1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,040 Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:12,340 Before we get started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind. 3 00:00:12,340 --> 00:00:18,560 Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this podcast. 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,200 Listener discretion is strongly advised. 5 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:28,000 Welcome to episode 43 of Dying to be Found. 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,500 Hi everyone, I'm Deb and I'm Shelby. 7 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:34,000 And we are so glad that you are here today as usual. 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:41,700 I love saying that our podcast is a family thing, so you never really know which family member I'm going to pull to tell our tales. 9 00:00:41,700 --> 00:00:50,000 If you're a regular listener, Beth is currently off launching a new venture, which I'm going to let her tell you about when she returns. 10 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,360 But in the meantime, Shelby's here today. 11 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:58,560 We're going to try to bring you a story that's left open to your interpretation or you can possibly relate to. 12 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:04,760 If you do have a storyline for us, be sure to click on our show notes and click on the Linktree account. 13 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,960 This link will take you directly to our website, email and social media accounts. 14 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:11,560 So be sure to check that out. 15 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:13,660 In the meantime, Shelbs, how are you today? 16 00:01:13,660 --> 00:01:14,960 I'm good. 17 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:17,760 It's kind of raining and a little dull outside. 18 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:24,860 I was planning on doing some Christmas decorating on the outside, I decorated inside probably a month and a half ago. 19 00:01:24,860 --> 00:01:27,860 A month and a half ago before Halloween. 20 00:01:27,860 --> 00:01:29,460 I did. 21 00:01:29,460 --> 00:01:31,360 I had my tree up before Halloween this year. 22 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:37,460 But other than that, we went to the Christmas tree lighting downtown last night. 23 00:01:37,460 --> 00:01:39,760 I live in a very beautiful hallmark town. 24 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:45,060 So it was just a very little intimate setting where they had the elementary school kids singing. 25 00:01:45,060 --> 00:01:48,560 And then of course they had Santa and the tree lighting and it was really fun. 26 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:49,260 Good, good. 27 00:01:49,260 --> 00:01:55,260 Yeah, you guys could probably contact the Hallmark channel and see if you can get a movie made there if you haven't already. 28 00:01:55,260 --> 00:01:59,160 Oh, that's not a bad idea. 29 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,960 I did watch a lot of Hallmark over Thanksgiving when I was visiting family. 30 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:03,660 I love it. 31 00:02:03,660 --> 00:02:04,360 Okay. 32 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:13,760 Well, I told you before I like to start things off with a question or something relatable to our story before jumping into our storyline. 33 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,260 So I'm going to ask you a question. 34 00:02:16,260 --> 00:02:19,860 Are you a warm weathered girl or a cold weathered girl? 35 00:02:19,860 --> 00:02:21,660 Warm weather for sure. 36 00:02:21,660 --> 00:02:24,260 I love the beach. 37 00:02:24,260 --> 00:02:25,160 I love the beach. 38 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:30,560 I love just sitting in the sand and you know watching the kids play in the water and I'll go play with them. 39 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,360 So definitely warm weather. 40 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,560 I'm not looking forward to the January coldness. 41 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:36,960 Oh, I'm loving it already. 42 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,960 It's a bit nippy here where I'm at and guess what I have. 43 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:40,560 What do you have? 44 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,860 I have this wonderful blanket that you gave me a couple years ago. 45 00:02:44,860 --> 00:02:46,760 It's a electrical throw. 46 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:47,460 Oh my God. 47 00:02:47,460 --> 00:02:48,060 I love it. 48 00:02:48,060 --> 00:02:51,860 Oh, I am just under the blankets today having a good day. 49 00:02:51,860 --> 00:02:54,760 Yes, you can never go wrong with blankets as a gift. 50 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:55,260 Never. 51 00:02:55,260 --> 00:02:56,660 Oh, yeah, you can't. 52 00:02:56,660 --> 00:03:01,860 Well, I think you probably know if I had to choose, you know, I love the cold weather. 53 00:03:01,860 --> 00:03:06,260 I think a little bit a little bit of that is the fact that I grew up up north. 54 00:03:06,260 --> 00:03:09,760 So this time of year to me is absolutely delicious. 55 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,260 I love this weather. 56 00:03:11,260 --> 00:03:13,360 I do live in the mountains. 57 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,460 So I'm going to say that I'm more of a mountain girl than a beach bum. 58 00:03:16,460 --> 00:03:17,860 Nothing wrong with the beach. 59 00:03:17,860 --> 00:03:22,360 You know, I love meeting up with you at the beach at least once a year, but you know, 60 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:23,560 I'm not going to get in that ocean. 61 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:25,560 That's for sure. 62 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,460 Entertain me for a minute because we're going to play would you rather go for it? 63 00:03:29,460 --> 00:03:31,260 I think I already know this answer. 64 00:03:31,260 --> 00:03:37,560 But if you had an opportunity to visit Alaska, would you rather take a cruise or go hiking 65 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:38,760 through the wilderness? 66 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,260 I would say take a cruise just because I've never been on a cruise. 67 00:03:42,260 --> 00:03:42,960 Okay. 68 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:44,060 Yeah, that's sensible. 69 00:03:44,060 --> 00:03:46,860 I know that you didn't you have one scheduled a couple years ago? 70 00:03:46,860 --> 00:03:49,060 We did and then COVID. 71 00:03:49,060 --> 00:03:51,860 Oh, yeah, I know that darn COVID. 72 00:03:51,860 --> 00:03:53,460 We got a full refund. 