending a month here, a week there, in safer areas he could have absolutely lived that "inspiring" life. It would never inspire me, but I would at least understand the impulse. But his story becomes one of arrogance and naivety. Refusing help when going into one of the more dangerous areas for the ill prepared, under some misguided notions of reconnecting to nature isn't freeing yourself. It's putting yourself in danger. You can move to the country, find a small community that live closer to the wilds. But refusing all support just because? You're asking for it to go wrong, and it's weird how so many miss that part.
Harsh words; "fool" "idiots." you have added nothing to the discussion. Have you read the book and his sister's biography? Remember "opinions are like arseholes, everybody's got one." Your opinion is that of a "fool" or an "idiot"...your words
I can definitely see why he liked Huckleberry Finn so much. Aside from the romantic idealization of adventure that so many younger people desperately want (even me included), poor Huck had an abusive alcoholic father, and only escaped after he had to fake his death. If Chris really did have an abusive father, then it makes total sense that he was able to relate to the main character like that. He likely saw himself in Huck and wanted to escape into a grand adventure, just like Huck did. That's the thing with fiction, though, it's unrealistic. And the idea that he could live like a fictional character ultimately killed him in the end. RIP
Even Huck was smart though, he stayed in heavily populated areas and wasn't above accepting help. The fictional character of Huck knew what dying was like as his mum passed and always accepted any help people gave him because he knew he needed it. Only Tom Sawyer who comes in to interject dumb ideas of romance, puts Huckleberry Finn off doing practical sensible things.
Chris was already starving.His demise was slow. What people don't realize is he had $300 on him when he died. And the reason he lasted so long is because he broke into two hunting cabins on the way out there. The hunters said he totally trashed the area around the bus. He's definitely not a hero,just a rich kid who was mad at the world.
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He reminds me of some people my uncle saved year back, they were trying to “live off the land” and being completely unprepared & had a super unrealistic idea of how hard it was to do that. He found them starving & dehydrated miles from the Rez. He & my dad helped them & it turns out they had this idealization of Native people living off the land & wanted to be more “real” like them. My dad & uncle are Native Lakota & was talking to these people like everything you’re telling us you learned about how Native people lived off the land is wrong & how no Native person would ever venture out without any gear or preservatives. I think people romanticize the wilderness - it is beautiful- but they forget that nature is unforgiving & only the prepared & smart survive.
It's this weird paradoxical romanticization. On the one hand, idealizing Native people and wanting to emulate how they think they live... but on the other hand, totally devaluing all the knowledge, skills, and work involved, and assuming any fool can wander off on their own and be fine.
@@jakual339 Kind of also ignoring that they did have a civilization and that they did rely on one another in a cvilized manner,. you know, expecting things of one another and roles in society same as modern civilization. Yes, I realize civilized people can often be very uncivilezed but anyone who scorns others to live ultimate freedom is a fool. What did he base this on? Novels. Two of my favorite authors but funny I got quite a different impressin from those books. London's made me react with an oh my God but I'm so glad I don't have to try surviving like that. And Twain''s - well, he kind of uses humor to point out how we do need one another. Huck Finn isn't independent of his fellow man.
Red of claw and tooth - wish that were more in the foremost of people's minds than glorification of living off the land. There is no such thing as total freedom. We are limited by what our bodies need to survive Good on your father and uncle for helping them - though how could one do otherwise? There's a reaosn we have compassion. It's called survival of the species. Good on them for helping the survival of their fellow man. These people are lucky that they were found by good people, not bad.
Reminds me of the couple that went off to Alaska to live with the bears which worked for awhile until the bears decided the couple would make for a tasty meal and that was the end of that story.
@@BlazeDuskdreamer That's also a very good point! While ideas about individual vs. community obligation vary a lot among cultures, when you come from a climate that's challenging to survive in, mutual obligations become extremely important.
The Alaskan man who wanted to drive Chris into town and buy him new gear was trying to save his life. That man knew that Chris was mortally unprepared and would probably die out there. Most Alaskans understand that the key to surviving the extreme wild is to take care of one another. If you pass by a stalled or wrecked vehicle on the highway you always pull over and offer aid, because it could be hours or days before the next vehicle comes along and it's likely that the person stuck on the side of the road doesn't have cell service. You don't shovel only your own driveway after a snowstorm, you help to dig out your neighbors even (especially) when the snow is deep. If you meet a stranger that clearly doesn't understand what he's getting into by wandering out into the woods unprepared, you do your damnedest to make sure he at least has basic survival gear. You give him the boots off your feet if you have to.
I was parked on the side of the highway like 100 miles from Fairbanks to hike to Tolovana hot springs and when I got back to the car and was clearing ice off it a native Alaskan pulled off to make sure I was alright cause there weren't tracks in the snow behind my car since it had been sitting there for a few days at that point, I was fine but having a random person pull off to make sure was awesome to see and not at all how people here in California are
Its the same in central Australia there are places that its like being on another planet and everybody watches out for and over each other and you learn to never to take it for granted that you will return and always tell someone where you are going and when you will be back, and if you don't return on time no effort is spared searching for you, the golden rule is always carry and epirb.
Mallory Dover, what if the stranger has different sized feet than I do? Wouldn't shoes too small or too big create a whole other problem the person would have to deal with?
@@jediknightjairinaiki560 it would but those problems are much preferable to losing your toes/feet to frostbite, my boots weren't waterproof enough and I'm amazed I didn't get frostbite on the hike I did up there and that was at the begining of the snow season when it's still like 20-30 degrees during the day, even still my feet have never been that numb before getting back to the car and that was only an 11 mile hike
I wish other states were as nice.....here you have to assume you'll be mugged or murdered if you try to help people.
The whole story is full of Irony, Chris wanted to escape civilization; but found when he did he was actually trapped by the wild. The bus which was his home, tomb and memorial out in the wild was the cast-off of civilisation, and causing such a draw and danger to people after his death that it had to be moved out from the wild to a concrete museum, the very epitome of civilisation.
It's a hell of a thing to think about. I guess the biggest thing blocking that mind set with me is knowing I could've died as a baby from easily operable conditions, I don't want to be caught out in the woods needing surgury. There's a lot civilization has to offer but overstimulation and hubris in the modern world boils into this.
Was he trying to “escape civilization” or was he just anti-social?
@@kevin6293 - Good point. I'm a raging introvert who hates interacting with people. However, i recognize i am dependent on "society" and civilization for my survival.
@@christopherweise438 he didn’t even bring a map. Does he think any human in the past 2 million years has ever survived in the wilderness without supplies? He’s stupid.
@@enturnetrol7869 Ah yes, because heading off into the Alaskan wilderness to butcher moose is the ultimate goal of soy milk drinkers everywhere.
It's such painfull irony and so typically human that people heard about how this guy died because he was poorly prepared, went to visit his bus and then died because they too were poorly prepared.
I’ve only ever visited Alaska and I personally cannot fathom the utterly staggering overconfidence this poor fool had to have to wander off into the wilderness without any gear
It's called privileged stupidity, dear
Egomania knows no bounds.
Could have been maniac, or pure ignorance
iirc, he had a little gear. Some fishing equipment, a gun, etc. The major problem was his lack of skills (which also meant he didn't know what gear he was missing, e.g. a bag of salt would probably have been helpful in preserving that moose), and his complete lack of a back-up plan when things went wrong (i.e. no map, no satellite phone, no one coming to check on him).
I lived there for 11 years (my son was born there and will never leave) and it's definitely not an environment to be taken lightly. I love AK, but it's nothing like the lower 48 - which is why I love it.
I am actually friends with Jim Gallien who was the electrician that saw Chris last. He gave his boots to Chris like you said in this video but what wasn't said was that Jim's name was in the boots so when they found Chris' body the police called Jim's dad and told his father that Jim was found dead. Jim actually had a warrant out for his arrest till it all got sorted out. Jim actually played himself in the movie.
Thank you very much for sharing that piece of very relevant information. Jim is a thoroughly good bloke it seems. Go well. I send my respects to your friend Jim Gallien.
Why would he put a warrant out
@@janelleg597 Because they thought Jim had done something to Chris. After he talked to the troopers he was cleared.
@@glensmall9194 Yes he is. He is now Retired and living here in Louisiana.
@@thehamelsduck1600 The way you wrote the comment made it sound like Jim had a warrant out for his arrest because they thought Jim was dead.
I remember when I lived in Alaska, anytime this guy and his story was brought up, people would usually get pissed about it. Especially people who had lived there their whole lives. Anyone with common sense knows you can't just wander out into the Alaskan wilderness with no gear and expect to survive. The guy was extremely naive and insanely overconfident, and his death was a totally needless one.
My brother asked people how they feel about him, and that's how he knows if they are from Alaska or not
man i must be from alaska at heart then, cause all i think anytime i see this guys story, is just how dumb he was. I heard it from my father to start with, and the second he said the guy went out into the alaskan wilderness i just interrupted him and said, " so he died" ..
I was in that area around 2014 and was taking a tour somewhere and this story/movie came up and the tour guide said everyone in the area considered him to be an idiot, so it would seem he was correct.
People who idolize him tend to be like him I would imagine.
I use to idolize him until I had more life experience. I think he was trying to escape pain. Troubled young men are often a threat to themselves
Based on the fact that he did not burn his money and ID and social security card, as it is indicated in the film ($300 cash and his ID cards were found among his belongings after his death) I think he had every intention of going back to the real world after he had some fun/adventure/experiences. And he was hardly in the wild, he was living in a bus with a wood stove, and there was a McDonalds 30 miles away. If only he had had a map, he would have been able to hike a mile up the river to that cable crossing. And the things he wrote in his journal at the end, about how being alone wasn’t what it was all about…I don’t get how he has been idolized. People say he died living his dream - but I’m sure at the end, when he knew he was going to die, he would have given anything to go back and make different choices.
They say he dies living his dream, but it’s more appropriate to say he died within his nightmare.
some people like living in the nature and some dont. it depends on the human.
I’ve never seen anyone idolise him. I’m confused at this. Why does everyone feel the need to state it is a cautionary tale??
Isn’t that blatantly obvious? Isn’t it redundant to have to state it
He rolled his dice and lost. You rolled your dice and won?
@@henrymorgan3982 I’ve rolled my dice many times. Have to say, I’ve been lucky, considering all the risks I took. But I admit, I never felt the urge to go off into the woods alone, with no provisions. I know my limits, taking a chance trying to live off the land isn’t something I would even want to try. But the gypsy life, that’s not so hard, lots of people do it when they are younger.
When I was in HS I had a teacher that was of the opinion that McCandless was one of the greatest men to ever live. She had us write a 2 page report on him, I wrote a 4 page report on his follies, hubris and the realities of survivalism. Probably the best paper I ever wrote and she failed me for it. It was worth it.
I’m not going to lie, the more I think about this man when watching the video and reading the comments and Wikipedia article, the more he is the same as all those fake Instagram “influencers” who take pictures of themselves in these nature vistas and “roughing” it to get by. He is the embodiment of arrogance when he refused help and thought he was smart enough to know what he was doing. He wrote in his diary and took pictures of himself not to be free from civilization and his parents’ abuse; he did it for fame and notoriety. If he was born in the era of social media, he would be posting pictures of himself on Instagram. He is not a hero you should admire, but someone, as other people put it, chasing “clout” in the early 90’s.
