into the wild

A large part of me wanting to come to Alaska was to see what drew Chris McCandless here in the early 90's. His rejection of societal norms was completely inspiring to me. His quest to get back to nature and lead a simple life was admirable in my eyes. Through reading the book and later seeing the movie, INTO THE WILD, captured my imagination. 

Stampede Road aka the Stampede Trail lies north of the town of Healy

the road starts to get rough 4 miles in

this OUTER RANGE prevents seeing the mountains of Denali

at 8 mile lake I could go no further in the van, so I had lunch

and reflected

this is about 2 miles short of where Chris was dropped off and walked INTO THE WILD

a good VIDEO of what it takes to get to the bus

I read the epilogue when Art & Billie flew to bus 142 for the 1st time - I wept.

it's a peaceful countryside, outside of the incessant mosquitos

the bus used in the movie is at a brewery in Healy

inside there are photos and info on what Chris went through

I was hoping to be able to get to the Savage River - the first river Chris crossed before the much larger Teklanika River. It was to be so, but inside Denali, there is a Savage River area where I was able to see the river and again reflect on what it must have been like....

and for those that think Chris was reckless and unprepared... please WATCH THIS jon krakauer interview 

another GOOD video with Sean Penn and Jon K

the Savage River before it hits a canyon in Denali

 it all serves as a heavy reminder to leave life to the fullest..... however you may interpret "fullest"