73 00:03:53,460 --> 00:03:54,160 That's good. 74 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:59,960 Well, today we are going to Alaska and we are going to be talking about Chris McCandless 75 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:05,160 today who was an infamous hiker who and I will say spoiler alert here. 76 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:10,460 Chris died in the Alaskan wilderness on August 18th, 1992. 77 00:04:10,460 --> 00:04:15,460 And once I start telling you this Shelby, you may actually know who he is. 78 00:04:15,460 --> 00:04:17,360 He's actually quite famous. 79 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:24,060 He is the subject of multiple outdoor enthusiast magazines plus a little book called Into the 80 00:04:24,060 --> 00:04:28,460 Wild which was written by one of my favorite authors John Krocour. 81 00:04:28,460 --> 00:04:30,060 I don't know if you read that book Shelbs. 82 00:04:30,060 --> 00:04:30,560 Have you? 83 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:31,560 I don't believe so. 84 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:32,660 Have you heard of it though? 85 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:34,460 It sounds familiar. 86 00:04:34,460 --> 00:04:38,960 Okay, it might sound a little bit more familiar as we go here. 87 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,860 This book is used in college level literature classes. 88 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:48,160 Sean Penn even directed a movie by the same name of Into the Wild. 89 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:49,860 I don't know if you ever saw the movie. 90 00:04:49,860 --> 00:04:55,060 Ah, now that you say Sean Penn, I'm going to Google it, but I do think I've seen that movie. 91 00:04:55,060 --> 00:04:55,960 No, don't Google it. 92 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,660 I want you to be surprised because that's how we roll on this podcast. 93 00:04:59,660 --> 00:04:59,960 All right. 94 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:03,460 I'm going to give you a little bit of a background on him before we get started. 95 00:05:03,460 --> 00:05:11,360 Christopher Johnson McCandless was born on February 12th, 1968 in El Segundo, California 96 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:18,160 to Billy and Walt McCandless, two successful entrepreneurs who encouraged Chris as he was 97 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:22,360 growing up to do well in school and to plan for his future. 98 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:29,460 Several articles that I read stated that Chris's dad was married to another woman when he met 99 00:05:29,460 --> 00:05:35,360 Chris's mother, which when Chris got older, he didn't appreciate that very much. 100 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:41,560 So his household was said to be somewhat disruptive, but to me, I feel like just from everything 101 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:46,960 that I read for this case, Shelby, the majority of the problem was that there was a house 102 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,960 full, simply full of headstrong people. 103 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,760 You had three people in the house that were, you know what it means, too many cooks in 104 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:54,360 the kitchen. 105 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:54,960 I do. 106 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:55,560 Yeah. 107 00:05:55,560 --> 00:06:01,860 So for the most part, I would say that the family life was what we would consider to 108 00:06:01,860 --> 00:06:07,960 be normal, albeit of course some drama, but you know that every single family in this 109 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,260 world has at least a little bit of drama, right? 110 00:06:10,260 --> 00:06:11,060 Oh, of course. 111 00:06:11,060 --> 00:06:17,660 Well, Chris eventually graduated from high school in 1986 and went on to earn a bachelor's 112 00:06:17,660 --> 00:06:24,260 degree from Emory University in Atlanta and double majored in history and anthropology. 113 00:06:24,260 --> 00:06:26,260 So he was a pretty smart guy. 114 00:06:26,260 --> 00:06:27,160 Yeah, absolutely. 115 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:28,160 He sounded like it. 116 00:06:29,060 --> 00:06:35,360 Instead of pursuing an immediate career after graduation though, Chris planned a getaway 117 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,760 to Alaska to take on the wilderness for a few months. 118 00:06:38,860 --> 00:06:42,060 I mean, Shelby, some of us backpack across Europe. 119 00:06:42,060 --> 00:06:46,660 Some of us take a cruise, but Chris opted to take an Alaskan hike. 120 00:06:46,860 --> 00:06:47,960 I think that's kind of cool. 121 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:48,760 That is really cool. 122 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:53,460 I would love to go backpacking across Europe, but visiting Alaska also sounds fun. 123 00:06:53,460 --> 00:06:59,960 Yeah, let me tell you one of the reasons why Chris decided to venture over to Alaska. 124 00:07:00,060 --> 00:07:05,360 According to his sister, Corrine, they were brought up in that tumultuous household that 125 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:11,660 I had mentioned and Corrine actually wrote a book called The Wild Truth, which I have 126 00:07:11,660 --> 00:07:17,860 not read personally, so I cannot say exactly what went on, but Corrine describes a childhood 127 00:07:17,860 --> 00:07:24,160 of emotional and physical abuse that she and her siblings, including Chris, endured. 128 00:07:24,260 --> 00:07:30,660 So I had mentioned headstrong people in the house and according to Corrine, Chris planned 129 00:07:30,660 --> 00:07:36,960 his travels very carefully to separate himself from his dysfunctional upbringing. 130 00:07:37,060 --> 00:07:42,860 In fact, Shelby, he didn't even tell his parents goodbye before he left for his trip. 131 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:43,860 Wow. 132 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:44,960 I don't know if I could do that. 133 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:46,660 Seems he just wanted to get away. 134 00:07:46,660 --> 00:07:48,060 Yeah, I guess so. 135 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:56,060 Chris even donated his life savings in the sum of just over $24,000 to a British charity 136 00:07:56,060 --> 00:08:01,360 group consisting of multiple charities that advocate for ending global poverty. 137 00:08:01,460 --> 00:08:03,160 Now that sounds like a good cause. 138 00:08:03,260 --> 00:08:04,460 It does sound like a good cause. 139 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:12,160 Once Chris was free of all of his responsibilities, he assumed the name Alexander Supertramp as 140 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:17,260 he began an eccentric life as what I would call a survivalist. 141 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:24,260 So he dropped the name Chris and went by Alex, anybody whose path he crossed during his adventures. 142 00:08:24,260 --> 00:08:26,660 He basically went by Alexander Supertramp. 