@@KoopaBOOEY To me he was pretentious attention seeking and foolish. I don’t fancy myself some great outdoorsman in fact at the time I wrote my paper the year prior I had gotten myself lost on a hunting trip (was only lost a day) that incident taught me some extremely harsh lessons I never forgot, namely surviving in the woods is serious business that if you don’t know what you’re doing it will kill you very quickly. So heres this prick trying to do something more dangerous with less training and experience than I had been who strangely enough failed spectacularly and I was supposed to admire him for it.
Not a good teacher; if you supported your argument well, you deserved a better grade.
@@maryeckel9682 she was a very… opinionated individual, her excuse was I did NOT perform the task assigned. I can say that it was one of my very best reports if not the best and I usually got good grades when it came to reports (everything else I sucked at). I went from an A to a B in that class but it was worth it I think if I hadn’t done it I would’ve always regretted it.
Only a two-page report, in high school?
The thing I find funny is that Jon Krakauer wrote “Into The Wild” as a cautionary tale. The book (and movie naturally) is not a manifesto to convince youth to throw caution to the wind. It’s a sad story of a kid who let his intelligence overcome common sense, and it cost him his life.
Yes, exactly, thank you. "Into the Wild" is a terrific book but it is NOT an endorsement of living and dying as Chris McCandless did.
@@helengraves7850 The movie shamelessly romanticized it, especially the ending.
Exactly! The movie made him out to be some kind of sympathetic and romantic hero. There's nothing heroic about throwing your life away from a lack of common sense.
@@Gamble661 people throw their lives away all the time in society, working jobs they hate, buying things they don't need, having kids they can't take care of ect. Lots of wasted life here, we just find those paths "acceptable"
@@chrism8180 the problem is that Chris poisoned himself eating wild plants that he had no real knowledge of except reading about edible plants in a book. If he had taken time to lean from others he may have survived.
I remember reading his book in English class when I was 14. My teacher found his journey absolutely inspiring, but I personally found it wreckless. While I can understand an urge to break out of society, his way of doing so was plain dangerous due to lack of preparation, survival skills and gear. We also watched the documentary and it felt extremely forced that everyone interviewed claimed he was wonderful and insightful, with only one employer having the guts to say he was kinda obnoxious. I'm not saying he deserved his fate but 6 years after that class I still believe his tale is one of caution and not inspiration. I do feel pity for how hellish his final days/hours must've been.
You were smarter than your teacher.
I couldn't have worded it better. I would have said what a dumb ass in a Bevis & Butthead voice.
Hunger is the best way to die, or to kill yourself. Many do not know this.
@@elyzium because so few live to tell of it?
SAME! It was infuriating
It is odd that he never seemed to venture along the river to search for a crossing, I think that’s literally the first thing I’d do upon realizing the initial crossing point was unavailable.
The guy was totally unprepated and clueless. I hate to speak ill of a dead person, but truth be told, that was a royal fuckup.
You'd think that anyone with half a brain would do the same thing
@@anthonyjenkins2001 right? like he seemed to be not a total moron, very strange.
Probably an indication of how difficult the terrain was.
@@zarasbazaar I have no doubt the terrain was less than forgiving at times…but on the other side of that-he did go outside, walked around, hunted…
This man's death has been studied countless times over the years. Recent conclusions and re-evaluation of the evidence proved he ate a poisonous plant that slowly killed him. He was too weak and unable to forage for food any longer. Sad but his inexperience killed him. I don't understand why people are idolizing him.
To be honest, this should be a message to parents about what abusing your kids does to them. To Chris, I believe it made him resent the things he had, and felt like he needed to do something, anything on his own just to spite his parent's Middle class wealth. You gotta remember, he graduated with good grades from Emory, that's not small task. Do I believe it was foolish to try and hike through Alaska as ill equipped as he was? Yes. I also believe he saw it too, hence why he stayed in the bus. I do think it's sad he had to choose what he did to prove to himself he didn't need the things the parents who had abused him had, and I think it's dumb. However, I can understand it.
Most wouldn't.
I believe people idolize him for his fearless spirit knowing full well he was not that prepared … I can understand people wanting to be like that , but that’s absolutely no reason to risk your very life to experience something so mundane
@@craigdurso3005 There's a difference between being brave and being foolhardy. This guy was definitely the latter. And there's nothing inspiring about willingly going into a situation unprepared. The people who should be admired are the people who were prepared and knowledgeable and thrived because of it.
@@nerdstop5025 most of us formerly abused kids do not go on to die in the wilderness to spite our parents.
3rd generation local to area he died in. Growing up we called “the bus” a Venus Flytrap for the out of touch. It seemed like every summer multiple people would need rescued and ever couple of years people would die. You’re hard pressed to to find anyone within a 100 mile radius with a positive opinion of the guy.
I can imagine. It is a shame that Chris' arrogance made him refuse help. It sounded like that Electrician would have been willing to spend money and time to help Chris survive. the Electrician is the true hero of the story.
Congratulations on its recent removal. I agree that it was bait for a particular type of guy with something to prove, and now it's where no one can do stupid self-destructive crap in it again. Well, I mean, okay. Now without someone noticing in time to help. My best wishes to the staff who might eventually have to deal with some other joker trying to die in it now that it's harder to do.
What is perhaps equality as dumb is the curious who wanted to see the bus tomb and had to be rescued and some died.
Why does the previous two generations living their lives in the region have to do with you living your life in the region?
@@BlueButtonFly ? they were just giving context lol
I've read a lot about Chris's story, and it sounds like he was a very charismatic young man- nearly everyone that interacted with him claimed to like him. That being said, he was a pretty terrible survivalist- he really had no idea what he was doing. There were ways he could've easily preserved the moose to make it last him much longer, learned more about the area he was in, and learned what plants were and were not safe to eat. Like I said, I think he was probably a very charming and likable young man, but once he was out in the wild on his own, none of that mattered.
Given how naive and unprepared he was, I find it really impressive he survived as long as he did.
I agree with your positive comments on him. And also your negative. He was nice and all, but he was a dumbass. To be blunt.
He is still used as an example of a very stupid outsider back home in Alaska.
Great young man? I think the worlds you’re looking for are cocky, underprepared, no respect for the power of nature and a complete and utter lack of care for all his friends and family that loved him. There, I fixed it for you. Dude couldn’t tell the difference between an elk and a deer. This kid shouldn’t of been allowed outside of his house by himself let alone in the middle a forest by himself.
And that’s even more supported by the fact that the surrounding city has removed the bus because tons of other ignorant, under prepared kids lacking a shred of respect for nature were getting stuck and needing rescuing SO OFTEN that they need to increase their tax rate to fund the obscene number of morons they kept having to rescue. The surrounding areas HATES these idiots.
I have zero respect for anyone who thinks what this kid did was courageous or even remotely intelligent. He is the definition of a psychopath. No empathy whatsoever even for his own loved ones, thinks he knew everything about the wilderness and ignored everyone who told him not to do this. It drives me absolutely insane that this kid has been turned into some sort of hero to look up to. No, no he wasn’t. He is the perfect example of how easily you can get yourself killed doing something you didn’t have a shot in hell at completing and leaving your loved ones to pick up the pieces their lives because their sons childish immature decisions.
Stop idolizing him.
I agree. That's why I've always found it odd that he has become a sort of folk hero
I read a book about him in 2011 in my first year in University and fell greatly in love with his tale, and never forget it to this day.
Thanks again for making this video.
The irony, of the ideation for escaping social constructions for the wild, symbolized and memorialized by a city bus
Indeed!!!!
A bus that was, eventually, removed from the wild by significant technology and brought to be enshrined in a safe warm museum to be looked at by presumably paying tourists.
Too many adverbs
@@johngoldsworthy7135 they removed the bus, and placed it in a museum.
@@animasternorris6508, you forgot "helicopter go brrrr."
Humans: “Here’s a cautionary tale ending in a lonely, slow death. Don’t do it.”
Also humans: “that sounds great I’m gonna do it”
These people would die in stupid ways anyway, I believe...
With a few more safeguards.
Exactly. I don't get it.
People visiting the mount everest
It gets so romanticized in most retellings, unfortunately. For instance, the movie completely excludes the fact that there was a river crossing less than a kilometer away, and that he died because he'd refused his last ride's offer of a map.
Very sad - he refused multiple attempts by people who were starkly warning him he was un-prepared and even offered to buy him all the necessary supplies before dropping him off. Those facts really change the glorification of his "free spirit adventure" that this is often made out to be. Many people do what he did and survive because they aren't completely stubborn and idiotic
This is a reminder of what "leftists" are prepared to do to prove their immature points. Today by 2020s this kind of realism is brought to the very gates of society itself.. Consequences are already terrible and will get worse by time.
@Bujf vjg the fact that he died proves he was idiotic. many people do what he does and live simply without falling victim to delusional thinking. the opposite of consumerism isn't throwing your life away in pursuit of idealism, that's the definition of stupidity.
@Bujf vjg Ay, bish, we can have electricity and not burn the planet down. We don't have to strip down buck nekkid and leave all our man-made structures behind to stop climate change. Cut down on the excess, vote appropriately, drive less... But if you wanna follow the lead of good ol' Chris, then be my guest. Have fun eating a poisonous plant and wasting away all on your own while I survive within walking distance of a store and my backyard garden.
I had one ex with Asperger's and another ones little son seemed to be on the spectrum in that way too. They're going to do it their way and they're a little egotistical about it because they're smarter then average, but that can come back and bite them. This kid seemed a lot like that
As you post with your phone @bujfvjg7222
He burned his money then went and got jobs to get money. I’m sorry, but this kid was having a mental breakdown.
I read somewhere this didn't happen. His backpack had a hidden compartment and had his wallet SS card, drivers license, and a few hundred bucks.
i'm alaskan. everyone i ever knew growing up HATED this guy. he was essentially a joke about how outsiders foolishly underestimate and romanticize the harshness of our wilderness. we are literally raised from birth not to contend with the elements unprepared the way that he did, because even seemingly innocuous activities like a mountain hike or a quick trip on a fishing boat can become life or death at any moment. my parents saw mccandless as an idiot too, even though they also lived that nomadic hitchhiking lifestyle themselves for many years. it wasn't until i moved to the lower 48 that i met people who genuinely idolized him or found his story inspiring, and i couldn't believe it.
also: funny that he went to emory, i didn't know that. i go to emory now. weird coincidence
Kinda Figured that Locals would feel that way. Hell I have the same feelings
Its the same in central Oz there was a time when not a summer would go by with out one or more tourists underestimating the dangers of the death valley heat and over estimating there ability's, then they get bogged in sand and do the worst thing you can do and leave the vehicle, what you do is dig a hole and set fire to the spare tire in it and wait for some one to come and find out what is burning.
I don't get the hate. Pity sure.
One need not be a local or describe themselves as naturalist or familiar with the wilderness to see the "problems" with this guy’s thinking. It’s not just his unpreparedness because even if he had survived out there, he’s not proving any worthy point against civilization, because under the weight of a thoughtful argument (he probably was never put under) he simply is just as bad and nothing more than a mini-representation of the ills of civilization.
He was just looking out for number one, selfish, and destructive. The fact he was solitary didn't change that. He was living an illusion of independence, and in no way truly free of civilization. He was merely off-the-grid, but still very much dependent on benefits of civilization. He basically just didn't want to be told what to do and take the credit of too much about his being alive. The simple test is if thousands of people did the same thing, would it be horrible, and clearly it would have been. The only thing that fooled him into thinking there was anything "valid" or sustainable or laudable about his life was that almost nobody else follows it. To put it simply, he basically was a city boy shitting in a reserve.