143 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:31,060 Not sure where that last name came from, but I know that there is a music group by that name. 144 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,460 I was going to ask. 145 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:34,960 Yeah, I mean, that's all I can figure. 146 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,160 I never saw anything in any of the writings why he came up with that name. 147 00:08:39,260 --> 00:08:40,460 That's a big change. 148 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:41,960 It is a big change. 149 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:43,860 It's not just a Chris to Alex. 150 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:45,960 Yep, Supertramp. 151 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:52,760 He spent the next couple of years traveling and living off the land, making his way through 152 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:54,860 Arizona and South Dakota. 153 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,660 He even traveled down the Colorado River, which I think is pretty cool. 154 00:08:59,660 --> 00:09:02,760 I think it's got a lot of White Rapid River. 155 00:09:02,860 --> 00:09:03,760 Yeah, Whitewater. 156 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:04,960 Yeah. 157 00:09:05,060 --> 00:09:05,360 Okay. 158 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:07,260 So yeah, he did a lot of that. 159 00:09:07,260 --> 00:09:08,360 Oh, that would be fun. 160 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:09,960 Have you ever been? 161 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,460 No, I've never been, but I've seen pictures of when you did. 162 00:09:13,460 --> 00:09:14,060 Oh, yes. 163 00:09:14,060 --> 00:09:21,860 Well, after Arizona and South Dakota, Chris moved on to Alaska to hike the Stampede Trail. 164 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:27,660 Along the way as he made his way there, he worked odd jobs to earn money and eventually 165 00:09:27,660 --> 00:09:33,360 hitchhiked his way up into Canada and then over to Alaska to begin the biggest adventure 166 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:34,360 of his lifetime. 167 00:09:34,460 --> 00:09:35,960 Shelby, do you have a bucket list? 168 00:09:36,060 --> 00:09:37,660 I would like to say yes. 169 00:09:37,660 --> 00:09:43,360 Like I have things I want to do, but I feel like I'm a little bit more spontaneous. 170 00:09:43,460 --> 00:09:43,960 Okay. 171 00:09:44,060 --> 00:09:44,860 Yeah, me too. 172 00:09:44,860 --> 00:09:47,660 I think there's a couple things I would still like to do. 173 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,360 I actually marked one of those off when I went to DC. 174 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:54,760 I was able to go to Arlington Cemetery, which was on my bucket list. 175 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,460 If you've not had a chance to go there, Shelby, you really, really have to. 176 00:09:58,460 --> 00:09:59,960 There's so much history there. 177 00:10:00,060 --> 00:10:02,960 But oh my gosh, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 178 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:04,160 That's all I have to say. 179 00:10:04,260 --> 00:10:04,960 Go find him. 180 00:10:05,060 --> 00:10:06,660 He's in the Arlington Cemetery. 181 00:10:06,660 --> 00:10:07,560 Wow. 182 00:10:07,660 --> 00:10:12,760 So Chris had been living in the elements for a couple of years by now. 183 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:19,760 And according to some of his journals, there was an entry date of April 28th, 1992, 184 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:26,760 where he stated that he planned to reflect in a spiritual revolution in the Alaskan wilderness. 185 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:32,360 So basically Chris was, I think, in a crossroads of his life. 186 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:37,860 I mean, he was only 24 at the time, but his journal entries indicated, 187 00:10:37,860 --> 00:10:42,160 I think, that he was really trying to separate himself from the civilized world. 188 00:10:42,260 --> 00:10:46,960 So he was just minimalizing and getting rid of all of his material possessions 189 00:10:47,060 --> 00:10:48,960 and living off the land for a little while. 190 00:10:49,060 --> 00:10:54,160 Well, you know, in the beginning, you said that his parents were pretty successful. 191 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:58,860 And so maybe he grew up living a more lavish life and just wanted to let it go. 192 00:10:58,960 --> 00:10:59,660 Very true. 193 00:10:59,660 --> 00:11:02,360 He could have taken a philosophy class in school too. 194 00:11:02,460 --> 00:11:06,660 I know that sometimes when you take a class, they tend to send you in different directions. 195 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:09,260 I have no, there's nothing concrete about that. 196 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:13,160 But you know, there's something along the way made him change his thought process for sure. 197 00:11:13,260 --> 00:11:19,660 And his original intentions were to remain in Alaska only through July 1992. 198 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:25,260 So maybe a three-month trek just before heading back to the lower 48, 199 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:27,560 which by the way, if nobody knows what that is, 200 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:32,760 that would be the 48 states on the mainland of the continent of the United States, 201 00:11:32,860 --> 00:11:35,860 while Alaska is kind of up there separated a little bit. 202 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,360 As Chris hitchhiked his way across Alaska, 203 00:11:39,460 --> 00:11:44,460 a man by the name of Jim Galleon picked him up to help him along his route. 204 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,360 So that was nice. He picked up a hitchhiker along the way. 205 00:11:47,460 --> 00:11:52,360 As an Alaskan resident, Jim could tell when Chris got in the car 206 00:11:52,460 --> 00:11:56,960 that he was not fully equipped to tackle the Alaskan elements. 207 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,260 He even attempted to talk Chris out of this venture, 208 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:05,960 or at least drive him to encourage Alaska to get more supplies. 