When it got to the part he killed a whole moose and the whole thing spoiled, that's frankly despicable and claiming to live off the land is absolutely no excuse. Native peoples would kill game, but they truly WERE at one with nature (as best they could) and a moose would have gotten entirely used or not taken down. Anyway, I agree with all your locals’ opinion, but where you live give it no more weight at all. Anyone anywhere would agree.
@@seeingeyegod I think he is quite off putting in his writing and general world outlook. I wouldn't wish harm on the guy or glory in his tragic end, but I find his outlook and hubris to be annoying.
It’s stories like his that make me feel better about being that one guy in my group who obsesses over maps, weather reports, and packing 3 days of food and water for a day hike or boating trip. The knowledge base was there for him to learn as he gradually made his way to Alaska. It’s the foolishness of not taking advantage of resources that did him in.
I only join groups that include a guy like that. Nothing wrong with being that guy.
I would never go tramping/hiking with you. Are you an accountant?
And you're correct in doing so.
yeah he had an over-romanticized view of living off grid and survivalism. he didn't realize that we built society and creature comforts to escape the brutalities of nature. it's too bad he didn't realize how truly cruel and indifferent life is without societal establishments.
…… ……. Shut up.
I remember hearing about Chris and learning about his story and I thought that he was pretty cool and I kinda looked up to him because I wanted to do something similar. Not erase my whole identity and burn my money and social security card, but go off the grid for a bit and live alone. Then I read the book by Jon Krakauer and realized that Chris was a total idiot and no longer looked up to him. He went out into the wild, especially one as unforgiving as Alaska with zero knowledge of the terrain, no survival skills, no tools or weapons to protect himself and or properly kill for food. He was totally ignorant and died because he had no idea what he was doing. What he did wasn't bold or cool, it was really stupid and careless. If you're going to go off grid you got to have the proper tools to survive, especially in Alaska or you die. That's just the truth, you die. Not making fun of him or talking trash, but he made me mad because he didn't have to die. He was just dumb.
The fact that he suffered and died scared, alone, is the tragedy here. Just sad.
+Rhett Regan Many idealists still look up to the guy and want nothing more than to be like him. They glorify the guys’ unfortunate but preventable death and see it as him going out on his own terms. Makes me sad to think about.
I find him pitiable. Especially after reading "The Wild Truth", the book written by his sister detailing the horrific abuse by their parents. They drove him to do something this insane and moronic. They messed him up badly.
@@darylesells19 Sorry to tell you, but those are NOT idealists. Anyone who looks up to the guy is a fool.
Look, I'm not about to tell you "Don't go trying your hand at living off the land or off grid... as wild as you like... I'd be a hypocrite to try. I went... I did it. Been out for more than a year without so much modern convenience as electricity.
It turns out, I rather like electricity and the internet. It was a damn good break, to be sure... simplify things a bit, learn what it is to be hungry, to be FOR REAL cold... to worry about where a meal's going to come from... if there's even going to be a meal.
BUT it's not all a horrific shit-show, either. If you're up for it, it's magical... BUT you BETTER be up for it. You'd best have those essential skills and at least SOME primitive equipment to manage. It's never easy... BUT it can clear your head. It really CAN cleanse you of most of the BULLSHIT that society heaps on you like it's a fact of life when it isn't... It's opinion, social constructs, and a question of whether or not you agree to it.
Nature doesn't suffer fools. That's plain old Darwinism... and there may be plenty to hold against the man, but you better respect what he wrote about. He was onto something, there.
There REALLY ARE professionals and courses and camps where you can go and LEARN what you need and what to do. There are steps along the way to take before you plunge "all in" as it were for even an Alaskan weekender... which can definitely kill you, if you're unprepared. The guys to look up to in an idealistic fashion are a LOT more like Cody Lundin, simple and straight forward, without a whole lot of hooey about special forces this or expert marksmanship that... They're humble and constantly concerned about doing things the best way, with safety among the top 3 concerns, alternatives to "Plan A" and the knowledge base to think on their feet and improvise. They aren't show-offs or searching the latest flashy disgusting way to twist your face at home with something gross or morbid. They don't take two steps and dive off the deep end. They're not well known for "woo-hoo" either... It's business until the basics are covered, and then maybe... if time and daylight allows... a little fun or mischief might be okay.
It's just too damn easy for your "luck" to turn sour on a dime and give you the last change you'll ever see in your life. ;o)
@@darylesells19 People do the same with Timothy "Grizzly Man" Treadwell.
As a life long Alaskan, thank you! Senseless!!I hated when people were idolizing him.
A foreigner here. Learned about your land through movies and books and It is not to be fucked with.
WE do not Idolize, small minded hero. WE simply understand, in Gods Light. You are incapable Hill Jack.
Many congratulations Fascinating Horror on episode 101! 🎉
101 ??? Can't believe I watched them all!
@@lahodal and many 2, 3, 4 times! FH really is a great channel.
Yesssss!!!!
@@lahodal I've just remembered... there is one episode I've never finished: nutty putty caves... 🤢
Thank you! Finally a positive comment not bashing this poor boy who met his fate following his heart. A widely told story because of the person and events leading up to his death. And it was well documented by Chris.
Richard Proenneke had the same idea, but he was a skilled woodsman and spent years preparing. He successfully lived alone in the Alaskan wilderness for 30 years.
And Richard, I respect. Chris, not even a little bit.
Richard was a legend. Great skill with his hands. He could fabricate almost anything.
With supplies flown in.
@@thebirdee55 Ask anyone who lives in Alaska what they really think about people like that and they'll tell you, they're a pain in the ass. This kids story convinced people that he was some sort of martyr and they should emulate him. If you have the experience to do it fine! If you do not know how to survive in the wilderness and go anyway, you are creating an unwanted burden for the people of that community to bear!
@@rkow8508 That's one thing that people don't realize, is that Dick had supplies flown in. Still, his craftsmanship, was second to none.
The only legacy his story should hold is one of warning. His choice in literature shows how unprepared he was for his little adventure, nowhere do I see him reading actual accounts of wilderness survival, just romantic works of fiction. He either forgot or was never told the #1 Rule of the Wilderness, Never Go Alone. His story is exactly why this is the rule, there is nothing inspiring about it, he was a fool who died because he made very foolish decisions that could have been avoided if he had chosen his reading material a little more thoughtfully.
lol pipe down Archibald
A bit harsh, but absolutely true. Confidence is simply arrogance if you don’t have a plan.
What confuses me was he read Jack London and while Jack London romanticizes the wild he also repeatedly writes about dumbasses who think they know better and wind up getting themselves killed. He wrote a whole short story about a guy freezing to death. There's a bit in _Call of the Wild_ about a city couple who mount an expedition into the wilderness and wind up on a grueling death march because they planned poorly and didn't ration their food right before eventually drowning in a freezing river. Jack London ****ing traumatized me with stories of poorly prepared people who died in the wilderness.
This guy was definitely warned.
In Oz rule one is tell the local police where you are going and when you will be back and if you don't return no effort will be spared looking for you, because we all know that one day it might be you that needs help.
If he was a Jack London fan, surely he read that short story, “To Build a Fire”? That story is a cautionary tale about going into the Alaskan wilderness unprepared & unknowledgeable!
Took a whole class on road scholars in college. Into the Wild was one of the books. That summer I worked in Alaska and one of the first things that happened was having a conversation with a very knowledgeable local. I remember asking him about Chris and the dude flat out saying he was an idiot. I’ll never forget that.
He was very far from being a completely inexperienced idiot as he managed to survive quite a while. He was just foolish and lost. In the end he did realize the severity of his decisions. It is just a shame that he allowed his pride and imagination to stop him from realizing sooner.
@@FunkiestMonke He was an inexperienced idiot. He has no experience of winter survival and he outright refused help from others. Making him inexperienced and an idiot.
@@StrazdasLT Many experienced people can make mistakes. It does not make them an idiot
@@internetconnection9290 he knew a lot about the local flora and fauna - and the berries that killed him. Can’t say about his drinking habit.
@@FunkiestMonke no, he was kind of an idiot. I think he would tell you that too. He had no business doing what he was doing, in the way he was doing it, but he was too drunk on his romanticism and people idealize him for it. I defended him against the guy in Alaska and in my essay, but there’s a point where you have to accept that what he did was stupid. Dying alone in the wilderness, unprepared and having eaten poisonous berries doesn’t make you a hero.
I find it very strange how many people, intrigued by Chris's story, journey to the site of his last days...and often get stuck or injured in the process.
That's literally the reason he died. He didn't plan far ahead, and trapped in the wilderness sadly was killed by the unforgiving elements of the very thing he was so infatuated with.
Same reason people climb Everest, solo sail the globe, drive race cars etc
They're living life
@@MrAshyb87 I mean getting stuck in the exact same scenario. By all means, hike out to the spot he lived, but at the least PLAN ahead.
He assumed all outdoor locations were the same and he could live them in all in the same exact manner. Ignoring someone who lived there and believing he knew better was the earmark of his ultimate arrogance.
@@williamlydon2554 I bet he wished he did, but he wanted adventure and so do others. Who are you to or I to tell anyone else that they can't live as nature intended
Yeah, that's why the National Guard moved it; so people would stop risking injury to go see it. It's at University of Alaska Fairbanks now.
Noting highlights more that he was just a kid than that journal entry. It's all song and book quotes strung together. For instance, the lint "No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes." It is from the song "King of the Road," with one modification of the last words in the song are "ain't got no cigarettes." It's so freaking tragic and even more tragic that so many kids try to emulate him. You can live away from civilization, you can live off the land, but you have to be prepared and have the knowledge on how to do so.
I'm, alive.....
I read “Into the Wild” for high school summer reading. It was quite fascinating to hear about this person. The saddest part to read was that McCandless couldn’t take the family dog with him, and the dog was still waiting for him to come home. Though considering how ill-prepared he was for tackling the Alaskan wilderness, his story probably would have been more tragic than it already was if the dog came with him
The dog dodged a bullet and lived a longer more pleasant life. It probably missed him, but we've all got people we miss.
He would have been driven to eat his own dog if he brought it. No way a person starving to death would pass up on eating a pet. That pain will drive you to eat other humans nevermind a dog.
The story resonated very deeply with me when I read it in high school. Still does to an extent. It helped me put words to a lot of the challenges that I felt in my life at the time. In some ways, I wanted to emulate him. At the same time, I think his story may have helped steer me away from that kind of self destruction. I didn't realize he was ~24. I've just surpassed him in age. Weird to reflect on
"Into the Wild" is fantasy invented by Krakauer. If you want the facts, read Alaska journalist Craig Medred's reporting.
Read his sisters book..it explains a lot about their upbringing it was a nightmare
I grew up living the “outdoor life,” and that’s why I never attempted to live off of the land for more than a week at a time. We need balance in this life: wild craft skills are perfect for when the need arises, but modern conveniences actually add to overall longevity.
ruclips.net/video/8Z9wB_NHcoc/видео.html
It's notable that the myth of independent living isn't really supported by any amount of history. Folks living off the land were, virtually 100% of the time, only able to accomplish this with cooperation and community. Fraternity is what lends humanity it's strength.
by that same token, there will always be those that feel the call of the wild too strongly to live in a society such as that, and desire to return to wildness, which is never a long and comfortable one, but is always a challenge, an adventure, and a noble pursuit nonetheless. The way we honor the wilders is to remember their story, just like we do here.