209 00:12:06,060 --> 00:12:09,160 Chris's response to this, Shelby, was simply, 210 00:12:09,260 --> 00:12:12,660 I'll be fine. No, thank you. I'll be all right. What do you think of that? 211 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,760 Wow. I wonder if he ever took a survivalist class 212 00:12:15,860 --> 00:12:18,060 and maybe that's why he thought he'd be fine. 213 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,860 I don't know. Well, he was being reflective on his life. 214 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,760 So, and then he didn't plan on being gone for very long. 215 00:12:23,860 --> 00:12:26,360 Right. I mean, three months is kind of a long time. 216 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,460 It is. As Jim dropped Chris off, 217 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:34,360 he did give Chris a pair of Wellington boots to help him keep warm. 218 00:12:34,460 --> 00:12:35,760 So that was nice of him. 219 00:12:35,860 --> 00:12:38,860 Oddly enough, though, Chris left his watch 220 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,360 along with the only map that he had. 221 00:12:41,460 --> 00:12:44,660 He left those behind in Jim's car before they parted ways. 222 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:46,560 I don't know if that was on purpose. 223 00:12:46,660 --> 00:12:52,160 I was going to say, because those are two very identifiable things for people, 224 00:12:52,260 --> 00:12:55,460 the watch, because it's something that his family would recognize, 225 00:12:55,460 --> 00:12:58,760 and the map, because it could potentially tell where he was actually going, 226 00:12:58,860 --> 00:13:01,060 or maybe the route he was going to be taking. 227 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,460 Oh, yeah. He should have 100% had that map on him. 228 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:06,260 And you'll see why in just a couple of minutes. 229 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:10,060 Well, as Chris made his way through the Stampede Trail, 230 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,960 which is located in the Denali National Park and Preserve area of Alaska, 231 00:13:15,060 --> 00:13:18,060 he came across bus number 142 232 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:22,160 that was once used by the Fairbanks Alaska City Transit System. 233 00:13:22,260 --> 00:13:24,760 So he's basically hiking down this trail, Shelby, 234 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:27,260 and comes across an old bus. 235 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,660 The bus was deactivated from the fleet 236 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,260 and was deliberately placed on the Stampede Trail, 237 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:35,060 originally for work crews, 238 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:41,160 but was eventually left out for hikers who used it as a shelter or a base camp 239 00:13:41,260 --> 00:13:46,160 as outdoor enthusiasts trekked the eight-mile strip of primitive land 240 00:13:46,260 --> 00:13:47,760 along the Stampede Creek, 241 00:13:47,860 --> 00:13:52,160 which also ran along the Teclanica River. 242 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:58,060 And Shelby, this river is going to play a very important part in Chris's fate. 243 00:13:58,160 --> 00:13:59,660 Give me a little bit of goosebumps. 244 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,160 Oh, due to the harsh winter conditions, 245 00:14:02,260 --> 00:14:05,860 plus sitting near the Teclanica River, 246 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:10,360 this trail is considered to be quite primitive and dangerous, 247 00:14:10,460 --> 00:14:12,560 depending on the time of year that you're there. 248 00:14:12,660 --> 00:14:16,660 You have cold frigid seasons, you have thawing seasons. 249 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,460 So when all the snow there starts to melt, 250 00:14:19,460 --> 00:14:23,760 the Stampede Trail extends much further than the eight miles 251 00:14:23,860 --> 00:14:26,360 of the most populated hiking areas, 252 00:14:26,460 --> 00:14:28,860 and the conditions can worsen for hikers 253 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:33,060 who are not fully prepared and lack proper survival gear. 254 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:38,360 So this is where a little bit of the controversy of this story comes in, Shelby, 255 00:14:38,460 --> 00:14:39,860 because according to experts, 256 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:45,760 Chris was one of these hikers who was ill-prepared to spend three months 257 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:50,460 in the Alaskan wilderness without the proper equipment and gear. 258 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,660 Sure, even the gentleman that picked him up recognized that. 259 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:54,660 Mm-hmm. 260 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:56,160 Well, I don't know how much you remember 261 00:14:56,260 --> 00:14:58,660 when we went camping when you were young. 262 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:00,460 I mean, we did that quite a bit, actually. 263 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:05,160 But I practically, I mean, do you know how much equipment that we had to take 264 00:15:05,260 --> 00:15:08,860 just to go to the state park and set up camp on the campgrounds? 265 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,960 We had a ton of stuff that we had to take, 266 00:15:12,060 --> 00:15:14,360 and let alone for three months' time. 267 00:15:14,460 --> 00:15:15,160 Mm-hmm. 268 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:20,060 I mentioned that Chris only planned to stay out there for around three months. 269 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,760 Well, here comes that thawing season that I had mentioned, 270 00:15:23,860 --> 00:15:27,660 and this usually occurs somewhere around May. 271 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:32,660 So remember now, he entered the Alaskan wilderness back at the end of April, 272 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,060 so he is already going into May. 273 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:35,660 Yeah. 274 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,860 And that's when all the snow's going to start to melt 275 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:41,960 and the waters start building up a little bit. 276 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:46,360 Chris arrived in April just one month before that thawing season. 277 00:15:46,460 --> 00:15:51,260 So I mentioned that he had also set up camp along the Teclinica River, 278 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:55,060 and according to his journals, he felt like he hit the jackpot 279 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:57,860 when he came upon that bus 142. 280 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:00,760 I'm going to keep referencing bus number 142 281 00:16:00,860 --> 00:16:05,360 because it is a really, really critical piece of this story today. 282 00:16:05,460 --> 00:16:08,160 But when he came across that bus, he thought, 283 00:16:08,260 --> 00:16:09,360 well, this is a nice setup. 284 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:13,460 I'm just going to stay here for a little while to keep myself out of the elements 285 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:19,560 because it had been used for hikers and hunters and work crews in the past. 286 00:16:19,660 --> 00:16:21,560 So he had a pretty good thing going. 