Yay for you I guess
No, it’s not yay for me; it’s yay for common sense, the acceptance of reality, and proper preparation. If you’ve frozen your ass off on a deer stand, you know what I’m talking about.
The fact that he didn’t even have a map of the area makes me wonder what he was thinking, usually when people underestimate the gear they need they at least have a map with them.
He had no real goal or destination, he was lost in more ways than one and after leaving the path didn't care to return to it anymore.
This is why some people speculated perhaps he went out there to die (suicide)
He shunned maps on purpose because he liked the "challenge" of finding his own way, pretending he was the first person to ever cover that ground. I think if he knew ahead of time there was a bus out there, he would have avoided it on principle, but since he stumbled upon it, he loved it. He didn't recognize the hypocrisy of living off the land in the shelter of a man-made bus.
It's extremely ironic how one of his favorite authors was Jack London; but he never took away the chief message from "Call of the Wild," how unforgiving and dangerous the Alaskan wilderness can be for even provisioned people.
"To Build a Fire" is literally just about an inexperienced guy who dies after making every mistake possible
dude probably just read the badass ending
Was he too weak to hike up and down the river to find a place to cross? Also, fishing line and hooks are a must. They can fit flat into a pocket.
@@RideAcrossTheRiver he was broken and very weak. If he wasn’t then how come his instincts didn’t kick it and just walk out?
@@DSToNe19and83 Okay, by why no fishhooks and a line?
I enjoyed most of the books I had to read in high school. I recognized that they contained life lessons that I maybe didn't understand yet, or that I wasn't old enough to fully appreciate.
One of my English teachers loved this guys story, he idolized him. My district was rather poor and rural. Some families here hunt for food, others grow a lot of their own out of necessity. Even the people who didn't have to generally knew plenty who did, or grew up having to. That section of English class did not go over well, telling a bunch of people who relied on each other during hard times that we should look up to this guys independent spirit was a tad tone deaf.
That is interesting. I find idolizing this guy off-putting for other reasons, but yours makes sense, also.
It's a terribly sad story, but I think there is a tendency for people to romanticise this sort of lifestyle. When you look at people who appear to have 'dropped out' of society, you generally find it's exactly the opposite - they have an infrastructure and a support system who they can turn to for help. People are so quick to dismiss community, yet we see time and time again what a wonderful and essential thing it is. I live in Scotland, and even with our milder weather, it's easy to die from exposure outside, people get killed while out on the hills in winter, and you couldn't survive by foraging alone. I can't help wondering if the ascetic experience was so important to him that he pushed himself beyond the limit that anyone could survive at. I wouldn't recommend that to anyone.
Thankfully my English teacher didn’t romanticize his choices
I also grew up in a small rural community with a big hunting and agricultural focus, everyone knows everybody and tries to help when someone needs it
Yup. He was privileged. Even choosing this "drop-out" lifestyle over his family's wealth is privileged.
@@missmays4933 Yes. Absolutely privileged and arrogant. Both led him to have a naive, ignorant view of the world as being less difficult and dangerous and his own capability as far greater that it was. Never occurred to him that people who lived off the land had skills, knowledge, knowledge of the area... or that people rely on each other to survive, even if you hate daddy, it's still human-normal to rely on others. But no, I'm super-man, and everything I want will be easily attainable as I reject kindly help from everyone and write lofty heroic prose about myself and my personal greatness of being spiritually reborn a child of the wilderness... unlike assholes who like cities, or people who can't literally being 100% independent like me...
In the summer of 1991 I was hiking solo southbound along the John Muir Trail in Yosemite. Being solo, one tends to stop and chat with just about anybody you see on the trail. Most everybody is very talkative and very helpful. Except one northbound guy I met who was also solo who had a very bushy beard and amazingly said he has started in Mexico. I asked him about the trail ahead where he had just come from, and he had very little to say. He was different from anybody else I met being so quiet. I was amazed that he had come all the way from the Mexican border. I’ll never forget that. I don’t know for a fact that this was McCandless, but the timing and the behavior of this person, and his trail history, has me convinced that it was him. I have a vague memory of what this guy looked like that I met, and it’s very similar to what I see in the pictures of McCandless in Alaska.
Did he seem like an over blown narcissist jackass who spent all his time minimizing everyone else and couldn't even be bothered to check out a river a mile up and down from the camp he lived for months?
Wait are you fr?
@@denvysungaanyone on the internet can lie, so take a grain of salt with this, but provided the benefit of the doubt, I believe this guy
Read the book years ago - hard to criticize a guy for wanting to be independent, life life his way, thumbed his nose to the rules etc... on the other hand he was woefully unprepared, did not do much research. I don't think he ever intended to die, he just basically made some huge miscalculations and paid for it with his life. He was the only recorded death by starvation in the US for the last century...
It's immensely easy to criticize him, and necessary. He was a smart guy who wasted his talents for selfish reasons.
Where did you get he was the only one to starve to death in the US in the last century?
@@MrKinasz No one starves to death in the US. Stop being brainwashed by the media.
That's impossible. Children and the infirm die of starvation when they are neglected/ abused.
@@MrKinasz I seem to remember it being mentioned at the end of the book. It's been over ten years since I read the book so I may be wrong, but it was something about what was written on his death certificate - and how long it had been since anyone had that reason given.
I have never understood the fascination of this man. He went into one of the most inhospitable lands in the world completely under prepared both physically and mentally then died.
Instead of looking up this this man, we should all point and say, "don't be this guy!"
Dude had plenty of money to just move to Alaska and live there, restart his life but he gave it away and lived like a hobo, a hobo who died in a van down by the river ...🤦♀️
Do people really look up to him? There are less deadly ways to rebel against your parents, hmm?
@@lornarettig3215 I would mostly assume it's younger kids- That's how I was lol. Now I realize how much of a stupid idea it is.
I think he must be tired of his normal life.
His life is inspiring to dreamers who don't want to put in the work and who endanger those who have to save their asses.
Your comment should have been written on his tombstone!
Exactly! Why people are inspired by this life is beyond me. If he had lived he would’ve looked back on himself and said I can’t believe what a fool I was. Why do people admire dying so needlessly?
He didn't go into the wild to die, he went to find life. Unfortunely he died after realising what life means to him. Tragic in every sense of the word.
Dude, who reads Jack London and goes out into the wilderness unprepared? I've read maybe all of two things by him and what I remember most vividly were the stories of unprepared people going out into the wilderness and dying. In particular he wrote a short story about a guy who travels when it's way too cold out and freezes to death. That traumatized me a little man.
Nods. I only remember two assigned books: The Interlopers by Saki & To Build a Fire by London.
Let's pretend his passion was Nascar driving...
Christopher McCandless sets off, from California in an old car he rebuilt himself (he replaced the fenders and painted it), on a trip to the Daytona 500. He only gets across the state line when he runs out of fuel because he forgot to fill it up. Instead of simply walking to the nearest gas station or flagging down help he decides to push his car over an embankment and set it on fire. He then proceeds to walk on foot to the nearest car lot (which happens to be in Mexico for some reason, mostly because he burned up his map in the car and he's been taking backroads.) He finds an old bicycle in a garbage dump and uses that.
He finally gets to the car lot and buys a fixer-upper for $50. Before leaving the car lot he has to change a tire, which he replaces with the solid rubber donut. He buys fuel and heads off to the Daytona 500 again. Only he's heading deeper into Mexico and eventually ends up broken down in front of, "Autodromo Internacional de la Jolla" due to no water in the radiator. The engine block has seized up. Luckily, there's a race about to start. Christopher...er "Alexander Superspeeder", who changed his name, pays the $125 entry fee for the race.
Unfortunately, Alexander Superspeeder doesn't have a race car. He does however have an old bicycle still. He uses the bicycle to race. He makes it only 3 laps before he is too tired to steer straight and veers off into a race car and is killed.
Some Jew picks up his story and writes a book about his life and how he followed his dreams. Another Jew makes a movie about it. Armchair racers around the world adore him.
The End.
My teacher read my class “To Build a Fire” when I was in the 3rd grade. I was kind of afraid to go out and play in the snow that winter.
He thought he was too smart for that to happen to him.
@@whiteyfisk9769 now why are we being antisemitic rn
The more I learn about his story, the more it becomes clear just how unprepared and inexperienced he was. Anybody with bare minimum survival skills would have known to follow the river to try to find a narrow passage or crossing, which as the video mentioned, literally would have saved his life. I don’t say that as a criticism on Chris necessarily, it’s just almost stunning to me he lasted as long as he did with such little clue to what he was doing.
This story is 100% a cautionary tale. Backpacking and survival are not synonymous. Nature is unforgiving as all hell. He had NO business being out there. I feel for the guy who tried to warn him that he didn’t know what he was doing and tried to talk him out of it, he knew Chris was fucked out there.
It’s haunting to think of the thoughts that went through Chris’s mind when he finally realized and accepted he didn’t know what he was doing, only to start heading out and then realize he was (or so he thought) trapped out there.
For a man with a bachelor's degree that only means he's book smart. It doesn't necessarily mean he had any common sense which alot of people lack in life. For a man who had everything basically giving to him he never appreciated it or his parents. Karma is bad he got his. Just cause a person has a degree in college doesn't make them say street smart. So yeah I think he's an idiot he thought he knew it all he knew shit and got what came to him he's nuts
Yes, true. For someone who had not waited til he was literally too weak to hike any longer.
He sounded childlike almost in his outlook, as if he naively thought "everything will just work out".
He guy legit seemed to live in a fantasy world.
THISSSSS. I'm so glad I am not the only one who finds him completely irresponsible. Such a wasted life indeed.
Agreed. Read the book years ago. Such a tragedy. Turns out, he was only 1/2 mile from a usable crossing. He was severely screwed by just thinking he could survive - especially in that area. Why not stuff a backpack w/supplies + give it 2 weeks? Really sad 😞 story + cautionary tale.
I've never met a single person who's actually been in any actual wilderness that finds this tale anything other than cautionary and induces head shakes about his stupidity.
Wanting to get out of the cities and live rough is fine, and very doable. You can't just wander into the wilderness and assume you'll be fine though. Did he skip over the parts in all those Jack London novels where people died due to lack of knowledge? It happens quite a lot actually.
He must have skipped "To Build a Fire."
@@maryeckel9682 I always figure he was sort of self sabotaging. LIke how some see dying on a war as heroic, he too saw going to the forest and dying by nature as a way to die.
I've lived in Alaska my entire life. I used to feel the way you characterize people who have lived in and around wilderness feel, but I've come to admire his desire to purge himself of the narratives many of us affiliate with. I wish I had met him.
@@maryeckel9682 That's what I was thinking too. That story didn't have a happy ending either.
@@islandblind There's a convicted killer (who stabbed her ex bf to death in 2018) who'd legally changed her surname to "McCandless" because she so admired Christopher. (Erza McCandless).
The only Legacy that this leaves behind is a story of what not to do this death was completely preventable and absolutely ridiculous
I watched Into the Wild with my partner (whose parents are refugees and struggled with poverty) and how can I say -- it was a different experience. My coworker (middle-upper class) suggested this movie, hoping it would inspire us, like it did to her. My partner was frustrated the whole time. We both agreed that it was a very sad fate, but let's say that type of behavior wouldn't happened to someone in a third-world country...