287 00:16:21,660 --> 00:16:24,360 Yeah, I think he was pretty lucky in the first place to find it. 288 00:16:24,460 --> 00:16:25,260 Mm-hmm. 289 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:29,460 Well, as May approached, the Alaskan terrain began to thaw out 290 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:34,860 and the Teclinica River swelled from a small trickling creek 291 00:16:34,860 --> 00:16:42,560 into a full-blown, 75-foot wide Whitewater Rapids River in just a matter of days. 292 00:16:42,660 --> 00:16:45,260 I had a feeling that's what was going to happen. 293 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:47,160 Yep, sure did. 294 00:16:47,260 --> 00:16:52,560 Well, historically, the Alaskan terrain by the Teclinica River 295 00:16:52,660 --> 00:16:55,760 makes it virtually impossible to cross 296 00:16:55,860 --> 00:16:59,360 no matter how skilled you are as a survivalist. 297 00:16:59,460 --> 00:17:03,160 And Chris had made multiple attempts to cross the river 298 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:07,260 during the Alaskan thawing season, but was never successful 299 00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:11,560 and ended up being forced back to his camping area by bus 142. 300 00:17:11,660 --> 00:17:14,460 And I want to give you just a little bit of a perspective, Shelby, 301 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:19,360 on the amount of watershed that accumulated while Chris was setting up residents 302 00:17:19,460 --> 00:17:23,060 because I found the measured precipitation during that time 303 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:25,260 because you know that's what I do. 304 00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:27,860 I always look for more information. 305 00:17:27,860 --> 00:17:34,260 Meteorologists documented a 20% above average precipitation 306 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:39,360 for this time of year, which equaled somewhere around 68 centimeters 307 00:17:39,460 --> 00:17:46,660 or 26.77 inches of water accumulation in a very short period of time, 308 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,960 which could result in flash flooding. 309 00:17:49,060 --> 00:17:52,660 These wet conditions were not a critical problem per se, 310 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,060 but Chris's food supply certainly was becoming an issue. 311 00:17:56,060 --> 00:18:00,760 According to his journals, Chris only carried 10 pounds of rice with him 312 00:18:00,860 --> 00:18:04,560 on this journey that he planned on spending three months on. 313 00:18:04,660 --> 00:18:05,760 So 10 pounds. 314 00:18:05,860 --> 00:18:08,460 Yeah, I mean, it sounds like a lot, but you know, 315 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:10,660 you have to eat three times a day at least. 316 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,560 So I don't know how he was thinking that would last three months. 317 00:18:14,660 --> 00:18:17,360 I guess he was just trying to, you know, not pack so much 318 00:18:17,460 --> 00:18:20,460 so he didn't have a ton of weight on him while he was hiking. 319 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,860 Yeah, I'm wondering if maybe you'll bring this up later on, 320 00:18:23,860 --> 00:18:27,860 but once the, you know, the river thawed out, 321 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:33,060 was he on the side of the river where it was easily accessible 322 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,360 to maybe the closest town or did he have to cross the river? 323 00:18:37,460 --> 00:18:42,160 Nope, he had to cross that river to get back to civilization. 324 00:18:42,260 --> 00:18:45,260 So that was part of, I guess I didn't really make that clear. 325 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:46,760 So thanks for asking that question. 326 00:18:46,860 --> 00:18:50,460 Yeah, he had to cross the river just to get back to, you know, 327 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:52,360 his normal life and everything else 328 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:54,460 in the closest town in Alaska. 329 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,560 I'm not even sure how he ended up on that trail, 330 00:18:57,660 --> 00:19:00,160 but obviously at the time of year he went, 331 00:19:00,260 --> 00:19:03,060 he probably crossed just a regular little creek 332 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:04,860 that he didn't think anything about 333 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,860 and probably had no idea that river was going to swell up 334 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:10,360 as much as it did. 335 00:19:10,460 --> 00:19:13,160 Well, if he had his map, maybe that would have shown 336 00:19:13,260 --> 00:19:14,760 there was a large river there. 337 00:19:14,860 --> 00:19:19,260 Yeah, and then to think about any movie of the wilderness 338 00:19:19,260 --> 00:19:23,060 and people are trying to cross in the suspenseful time of that movie 339 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,360 is when you see them crossing the white water rapids 340 00:19:26,460 --> 00:19:28,060 and getting swept away. 341 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,560 I mean, that's not unheard of in this area. 342 00:19:30,660 --> 00:19:34,560 Chris also had trouble securing sustainable nutrients 343 00:19:34,660 --> 00:19:35,760 from his surroundings. 344 00:19:35,860 --> 00:19:40,460 He was able to get berries and occasionally he could snare something, 345 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,660 but he didn't have a ton of resources 346 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,060 that he could live off the land for a little while. 347 00:19:47,060 --> 00:19:51,560 There was very little wildlife, very little vegetation in his area. 348 00:19:51,660 --> 00:19:54,760 So it's believed that Chris did starve to death, 349 00:19:54,860 --> 00:19:59,460 which is why experts believe that Chris was trying to cross that river 350 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:02,060 to get back to civilization like we mentioned. 351 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,160 Yeah, he would have gotten weaker and weaker 352 00:20:04,260 --> 00:20:06,560 and that would have obviously lessened his chances 353 00:20:06,660 --> 00:20:08,460 to be able to cross the river. 354 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:09,760 Absolutely, yeah, 355 00:20:09,860 --> 00:20:12,360 because you definitely need to have some strength for that. 356 00:20:12,460 --> 00:20:14,560 Well, I had to go look this one up too, 357 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,660 because this is not the first time that I've wondered this. 358 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,460 I've talked to some of my students 359 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,860 about how long somebody can live without food or water, 360 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,760 which is somewhere between one and three weeks. 361 00:20:27,860 --> 00:20:29,960 If we had access to water, 362 00:20:30,060 --> 00:20:33,260 we could potentially live up to one to two months 363 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,660 depending on our health, our body mass index and things like that. 364 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:41,760 But it seemed that Chris was showing a little bit of desperation 365 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:46,460 and so he was in the process of cutting that Alaskan trip short 366 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:47,860 to get back home again. 367 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:49,360 Oh, that's sad. 368 00:20:49,460 --> 00:20:50,260 Yeah. 369 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:53,060 On September 6th, 1992, 370 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:57,260 a hunter came across Chris inside bus number 142. 371 00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:59,360 According to his journal entries, 372 00:20:59,460 --> 00:21:04,860 Chris likely died from starvation on August 18th, 1992, 373 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,160 based on his emancipated state, 374 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,660 which means Shelby, that he had lost a ton of weight 375 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,660 and would have appeared to be very malnourished. 376 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:19,260 I saw some conflicting results in some of the articles that I read 377 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:21,860 and gosh, I even have this book. 378 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:23,660 Shout out to my friend Olive, 379 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,060 who gladly handed this book over to me 380 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,860 because it is one of my favorite books and she hated it. 381 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:30,560 But I should have looked this one up. 382 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:37,060 He lived somewhere between 114 and 119 days out in the wilderness. 383 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,860 Chris was found inside a sleeping bag 384 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,160 and his body had already begun to decompose. 385 00:21:43,260 --> 00:21:48,460 His normal body weight was somewhere around 140 pounds 386 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,060 when he first began the journey. 387 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,460 When he was found Shelby, he only weighed 67 pounds. 388 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,860 So he really did just waste away. 389 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:58,060 Wow. 390 00:21:58,060 --> 00:22:01,360 Outdoor experts, along with the author of the book 391 00:22:01,460 --> 00:22:03,860 Into the Wild by John Krocauer, 392 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,060 believed that Chris could have either starved to death 393 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,060 or had been poisoned by consuming potato seeds. 394 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:11,160 And I do remember that. 395 00:22:11,260 --> 00:22:15,460 I was like, how could little tiny itty bitty seeds poison you? 396 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,360 Because apparently they have some high toxicity 397 00:22:18,460 --> 00:22:20,360 and should not be consumed. 398 00:22:20,460 --> 00:22:22,960 But I did find several articles 399 00:22:23,060 --> 00:22:26,260 while I was looking all this up that kind of debunked this theory, 400 00:22:26,260 --> 00:22:30,460 saying that the compounds found in potato seeds are non-toxic. 401 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:32,660 So there's a lot of controversy there. 402 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,660 I personally am not a science or math person. 403 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,560 So I was not going to go look up all those theories 404 00:22:38,660 --> 00:22:40,260 on if he died from that or not. 405 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:42,360 I would say in my opinion, 406 00:22:42,460 --> 00:22:44,460 it was definitely leaning towards starvation, 407 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,960 but I'm sure there were other elements involved. 408 00:22:48,060 --> 00:22:51,060 John Krocauer later revised his theory 409 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,860 that Chris had died from poisonous potato seeds 410 00:22:53,860 --> 00:22:56,260 based on those scientific findings. 411 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:59,560 And other experts debated if Chris was killed 412 00:22:59,660 --> 00:23:02,860 by an ongoing exposure to black mold. 413 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:03,960 What do you think of that? 414 00:23:04,060 --> 00:23:05,260 That's very interesting. 415 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:07,460 Yeah, you know black mold can kill you, right? 416 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:09,460 Yeah, did they find evidence in the bus? 417 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,360 Nope, nothing highly conclusive. 418 00:23:11,460 --> 00:23:15,460 But think about how much wear and tear that bus has gotten 419 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,160 over the period of time that it was out there 420 00:23:18,260 --> 00:23:21,260 and the elements and if there was an old mattress. 421 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:22,660 If you go look up the pictures, 422 00:23:22,660 --> 00:23:25,060 you will see that it's in pretty bad shape 423 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,560 and you really don't want to stay there for too long. 424 00:23:27,660 --> 00:23:29,360 I think one night would be fine, 425 00:23:29,460 --> 00:23:31,360 but it's not an extended period of time. 426 00:23:31,460 --> 00:23:33,360 It's not an extended stay, you know what I mean? 427 00:23:33,460 --> 00:23:34,160 For sure. 428 00:23:34,260 --> 00:23:34,960 All right. 429 00:23:35,060 --> 00:23:37,860 Some other outdoor experts also stated 430 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,260 that Chris may have been malnourished 431 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:43,360 due to a high intake of lean meats, 432 00:23:43,460 --> 00:23:45,760 which could have blocked other nutrients 433 00:23:45,860 --> 00:23:47,960 that he ingested in smaller increments. 434 00:23:48,060 --> 00:23:51,060 So basically if he killed a rabbit 435 00:23:51,060 --> 00:23:54,160 or I think that he actually killed a caribou 436 00:23:54,260 --> 00:23:55,360 at some point in time, 437 00:23:55,460 --> 00:23:58,860 but if he was eating high volumes of meat 438 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,260 but didn't counteract that with some type of vegetable, 439 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,760 then that could have contributed to his malnourishment. 