Exactly. The people who actually have experienced real hardship and starvation appreciate the luxuries of modern society.
Or even someone who grew up in the environment that Christopher died in. Ppl that grow up in Alaska know exactly how dangerous the wilderness is and how being prepared and knowing the surrounding area can be the difference between life and death. I don't understand why ppl find it inspiring. It seems like a cautionary tale more than anything else to me.
His story reeks of privilege and ignorance, the type of thing that only someone who knows nothing but a comfortable comparatively easy going lifestyle would want or hope for
@@SadisticSenpai61 I agree, I'm just from Michigan, and already respect the wilderness way too much to try something like that. Alaska is nuts. I guess some city people are like that though, I was surfing with my friend and a baby sea lion started playing with us (turns out they do that) and my first thought having grown up with bears, was "GET OUT!!! WILD ANIMAL BABY!!! DANGER!!!!" and she was "Aw cute it's playing with us!" I'm not exactly afraid of a sea lion baby, but I also didn't want to unintentionally anger a giant sea creature protecting her young, who can definitely swim better than I can.
@@MsAngrybutterfly 1000% NEVER get between a mama and her baby!
His story only gets more tragic when you see how narcissistic his parents are, and how far into denial they are. It's clear that all Chris wanted from them was real human love, but they just kept giving him *things* instead of giving themselves. I have a hippie friend who reminds me a bit of Chris, although this friend is way too smart to attempt what he did. But this person also has a narcissistic parent. They seem to always be looking for something they cannot find. It is super sad. They have a hole in their heart that cannot be filled.
His sister has straight up been cashing in on the whole thing
The apple didn't fall far from the tree, sadly, because Chris' own narcissism drove his delusional belief that he had the ability to live out there with no survival equipment.
@@damonroberts7372 Hear hear ! I could not agree more with what you said. I find so many who think like Chris did to be unbearable to be around. Very pompous and arrogant to be so critical of society and yet they still rely on it. eg. If it wasn't for other people working and spending their hard earned money on vehicles Chris could not been to half the places that he went to. This notion that so many have, that they can call it quits and remove themselves from society and 'live off the land' is just so naive and very urban. People who live near nature, understand just how brutal and unforgiving nature can be. You don't wander off into the Alaskan land scape without even proper foot wear and think you will do just fine, that you can beat nature at it's game. There is a good reason why man lives in proper housing and have invented heat sources and figured out how to have a constant food source even if it means not being 'real' or 'authentic', to quote Oprah the day she cannonised him, "Saint Chris, patron saint of the bush. Zzzzzzzzzzzz. In the end was just a silly boy who was running away from life and responsibilities because he was too weak and fragile to deal with them. I hope youth will someday grow up and come to the same conclusions and no longer worship his foolish dreams.
@@shaannun I think you’re right, it is an urban mindset.
I look at it a bit differently. I see parents who are realists and tried to promote the need to be active, productive members of society so that you can be financially stable through your adult lives. He rebelled. Didn't want anything to do with that life style because for some reason he wanted to be a rebel, be his own man following his own rules. To ignore that life can be extremely cruel and if you don't have the resources to weather hard times you pay the price.
I'm not even sure he learned his lesson even as he reached the end of his life. He learned that this was a bit too much for him to take on. But had he survived this due to some human intervention, he likely would have only taken from it that he needed to stay in the continental US. He would have told people not to try life in the Alaskan frontier but he would still be that guy living on the streets as a hobo. Working just enough to make money to keep his basic survival needs met. At some point somebody would probably come across him in the woods in Oregon. Living in a makeshift camp on property that he doesn't own but was too remote for anybody to care. Only civilization eventually finds and he becomes bitter that civilization won't leave him alone to live that hermit lifestyle. He chose Alaska because he knew he could probably spend the rest of his life being left alone. And that is what he wanted.
My husband could have been this young man. He loved the outdoors, was a boy scout, learned hiking and camping in the rough. Later as a young man of about 20 he took off on his own. He wandered around the country, living in Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado to name a few hitching rides and occasionally picking up jobs. He lived this young mans life up and even he says that if Christopher was truly as experienced as everyone says, he would never have gone into the wilds of Alaska with the meager preparations he did. It is very possible to do what Christopher wanted to do...go off grid, live off the land in the wild. But to succeed in doing it, you HAVE to be prepared unless you are willing to die like this young man. To go so ill prepared is foolish. His wanderings can be an inspiration...to live free with no set schedule or rules. Many people dream of that. But once he stepped into the wilds of Alaska with the small preparations he had made...he was already over his head and was too blind to see it. That was his major misstep...confidence is good but when it becomes over confidence, that's when things can go terribly wrong.
Sounds like he got over confident on his skills and how the needs/skills to survive in one location are the same to do so in others. Easiest would be to ask a local "what is the minimum to survive doing x" and often they would say it. Biggest is knowledge of the area.
Seems like your husband knows the scout motto by heart! “Be Prepared”
As a child and well into my teens, I used to camp with my family every spring and summer. We stayed in our fifth wheel. It taught me early not to f*ck with nature. I got to see it up close and personal but always had the trailer, stocked with food and water, to retreat into. This guy, pure as his intentions were, made every mistake in the book. He shouldn’t be seen as an inspiration but as a cautionary tale.
When i watched the film, i admired his self sufficiency and his desire to break from society and to just disappear, however ''going it alone'' in the Alaskan wild is just suicide, he may as well had put a gun to his head. Alaska and Siberia are the second most hostile environment on the planet and not planning ahead makes his demise predictable.
Make no mistake berries, animals there may be but it is a coniferous wasteland and strong rivers that deserves respect.
Right? Whole families that have been there for generations are constantly finding work to make sure they’ll survive.
Imaging dying, trying to find a bus of a guy that underestimated the wilderness, by underestimating the wilderness
Reminds me of the explorer Percy Fawcett. Before he and his group went off into the Amazon he told everyone, if we disappear don't come looking for us or more people will be lost. They ignored him and over 100 died searching for them.
The bus was moved to a safer place.
@@ellenbedford3888 it was. It’s was airlifted out and redone to be put in a museum.
@@samanthaspeckman6648 I follow his sister - moving it will help preserve it, and hopefully keep people from risking their lives to see it.
@@shrimpflea that's an tale only one man died in reality
I've seen this story in different forms over the years, and it still shocks me. Not the naivety of one man, but the fact that there are so many other people who think this is "inspirational" and want to be like him. One man making bad decisions that led to his tragic death is bad enough. But realizing that there are so many others like him just paints a grim picture of our species in general.
There's always been morons. We need fewer things saving them from themselves.
I can understand it being inspirational. I want to get the hell away from society myself. But I'm not going to just traipse off into the Georgia wilderness just to get bitten by and cottonmouth and die. I'm going to stack cash, buy a farm, and GTFO.
@@Firevine that comment made me laugh! Fair play!
~ the weekend warrior whose never taken a risk in his life
Yeah, I feel like I'm being cruel, but I can't bring myself to feel sorry for him.
He was so arrogant.
To have the audacity to think you’re just gonna go into the Alaskan wilderness having never lived there and thinking you can make it with nothing is insane.
The reason for his doing it?....hubris.
Like those Dutch girls in Panama and Australian surfers in Baja.
@@marknewton6984 Yup! Had those Dutch girls brought matches with them, they'd have been rescued within two days.
I was fascinated by the story when I was younger but as I've aged I realized Chris was a complete idiot. On the surface, living off the land sounds like the adventure of a lifetime but when you find out Chris knew next to nothing about how to do that, and even less about planning the story sounds utterly ridiculous. The movie glorified Chris's life and travels like some kind of romantic trip to experience life unchained but all I could see was a kid haphazardly roaming the land in what could only end in disaster. There are countless stories of idiots feeling they can take on the world only to end up having fate slap them down for their stupidity. This story should be a learning experience and Chris the poster child of the 'don't let this happen to you crowd'. I know I'll get shit on for this but only by those who romanticized this story and probably need some help themselves.
I think the people who look up to this guy are like minded fools. I mean his whole story isn't even that compelling. It reads like a kid who's read too much romantic wilderness fiction and thinks becoming a hobo is some great moral journey. I think he was full of himself.
You are right.
Nothing to follow as an example here.
@@ericbustamante1064 Exactly right. What's the take away. What is the lesson. Lesson is; don't be a fool who gives away a golden opportunity his parents offered him to be a complete idiot who winds up commiting suicide. What made this suicide worse is he didn't mean to or think he'd die. Now that's worth of some kind of achievement.
What? And society is all that great, I give him thumbs up on escaping a horrible society, just wish he learned a little more about survival before he took on this path, but he had it 100% right on society, don't believe me, just look around at today
@@doreenolsen3259 No one person can control todays society. You either find your place among it or move out of the way. But once you've reached what I like to call 'the age of reason', you control your own destiny, leaving your guardians teachings behind you. There are plenty of success stories out there of people beginning their life from far less and accomplishing something others can look up to or aspire to be like. Chris's path is not one of those cases. Great that he felt he was part of an unhealthy environment and attempted to find a path to happiness, but his lack of ambition and direction turned his life story and final outcome into a life lesson parents can teach their kids to avoid.
Christopher's life just became a fruitless rebellion against his parents' aspirations they had hoped for him. I think he hated his father and did not want to be like him even in the face of losing his health and his dignity. Could you imagine graduating from a prestigious University and then becoming a Homeless Traveler eating out of dumpsters half of the time to survive? I feel sorry for this man, but his story should never be looked upon as something virtuous and/or desirable.
He wasn’t going to live under the boot of the “maaaaan”! Lol I think you hit the head on the nail dude.
Yeah but if he did what his dad wanted he could have been the next Martin Shkreli. Really just proves that prestigious University education is just for prestige.
I wish more people understood that hating your dad is not a virtue. I find especially with young men their hatred of their father is simply a projecting of hatred for themselves. They see their father as the embodiment of every masculine sin that they themselves engage in.
@@isabellind1292 I have good intuition
Being your own person and seeing your own path is admirable. Dying because of your own arrogant stupidity is not.
It’s a tribute to your thoroughness that just as I thought, “Hang on, what’s a school bus doing out there?” You explained just how the bus had arrived and its purpose. I’ve
read about Christopher a few times, and no one has ever mentioned those details, just as it’s never until now occurred to me.
Also, I don’t think anyone else has made plain his *total* lack of money, and that he’d been on the road for a couple of years already. That must surely have made him malnourished to some degree, making any illness or injury more significant.
Thank you, Fascinating, a good production with, as always excellent research and narration. Kudos
"I want to live free from society" but he was quick to use the abandoned bus, the first sign of civilization he found in the forest. It shows why we moved out of wilderness
Society doesn't mean to him what society means to you. If not, he wouldn't have hitchhiked or wore clothes
I've never understood the need to either canonize or demonize Chris. I can relate to his desire to forge his own path and transcend the consumerism and shallowness that has become common in our society. I can also see that he was woefully unprepared for what he tried to do in Alaska and died because of it. And those things don't conflict at all.
People dislike him for good reason, he had every opportunity to learn of where he was going, refused help early on, and his naivety did him in. I don't think there's demonizing him as much as disliking his choices. His death was needless and pointless, and was entirely his own fault. It's hard to feel sorry for idiots when they are as over confident as him
100% agree. The people who followed his legacy and died are just as tragic and disappointing but there's no need for animosity. Just educate people, y'know?
thank god for this comment. i deeply relate to McCandless in a lot of ways (we both had a similar upbringing and i also live a semi-nomadic life now, albeit with a sort of income and a reliable car) but while reading his story i also took it as a lesson in what not to do when facing nature. he wasn’t a bad person, even his harshest critics can only call him “annoying” and “unprepared” - he was a young man who was overly brash and searching desperately for something that he was missing, whatever that was. his story is tragic in a variety of ways and i think it’s okay to look back at him as both a well-intentioned free spirit and a lesson as to how harsh this world can be to those who are unprepared for it.
He was disrespectful of Alaskan land and specifically the wildlife (moose are protected in this state, and what he did to that moose was a crime) PLUS he inspired others to do the same stupid thing and multiple people died trying to get to the bus, these tourists endangered themselves and rescue crews doing this. The bus had to be removed to prevent people from following in his arrogant foot steps.
@@nikolachiara9285 but don’t hate him. The need to demonize him just because he was naive makes no sense. He made stupid decisions in a tragic amount of times, and that’s literally it.
I remember reading "Into the Wild" when I was in high school, and it was basically McCandless's diary. I resonated with the story somewhat, and I think that's fine to do, as long as you remember how it turned out for him.
"He was a courageous young man." Perhaps in other escapades of his, but that final trek? No. Courage is facing danger that cannot be avoided. Stupidity is putting yourself into danger for no reason. It's pretty obvious which one he was. 🤦♀️
Thank you for saying that!! Too many people think it's not that hard to go off the grid, and they always ascribe those who do it with some sort of depth that they may or may not have.
Exactly.
👏👏👏
Totally agree. It is sad that the tenacity he had for adventure was not balanced with understanding self preservation.
He won his Darwin award
Based on his last entry, I think he may have eaten some Nightshade berries thinking they were blueberries. Nightshade can cause paralysis which may be why he stopped being able to forage. Day 107 he says "Beautiful Blueberries."
esp in his state that would finish you off
Beautiful smarty pants
Either way he was a moron.
Thats nightlock Peeta!
@@indiabee8073 ffs that made me laugh
The book "Into the Wild" was assigned to my freshman year class for composition 1 (University) in 1999. As was/is my custom, I read it in a day. At that age, I admired his ability to walk away from controlling parents and disappear, but his trip to Alaska seemed rather foolish to me. All in all, I thought was he did was cool until after we took our exams for the semester, when our professor revealed she thought he was a spoiled brat. It's funny that you posted this, as Friday I was just talking to someone about having read it and that it was--at the time--the only non-fiction book me and a lot of my peers at a US state university had read that wasn't a text book and it was so compelling that we all talked about how deep it was. The following year, all the freshman talked about the book they had to read, and the same the year after (Nickel & Dimed), and the year after that (Super Size Me). In reality, it was just the first non-fiction book we had to read was in Freshman Composition in College. But I digress---I don't know how I feel about this guy now that I'm 40. At 18, it was easy to admire him, at 25, when the movie came out (I never saw it), I saw that he was arrogant....and well, now, I know lots of upper-middle class and upper class kids & younger people who reject money, only because they have never truly had to live without it and they romanticize the reality. Self sufficiency in humans is an illusion.
Self sufficiency isnt an illusion
He was a spoiled brat that didnt know what he was getting into. He was throwing a tantrum. Actual self sufficiency is attainable it had been the main mode of human living for centuries until very recently.
Learning and preparation is key. Chris was a child playing make believe pioneer and was just homeless not self sufficient
When I watched the film I thought he was a spoilt bratt too.
Me too.
@@chrismanaloe3507 Self sufficiency has not been "the main mode of human living until recently." Humanity has lived in family & other groups since the beginning. It's only now that we have become isolated and believe that we can wholly support ourselves as a single human---we can easily get sick and die, as evidenced. I agree that Chris was cosplaying a pioneer, and preparation, knowing one's environment does help, but ultimately, we need each other to survive. We are pack animals.
@@heidibock1017 great comment!
I've been watching your videos for a few months now. You do such a superb job on these. No dramatic music or crazy narrating. Just real, fascinating facts. Thank you.
He may have cast off civilization for two years but he certainly wanted what it had to offer near the end when he was getting weak and ill. Live your dreams but there's nothing wrong with preparedness and a backup plan.
Chris was a 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
Yes. It would have been avoidable if he had brought enough supplies and knowledge in survival skills. You can live similarly to Chris as long as you bring enough recourses and knowledge of what you need and how to do things, and a way of access back into society to obtain medicine or in need of a hospital if you ever need it. That way you can go back and forth in-between the wilderness and civilisation however much you like, and live a more “wild” life without such a high risk of death from starvation, dehydration or injury.
There's a story of a woman older woman she did the same thing she decided to go live off the land out in the woods not needing any money or anything bartering for anything she couldn't do herself unfortunately she had to put that all to an end because you can't barter for cancer treatments so she had to rejoin society to save her life
I read the book, watched the movie. He seemed like a cool guy but he must’ve been super depressed. Walking off into the woods without adequate amounts of supplies seems like a guy whose given up
No, I'd say he was a young man who thought he was bullet-proof, a common malady for males especially under 25 years old as the brain is not full formed yet. Also, a victim of his own prior successes of rafting down the Colorado River and other adventures; I'm sure he caught some good breaks on those adventures that might have otherwise killed him, but his good fortune ran out in Alaska.
He was suffering inside because of how his mom and dad interacted around him and his sister. I lived it also and it does depress you, somehow you have to work it out in order to survive. God saved me. Parents don't consider how their behavior affects the children.
I'm firmly in the "he was an idiot" camp. Only people who have money can afford to throw it away. God forbid you buy a tent and supplies with it first.
Agreed. There's a difference between leaving an abusive family and making something of yourself using resources you have at hand, and just going and burning it.
He had contempt for middle class families, and it was foolish.
Even characters in the novels he read were prepared. Huckleberry Finn may have had to deal with an abusive father who wanted to keep his son dumb, but Huck understood how to use tools, and wasn't against taking charity; he'd go as far as crossdressing to get food.
But Chris here... Stupid. Sheer idiocy.
Clearly he didn't truly read those books with a brain.
When someone has money, they don't understand its worth. When someone grows up not knowing what constant hunger feels like, they grow up not realizing how painful it is.
He was an idiot who went through life with rose colored glasses. If he grew up in any other circumstances, he wouldn't have died this way. It was the wealth he was born into that caused him to not understand the outside world, and it sounds like his parents didn't help, although if they did I doubt he listened.
@@Pbness Yes. Many today would scorn him for his opinions on middle class social status, considering how many would love to be in the middle class stable living.
You are not alone. I have been in that camp as well since I read the book. He was an arrogant and entitled. I don't see him as courageous at all.
Yeps. He was an idiot
A tragic example of an unprepared young man trying to live in the wild. He should have accepted the offer of more supplies that a man offered (the man who picked him up when he hitchhiked).
Thank you for airing this story.
I remember watching the film with my friends many years ago, it was polarizing even among ourselves, some of us thought that even when his actions were reckless, he did live a full life on his own terms that sadly ended with his chaotic idealism, but some of my friends thought about how stupid he was and needlessly threw his life away. This story reflects a lot about people's perspectives on life, specially who is willing to sacrifice commodity for their ideals.
That's the double meaning of yolo right there.
You only live once, so do everything.
OR
You only live once, so be careful.
yep. no one can judge others' lives based on their own idea of life
What was the movie's name? The narrator never identified it, which I think is appropriate, this is Chris' story not a promo for the film, but I am curious.
This story reminds me of the life of Timothy Treadwell. The tragic end of his life has also inspired polarizing analysis.
@@Unownshipper The movie is called Into the Wild (2007)
Don't think boo boo here think this was cool.if he had been homeless for instance.
As an indigenous Alaskan this is both sad and amusing to me at the same time
It's sad that some people don't understand how Alaska Natives survived for centuries by relying on community and learning from people who are more experienced.
He was so unprepared that he didn't even make it to the Alaskan fall let alone winter. I was expecting bears to get him.
Nah that's Timothy Treadwell.
@@Spearca Yeah, true. And to continue being fair to Treadwell, he does seem to have realised that what he was doing was extremely dangerous - in a clip from one of his videologs, he says "Come here, try to do what I do - you will die." He just thought he had figured out a way to live safely among the bears.
I always found it confusing how Chris was uncomfortable accepting offers of help
from others but was comfortable regularly burgling supplies.
He was living in a fantasy world he made for himself and died from a severe reality-check.
Why do people admire this fool?
@@planescaped because a person likes being able to admire someone who died an "adventure" and not someone who needed a serious reality check
I think they admire his intentions more than his actual actions. He was a good guy who made a terrible mistake. Many people do that all the time. Hundreds die every year in the Alaskan wilderness, even very experienced hikers and hunters.
Child abuse will do that. I had a similar life, similar timeline I was born in 1975. Father was an ex-military, alcholic wifebeater. Trust issues. Complex PTSD.
pride i guess?
I live in Anchorage, Alaska and I remember hosting a Couchsurfer that wanted to visit the bus in the wilderness. My wife and I tried to tell her how remote it was and how long it would take to get to and how many supplies she would need. We tried to talk her out of it. Nonetheless we took a motorcycle trip up that way and only got so far as Hurricane Gulch. The weather was overcast and we turned around to my mother-in-law's cabin in talkeetna. Thank god. You can't even really drive on the Denali Park road anyway, at least at that time. This woman was completely completely obsessed with getting there and she was completely crushed knowing that she came all the way to Alaska and didn't get there. However, many tourists to Alaska don't realize how freaking big Alaska is and how remote things are and how much trouble you can get into just a dozen miles away from a road. Our saving Grace might have been the fact that we picked berries at the Berry farm in talkeetna the night before, and then decided to stay at my wife's mother's cabin. I guess we wouldn't have been able to drive on the road anyway at that time. They only open it up to normal people by lottery once a year in the fall. When I offered to bring handheld radios, she balked like it was too much. It's no joke. Those radios wouldn't have gotten very far anyway.
I looked it up out of curiosity and found out that most of Alaska is unexplored compared to other states in the US. Didn't really surprise me.
Now its not even there so everything you just said is wrong
I feel people who want to see the bus where another person died, are some sort of sickos to me, like those people who film accidents without helping.
@@platinumpineapple9943 i'm pretty sure he's talking about several years back when the bus was still there. Not recently. The bus wasn't moved immediately after Chris died.
His sister had arranged to get the bus moved to another location. Too many people were taking to high a risk to get to it to pay their respects. Corrine wrote another book called The Wild Truth that goes deeper into details about her family.
she never planned to get the bus moved the cause even her was surprised to hear that they were moving it. She even participated in a mouvement against it .
His sister doesn't have the authority to get the bus moved. It was a collaboration between the state government and the National Guard.
In the theme of this episode, maybe you can look into the story of Timothy Treadwell. The "Grizzly man" who spent a while living in alaska with bears until he was attacked and killed by one. If it peaks your interest and is worth a video, id love to hear your narrative on the story.
Another guy I hate
@@hello7032 oh you knew them both personally then?
@@glenndouglas8822 this is a stupid requirement to make. Did you hate Hitler? Oh but did you know him personally ? John Wayne Gacy? Watson and Crick? Machiavelli ?