440 00:24:05,860 --> 00:24:07,060 He may have been eating, 441 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,660 but it was not nourishing him the way that our bodies need it. 442 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:11,760 Does that make sense? 443 00:24:11,860 --> 00:24:13,060 It does, that's interesting. 444 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:14,660 Aren't caribous pretty big? 445 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:15,760 Isn't that like a moose? 446 00:24:15,860 --> 00:24:17,460 Ashley, believe it or not, Shelby, 447 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:18,660 I didn't put this in my notes, 448 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,160 but I do remember reading it. 449 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,860 Caribous are probably the size of a moose 450 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,160 and I believe Chris did write 451 00:24:25,260 --> 00:24:28,460 that he had at some point in time shot a moose, 452 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,260 but as they found out later, it was a caribou. 453 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:34,660 And I will also tell you this, 454 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,860 he did live off of it for a little while, 455 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:42,460 but a lot of that meat rotted before he could store it away 456 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:46,960 or he probably honestly got maybe one or two meals out of it 457 00:24:47,060 --> 00:24:48,160 and that was all. 458 00:24:48,260 --> 00:24:48,960 Ugh. 459 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,060 There's been a lot of controversy surrounding Chris's death 460 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,760 from survivalist experts over the years 461 00:24:54,860 --> 00:24:59,960 and some believe that he was just simply too inexperienced 462 00:25:00,060 --> 00:25:02,660 to set out for such a daunting trek 463 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,560 without the proper preparation, which we had talked about 464 00:25:05,660 --> 00:25:08,260 because again, he left his map behind 465 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:10,160 and he only brought books with him 466 00:25:10,260 --> 00:25:12,160 and he did not even have a compass. 467 00:25:12,260 --> 00:25:15,260 So he was just going out for a leisurely hike 468 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:17,060 and came across the bus, 469 00:25:17,060 --> 00:25:18,860 decided he was going to hang for a while, 470 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,060 but didn't have any directional devices like a compass 471 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,060 or a map or anything to help him out. 472 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,260 Had he had that map Shelby, 473 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:30,660 he would have seen something on the map 474 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:35,460 that was giving him an area relatively close by too. 475 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:40,460 It was an aluminum basket that provided hikers with a cable 476 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:45,260 and some pulleys to cross the Teclinica River safely, 477 00:25:45,260 --> 00:25:47,660 but it was located, I'm going to say, 478 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,760 I don't know about a mile upstream 479 00:25:49,860 --> 00:25:53,860 from where the water broke out into smaller channels. 480 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:55,460 Wow, how unfortunate. 481 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:56,860 Very, yeah. 482 00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:03,060 He was trying to cross the river probably at its widest peak 483 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:08,060 and clearly he probably didn't investigate the area very well, 484 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,360 even just to take a mile hike up that stampede trail 485 00:26:11,460 --> 00:26:12,460 or up the river. 486 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:13,360 He just didn't do it. 487 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:18,260 He basically lounged for quite an extended period of time. 488 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:19,260 Right. 489 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:21,260 I wonder, it seems like they were, 490 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:24,260 the community was trying to take pretty good care 491 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:25,660 of the hikers and whatnot. 492 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:27,760 So I wonder why there weren't maps on the bus. 493 00:26:27,860 --> 00:26:29,260 Yes. 494 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:30,560 You know what else I wonder? 495 00:26:30,660 --> 00:26:32,960 How come no other hikers came across Chris 496 00:26:33,060 --> 00:26:34,860 while he was there for three months? 497 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:36,460 That's what's surprising to me, 498 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,560 especially if the Alaskan authorities put that out there 499 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:43,860 specifically for hikers to take refuge in, you know, 500 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:44,860 bad weather. 501 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:49,460 But there was also a cabin about six miles away 502 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,760 that kept food stocked for hikers and other supplies 503 00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:55,260 while hunters were in the area. 504 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:57,460 So anytime the hunters were out there, 505 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,060 there was a cabin. 506 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,060 It was like a community cabin 507 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,560 that was clearly marked on local maps. 508 00:27:04,660 --> 00:27:05,460 Wow. 509 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,860 Other experts believe that Chris should have been able 510 00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:12,560 to wait out the rise of the Teclanica River 511 00:27:12,660 --> 00:27:16,360 and he should have eventually been able to pass. 512 00:27:16,460 --> 00:27:20,060 However, I don't know if it was the timing. 513 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,360 And I think honestly on the days 514 00:27:22,460 --> 00:27:24,560 that he was trying to pass at this point, 515 00:27:24,660 --> 00:27:27,360 he was really losing a lot of energy 516 00:27:27,460 --> 00:27:31,160 and really starting to feel the effects of starvation. 