@@hello7032 I would not put Chris in the same manner as the people you mentioned. Can't remember him killing 6 million Jews or being a serial killer. He was just a misguided young man. What you just commented to myself was total shite.
@@glenndouglas8822 did I say I was equating him to those people? No. Just pointing out the flaw in “oh yea did you know him??” Logic.
I would highly recommend reading "The Wild Truth" written by his sister. It provides a lot more detail as to why Chris did what he did. He and his sister grew up in an incredibly toxic household with two parents who were physically and emotionally abusive for the majority of their lives. He was certainly not the brightest person for doing what he did, but there were many more important details to the story which the movie and original book left out.
Thank you for the book recommendations I do find it really odd a lot of people gloss over allegations of abuse while discussing his actions I feel that's a pretty big and important part of why he did what he did
I was gonna say the same thing. His mom and dad were very toxic people. His dad literally abandoned his first wife to marry Chris’ mom, and then before he got his second wife pregnant with the daughter he went back and got his first wife pregnant with like his 5th kid from her. He also left his first family to live in poverty later in life while his second family was upper middle class.
Chris’ mother was also abused by the father, but she also did a lot of crappy things herself, such as letting her daughter be sexually abused by her dad. The sisters mother literally responded for her calling and begging for help by calling her daughter a slut.
So probably trauma and delusions of grandeur type deal. Still not inspiring, it was still a mentally unwell man wandering off and dying because of his choices.
Makes me have a bit more sympathy for him but ultimately doesn't change my opinion that his death was entirely his own fault.
This is an important aspect. However many people with similarly traumatic childhood experiences just want stability in their life. The ones I know went for a lower degree of studies just to get an education and a stable job. A stable 9-5 job, an own condo or house, a happy marriage, life free of any drama, etc. That's truly a dream life for someone who grew up poor with alcoholic parents and violence.
To seek self-sufficiency by living off the land but to end up starving to death is possibly the most profound example of irony I personally have ever heard.
Irony? People have been choosing to live alone & independently, and then dying of starvation in the wilderness, for as long as human civilization has existed. There's nothing new about this story, nor is there anything particularly "ironic". This man simply failed.
I don’t see this as ironic. Was probably very common when humans had to live off the land. Especially if they were alone.
@@breadfan262 Starving in the midst of plenty?
I see the irony, even he saw it, he commented on it in his last days.
@@Gilliganfrog The irony is that the wilderness he sought out with earnest was his coffin (disregarding the fact he could have walked a mile or two upstream and been safe), he basically says so himself in his last days' writings.
This was a really solid summary of the whole topic, while introducing many of the themes that make his story so relatable and controversial. Thank you!
Whether it was caused by the psychological abuse growing up or some inherited mental instability from his father this guy was not emotionally stable. He had a kind of death wish disguised as a sense of adventure. Who sets the last of their money on fire? That's not normal. People who envy his lifestyle choice and his insistence on charging into any situation unprepared are romanticizing psychosis. I haven't seen the movie, but if it doesn't take on this subject as a cautionary tale then it is an irresponsible story conveying the wrong message. I feel really bad for this guy, for his mother and sister, and for the families of the people that lost their lives trying to trek out to where he died.
You put it into words better than I did. His behaviour may not have appeared to be "scary" to others, but he was still very much acting illogical and delusional. If people want to find mentally ill inspiring then that's their problem I guess lol
Most of the people that see him as some sort of hero as are nuts as he was.
Who are you to judge? We can’t judge him. He seemed happy enough until he got consumed by what he thought would free him.
@@kitt3ncake445 I totally agree. I cannot judge someone else's actions and perspective unless I have experienced the vastness of their life and all the things that shaped their outlook. I only say what I said because I have people very close to me that have lived through abuse and, by the grace of providence, came out the other side mostly intact. (But even this doesn't make me an expert on anything.) This guy was an adult and free to make his own decisions, dangerous or not. I just feel bad for him and that he seemed to have been battling with inner daemons that pushed him to do things that most people would deem overtly dangerous. Just me with my opinion. And I fully appreciate and respect yours.
@@kitt3ncake445 If he was so concerned about nature, he could have used his money to help others
He was a poacher who wasted the animals he shot. If he'd used that whole moose he'd have been set, but he didn't even know how to do that, another area in which he wasn't prepared. Beyond not being prepared, he shot that animal not even intending to be out there long enough to use it if he *had* known what he was doing, and I think that highlights his arrogance and how little respect he had for the situation, the land, and the wild.
...about as respectful as your YT handle is.
I’m just guessing off of your comment but I don’t think you have any idea how you would have “used that whole moose” because I don’t think you can live off a carcass for extended periods unless it’s sub-zero.
@@benamor22 I mean... you can preserve meat if you know what you're doing, and are adequately prepared.
@@benamor22 *that's kind of the point*. it's not just my pov, many hunters, game wardens, indigenous people in Alaska, survivalist, etc. have commented on this. don't shoot a huge animal you can't preserve *and don't intend to use anyway*. He could have at least smoked some small amount of it, but he didn't even do that. He shot it intending to waste it. I don't know if you are referring to my YT handle being disrespectful.... It's literally my name haha
@@jakual339 agree. We managed quite some time before modern refrigerators.
As someone born and raised in New York City I just can't imagine doing anything close to what Christopher McCandless did. Like some people from a metropolis I do get tired of living in a big crowded noisy city and fantasize moving away to live off the grid close to nature at least for a little while. But this man died needlessly, he could have spent years living out on his own in solitude and enjoying every minute of it if he'd only prepared for it first before stepping off civilization. With the amount of money he had in the beginning, he could have stocked up on all the supplies he needed, if only his stubbornness and over-confidence didn't get in the way. He was the complete opposite of another man who lived alone in Alaska successfully, Richard Proenneke, and recorded it in a fascinating documentary Alone in the Wilderness.
This is why I always ask how far is the nearest gas station. More than a mile? I have no business being there then.
He could have taken 1k and bought himself a low-profile tent, a mess-kit, all weather gear, fishing and camping equipment and a nice pack to carry it all and still had money left over for bits and bobs that he could have used to live in the wilds for years if he was committed.
Instead he basically rendered himself a homeless drifter and walked off into the sunset gormless and delusional... He shouldn't be admired, he should be looked at as *the* example of what "not to do" for people who want to live such a lifestyle.
@@planescaped He seemed such a lovely lad and a beautiful soul. So i think, maybe he shouldn't be admired for his actions but certainly admired for the kind, loving person he was. At the end of the day, he paid with his own life, and what right or wrong things he did or didn't do, he didn't deserve to die.
It must have been an awful realisation at the end for him 😢.
Bless him. Alaska climate must be bloody horrendous if you're stuck out in the wild and open. RIP Christopher 🙏 😘😘🐞🐞xxxxx
Well put. He could’ve set himself up really well in a tiny house or something on the outskirts of civilization. He was nuts to think you could live off the land in Alaska w/o preparation or supplies. He sealed his fate. Sad 😞 He was only 1/2 mile from a river crossing.
@@planescaped thank you, he was a clueless city boy. Burning money, ugh.
Your perspective on McCandless is spot on
I think it's interesting to compare McCandless to other outdoor enthusiasts/zealots, say, Gary Paulsen, who grew up for a time in norther Minnesota, returned to live in a similar area for part his adulthood, ran sled dogs and participated in the Iditarod three (?) times, and actually understood a lot about surviving in the wild. He started running away to the woods when he was a teen, and later wrote several wonderful books about his experiences. Or how about Christopher Knight, "the hermit of North Pond" (Maine), who retreated to the woods near a lake surrounded by cabins and a children's camp, and avoided detection for 27 years. I've tried to imagine his life during winter according to the story he tells--it's disturbing and difficult to accept. (Although some people don't believe his story, claiming he must've left the woods at times, the police who finally arrested him for theft believed him.) McCandless has gotten a lot of the attention, but these other people fascinate me just as much.
Is this the same Gary Paulsen, the author? I've always wondered how come his books, Hatchet, and Brian's Winter, which are two of my favourite books, seemed to resemble Into the Wild. Makes sense to me now if he was also an outdoor enthusiast!
May Gary Paulsen RIP, Hatchet was a big part of my childhood. Read it so many times to remind myself of how unforgiving the woods around me really are, and to appreciate the comforts I have.
Alaskan wilderness is unforgiving. Even the most proficient trappers must prepare themselves for injuries and lean days, stocking on reserve of cured food. Living from day to day is fatal in these parts, you can't just be like a bear, stuffing yourself and hibernating for the winter.
"He wanted to find his own, more meaningful path in life"
What he didn't realize is that finding your path in life is a luxury reserved for those with a full stomach.
And it ended in a bus left by society 😬
Couldn't have said it better myself. While I admire wanting to be around nature, this guy was arrogant, overconfidently foolish.
I never met him but feel sorry for him. I don't know why some hail him as a hero, when his mistakes should be seen as a cautionary tale because of how he died. May he rest in peace
Initially people theorized he may have been poisoned by eating the wrong plants. This was widely reported. Later Coroner's Report showed he actually died of starvation. Lab tests had come back and the wild potato seeds he was eating were not poisonous. Still most people report he died of poisoning from eating wild potato seeds. Thank you for getting it correct and not simply repeating what other videos said.
The seeds were in fact found to be poisonous in 2015. Research into this is still ongoing. It is possible that he became crippled from poisoning, was unable to collect food and consequently starved to death.
@@haraldlund9261 No. You are quoting news reports that quoted other news reports. The coroner tested the seeds he had with him and they were not poisonous. The ones he was eating. Also tested the contents of his digestive system. Anybody else doing "ongoing research" doesn't have access to the seeds and to the body.
The theory was that he misidentified the potato seeds and ate another plant that looks the same but is poisonous. This was proven to be false. He ate the edible type of plant.
Stop repeating false information.
@@haraldlund9261 Also he kept a log of every animal he killed and ate, plus all the berries and other plants he collected and ate. He averaged around 1200 calories a day at first when he was healthy. As his health deteriorated his calorie intake declined. It is estimated he burned at least 3000 calories a day. Walking, hunting, gathering firewood, water, berries, plants, takes a lot of calories to perform all that activity. He starved to death.
Go read his journal:
June 21: 1 racoon
June 22: 2 squirrels
June 23: 1 Blue Jay
June 24: Berries
He knew he was starving even early on. That is why when he shot the Moose he wrote Moose!!! This could save me! Then the next day Moose rotted, I'm fucked!
He was starving the entire time and he knew it. You look at his photos and he gets more and more emaciated.
Scientists know how many calories a person averaged from eating a racoon, a squirrel, a bluejay, and wild blueberries. They did the calculations. Anybody eating what he ate would have starved to death. Based on the calculations and how much he weighed at the start, he would have starved to death right around the time he did starve to death.
This is all science. Not news reports and hollywood movies and Reddit repeating crap they heard somewhere.
@@BrettonFerguson I’m not gonna defend Chris McCandless or say that he didn’t die from starvation. I’m also no expert on toxicology in plants, but I have read Jon Krakauers scientific article, published in Wilderness & environmental medicine, in 2015. The article concludes that the seeds of the plant he did eat (H alpinum) contains the amino acid L-canavanine, which is poisonous. In the movie Into the wild, McCandless mixes up H alpinum with the similar H mackenzii, which was presumed to be poisonous. However, the article claims that even if he ate the «correct» plant, he could still have been poisoned. This doesn’t prove anything, but it provides new knowledge on the toxicology of H alpinum that we otherwise wouldn’t have.
@Bretton Ferguson
As someone who hunts deer, moose etc for meat (I only eat meat that has been hunted when I know the animal lived a natural life and proper respect for its gift of food was shown to it). I am really curious how the hell it rotted in a day. Properly dressed meat absolutely doesnt rot in a day even in the dead of summer.
Did he just not clean and quarter it properly so the contents of the digestive system got all over the meat or what?
Sadly for Chris when choosing to live as a free creature of the wilderness, idealism does not gain you anything. Sustenance, shelter, water, and the ability to begin your endeavor with the supplies and equipment a fragile human needs to support themselves in the search for those things is what matters. This is really nothing more than the story of an unprepared, ill-equipped, and delusional human underestimating the harsh reality of living off the land. He couldn't do so and died just as any wild animal would that is physically unable to fend for or sustain themselves. We as humans can romanticize this but I don't think that has anything to do with what actually happened. Without the bus, a vestige of the society he was trying to prove he didn't need, he wouldn't have even had shelter and would have likely perished without a trace. I feel sorry for him, he didn't deserve the fate he built for himself. If anything this is a stark representation of how human ideals and belief systems are completely incompatible with natural life and reality.
No man. Humans can live out in wild nature and in many parts of the world they still do. But they live in big groups and have the knowledge and manpower to build shelter and secure food.
@@LauraGrrrr5370 I'm confused. You say "no man" what are you disagreeing with? I never said humans cant live in nature, just that he obviously couldn't. Of course humans can live in nature that's why there is a human race that exists now. He was an unprepared, ill-equipped, an uneducated human that died because he didn't take nature seriously. Unfortunately for him the "one-ness with nature" or whatever romantic ideal he envisioned he could manifest doesn't exist in reality. In nature you either have enough calories/shelter/water to sustain your procurance of those things or you die. its very fair.
@@LauraGrrrr5370 but those humans are not unprepared, ill-equipped or delusional. And they wouldn't think that just because they can live off the land at one place they could definitely do so at a completely different location.
@@kumaahito3927 Exactly. This is basically the story of a suburban kid thinking they had the wisdom and experience of an indigenous person and could just wing it and they would succeed. The only reason we know his name is because he lucked out and found a ready made shelter in that bus. I don't think he was a bad person as far as I can tell but this romanticized idea of him as some kind of wise and in-touch nature guru is ridiculous. He was a proud fool and paid the price for his foolishness and pride.
I couldn’t agree more.
one of my favorite channels and specifically this story. It takes a special talent to narrate a story and it be interesting. I was already entertained by your voice, but your reading of Mr. McCandless' diary somehow really brought home your genuine talent and ability. I wish you much success on your channel.
I love his voice and how he narrarates.
when I was fifteen years old, I got myself involved in school bullying and unhappy family relationships. I thought my real life is meaningless and became addicted to book reading and self thinking.I want to got out of control from society. It was at that time I saw this movie. I also regard freedom as my “lifelong” belief. But being twenty years old now, I realize it was not for the freedom but for escaping from those damages from real life. However I still love this silly boy and his story. Just like he said, if life was determined only by rationality, it will be meaningless.
This story reminds me of the guy who was obsessed with bears and was eventually eaten by one. (Grizzly Man) It doesn't matter how much love and respect you have for nature, the feeling isn't mutual. Nature doesn't give a shit about you.
I very much regret looking into this one, I don't know if that audio was real or fake but it was horrifying.
@@alicerose512 luckily for you, it's fake. the real audio was never released. you could also look at the series of events/description of the real audio
Same would apply to society regardless of how much “safer” you think you are in it. Society could truly not care what happens to you and you will 100% be left living in survival till death unless you are wealthy. At least animals are reacting according to their nature. Humans go around it just to do heinous things. Just pick a struggle.
I think the younger we are, the easier it is to romanticize this story. As we get older, it becomes a warning, a tragic tale....not so romantic anymore.
I thought it was stupid when I was 19 and the movie came out back in 2007. Not the movie it was pretty good, I just don’t see how he could have done this what was he thinking?
@@Tommy88- I'm not making a blanket statement that EVERY young person found it romantic or inspirational. Just that it's easier to find it all appealing, to go off and live a dream, damned the consequences. Just that, as we get older, we see that life is intricate. And sometimes, what we want isn't what's best for us in the long run. Life creates skepticism. And while I would've been one to try this adventuring in my younger years, and did to some smaller degree, it left me with deep psychological scarring. And now, my adult self, sees this story now as a warning.
@@GenXfrom75 I have found generally, that the people who enjoy his life have led either fairly horrible or fairly happy lives in comparison to reality of the situation. He was a young man who wanted to adventure but could have done so with more preparation and perhaps done better as a freelancer and filmographer instead of going out to the woods underprepared and over confident. They either want to escape what they need, (ironically, therapy and more interpersonal help) or what they don't realize was a privilege and a blessing. Aside from his parents, whom I believe should only be complimented as far as the fact that they had children. His siblings ,at least, were closer and happier than they could have been. Even if their parents never acknowledge the situation, with time, they could have grown together and experienced some healing, which to a certain extent they will never do again.
Their brother is dead, running away from his problems in an attempt to find freedom, when wild living does not breed loneliness but civility. The rules of the desert are often that you take in your enemy and house your family because at all else everyone would die if they were alone. Only when they have harmed you in an irredeemable way do they usually get thrown out into the wilderness to die, and die they usually do. So far as human existence, themes, and culture go, hospitality and sociability are two of the key characteristics of every human culture because people die when they are alone.
I've always found the outcome of this story fascinating. Since his death McCandles has been praised as some sort of hero by those with little to no experience in the wild, all while those who are survival experts consider him a dumb-dumb. I have no experience myself but in this case, I think I'll base my opinion by referring to the experts.
hah same.
Wonder how his family reacted to the news of his death?
@@DrawciaGleam02 I saw a documentary where his sister explained that there was in fact abuse in their family by the dad as well as mental issues her brother struggled with. Him not seeking help may have been the cause of his irrational decision-making.
If you have any experience camping you can better understand how his approach was unsuitable. Sure you can go without multiple pairs of clothes, but to not have tools for keeping yourself protected against game and elements? Man, those boots only gonna do so much.
@@terrahatvol7960 Mother nature is brutal and unforgiving. What's troubling to me are those who don't recognize that he clearly had mental issues but instead worship him all while attempting to follow in his footsteps. This should be more of a cautionary tale rather than hoisting him up to folk-hero status.
All these years after watching Into The Wild I still hold the same sentiment: this man was infuriatingly nieve.
I saw the movie based on this guy during my last deployment. The general consensus in Berthing 1 was that his arrogance got the better of him. I caught the news story about the bus being airlifted out by Chinook in the morning paper. It's for the best and should be considered a warning for those who try to follow his path.
I just wonder why the authorities took so long to remove the bus.
@@mariakelly1059 People had already gone out and trashed it to ensure that no one could realistically use it for shelter. But I guess it wasn't enough
The film is one of my favourites. Chase your dreams, but do it in the right way. Don't be reckless.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to escape the rat race and run into the wild….
But ffs, if you aren’t a highly experienced hiker and/or survivalist - PLEASE study extensively (particularly about the area you’re running to) before actually trying to do it! 🤦♀️
In that situation you need a mentor. Research is one thing but you need someone to show you the ropes.
And do smaller test runs, don't just jump in with both feet! Even for things like hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, it's recommended that you start with day hikes, then a couple of days, etc. Start to figure out what it is you *don't* know, what gear you need/don't need, etc.
And for goodness sakes, have a safety plan, where someone checks in on you regularly.
And you can't act like you own a city bus on the middle of a national park, that belongs to the government. I mean, come on, it's not your home.
At bare minimum bring a map so you don't starve to death "trapped" in a location that actually has a way out a mere half a mile away that is marked on maps.
These are great reasons to learn from his mistakes, but not hold him as an idol.
I am a sophomore in my English class we are reading Into The Wild which gives a whole aspect on Chrises journey in the wild and life as a whole. I can’t wait to watch this video.
Knew about this man's story. Did not know that his story literally inspired other individuals to also venture into the Alaskan Wilderness, _completely unprepared_ as well! Causing apparently two more of them to die trying to find this abandoned bus. Now the bus is in a museum.... as what exactly? A tribute to Stupidity? Would be the most appropriate thing.
Exactly- literally a sign should have posted, all ye enter abandon all hope…. An effigy to self indulgent disillusionment.
@@chudrustler "and this Bus is where we keep the Darwin Awards."
Romanticism of the wilderness l guess. Fools like me live in the wilderness and l can't actually enjoy the nature most days because I'm busy doing all the stuff an idiot has to do living in the f*cking wildernes, and even though l shop in town every week it's painful and it's difficult and it often sucks. Still, it's better than the rat race, and especially his parent's particular suburban hellscape.
When the universe gives you a demon possessed bus that kills stupid people you don't ask why, you just move it somewhere with higher population density. This is just common sense.
@@SofaKingShit Well at least you have the internet in your neck of the wilderness.
The guy was a fool, and it's amazing how many idiots were "inspired" by his story rather than learning from it.
😂😂😂 totally
Thing is, if he just remained a rambler, moving from place to place, spending a month here, a week there, in safer areas he could have absolutely lived that "inspiring" life. It would never inspire me, but I would at least understand the impulse. But his story becomes one of arrogance and naivety. Refusing help when going into one of the more dangerous areas for the ill prepared, under some misguided notions of reconnecting to nature isn't freeing yourself. It's putting yourself in danger. You can move to the country, find a small community that live closer to the wilds. But refusing all support just because? You're asking for it to go wrong, and it's weird how so many miss that part.
it honestly says a lot about the people who idolize him
Oh, that's sounds like a neat story! I'd like to emulate him. Wait, he's dead? How'd he die? Hmm... maybe I'll find someone else to emulate instead.
Harsh words; "fool" "idiots." you have added nothing to the discussion. Have you read the book and his sister's biography? Remember "opinions are like arseholes, everybody's got one." Your opinion is that of a "fool" or an "idiot"...your words
I can definitely see why he liked Huckleberry Finn so much. Aside from the romantic idealization of adventure that so many younger people desperately want (even me included), poor Huck had an abusive alcoholic father, and only escaped after he had to fake his death. If Chris really did have an abusive father, then it makes total sense that he was able to relate to the main character like that. He likely saw himself in Huck and wanted to escape into a grand adventure, just like Huck did. That's the thing with fiction, though, it's unrealistic. And the idea that he could live like a fictional character ultimately killed him in the end. RIP
Even Huck was smart though, he stayed in heavily populated areas and wasn't above accepting help. The fictional character of Huck knew what dying was like as his mum passed and always accepted any help people gave him because he knew he needed it. Only Tom Sawyer who comes in to interject dumb ideas of romance, puts Huckleberry Finn off doing practical sensible things.
@@katydid5088 You make a great point! Chris was definitely too stubborn for his own good. It's such a shame that that was what killed him in the end.
Chris was already starving.His demise was slow.
What people don't realize is he had $300 on him when he died.
And the reason he lasted so long is because he broke into two hunting cabins on the way out there.
The hunters said he totally trashed the area around the bus.
He's definitely not a hero,just a rich kid who was mad at the world.
Sounds like a Democrat alright
Bullshit
Makes sense
@@harrykuheim6107 What a twisted mind you have.
Elitist.