517 00:27:31,260 --> 00:27:34,560 So I just think the timing was really off for him. 518 00:27:34,660 --> 00:27:35,560 That is. 519 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,660 He seemed very excited to be going out on that adventure 520 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,060 and it's sad the way that it ended up. 521 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:44,460 Well, after his death, 522 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,860 experts surveyed the Teclanica River 523 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,660 and after researching the water flow from the melting snow 524 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,560 and ice that I had mentioned from that time of year, 525 00:27:54,660 --> 00:27:56,660 they reached the conclusion 526 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,560 that Chris did not take the time to familiarize himself 527 00:28:00,660 --> 00:28:02,060 with his surroundings 528 00:28:02,060 --> 00:28:07,360 and chose one of the worst days of the year to try to pass. 529 00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:09,760 Had he even gone a week earlier, Shelby, 530 00:28:09,860 --> 00:28:12,060 I don't think we'd be talking about this case today. 531 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:15,560 Oh, when he was so young, I'm sure. 532 00:28:15,660 --> 00:28:16,660 I know. 533 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,360 Well, let me give you some feedback 534 00:28:19,460 --> 00:28:22,960 on Chris's journaling that he had written. 535 00:28:23,060 --> 00:28:24,760 Apparently, I don't know, 536 00:28:24,860 --> 00:28:28,360 I had mentioned the 114 to 119 days 537 00:28:28,460 --> 00:28:30,760 that he was out in the Alaskan wilderness. 538 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,860 In all, Chris left 113 journal entries 539 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,260 during his time on the Stampede Trail 540 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:39,660 and he was extremely vigilant 541 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:41,960 about keeping up with those journals. 542 00:28:42,060 --> 00:28:44,760 Shelby, if you were to read it from beginning to end, 543 00:28:44,860 --> 00:28:47,960 I think that he probably started off 544 00:28:48,060 --> 00:28:50,760 with quite a bit of optimism about this trip 545 00:28:50,860 --> 00:28:53,860 and one of the entries nearing the beginning 546 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,860 of his adventures read and I'll quote, 547 00:28:56,860 --> 00:29:01,960 the very basic core of man's living spirit is in his passion for adventure. 548 00:29:02,060 --> 00:29:06,060 The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences 549 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,560 and hence there is no greater joy 550 00:29:08,660 --> 00:29:11,860 than to have an endlessly changing horizon 551 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:16,360 for each day to have a new and different sun unquote. 552 00:29:16,460 --> 00:29:17,760 That's kind of nice. 553 00:29:17,860 --> 00:29:21,460 Well, some people interpret this journal entry 554 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:25,260 to mean that everyone, you, me, and everyone, Shelby, 555 00:29:25,260 --> 00:29:28,260 can benefit from a minimalist lifestyle. 556 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,260 I agree with that to a certain extent, absolutely. 557 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:34,560 I mean, we all have our nice house that we're living in, 558 00:29:34,660 --> 00:29:37,060 but do we really need to fill it up with stuff? 559 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:38,460 According to his journals, 560 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,160 I had mentioned that Chris was also carrying 561 00:29:41,260 --> 00:29:43,060 eight pounds of rice with him. 562 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,360 He also had a 22 caliber rifle, 563 00:29:46,460 --> 00:29:50,160 which he did use to hunt if the hunting was available. 564 00:29:50,260 --> 00:29:53,460 Otherwise, he lived off of berries that he could find. 565 00:29:53,460 --> 00:29:55,260 As the days wore on, 566 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,760 Chris's journaling became less enthusiastic 567 00:29:58,860 --> 00:30:02,160 because on July 5th, 1992, 568 00:30:02,260 --> 00:30:06,560 the day that he had tried to cross the Teclinica River, Shelby, 569 00:30:06,660 --> 00:30:09,360 he was forced back to bus number 142 570 00:30:09,460 --> 00:30:12,060 and in his journal he wrote, quote, 571 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,760 rained in, river looks impossible, 572 00:30:14,860 --> 00:30:17,160 lonely, scared, unquote. 573 00:30:17,260 --> 00:30:20,360 So yeah, he's starting to kind of get in his head. 574 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:25,060 Now remember, he was only there between 114 and 119 days. 575 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,560 By day 107, Chris wrote, beautiful blueberries. 576 00:30:29,660 --> 00:30:34,360 And afterwards, he only journaled tick marks or tally marks, 577 00:30:34,460 --> 00:30:37,360 like he was simply counting days at that point in time. 578 00:30:37,460 --> 00:30:40,560 He didn't even have enough energy at that point to write anything. 579 00:30:40,660 --> 00:30:44,060 He did leave one message amongst his journal entries, 580 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,960 which read in block letters, quote, 581 00:30:47,060 --> 00:30:50,160 I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. 582 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:53,360 Goodbye and may God bless all, end quote. 583 00:30:53,460 --> 00:30:56,260 So, you know, there's a lot going on. 584 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,660 He is definitely doing some reflecting here. 585 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:00,060 And before he died, 586 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,860 Chris did leave one final note on the door of the bus, 587 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,660 which read, quote, attention possible visitors. 588 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,260 SOS, I need your help. 589 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:14,260 I'm injured, near death and too weak to hike. 590 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:15,660 I'm all alone. 591 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:17,360 This is no joke. 592 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,260 In the name of God, please remain to save me. 593 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,860 I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. 594 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:27,860 Thank you, unquote. 595 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,860 And Chris signed his real name this time, 596 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,460 not Alex Supertramp, but he did sign his real name, 597 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:36,560 which was entered the month of August. 598 00:31:36,660 --> 00:31:37,760 It didn't give a date. 599 00:31:37,860 --> 00:31:39,160 I think at that point in time, 600 00:31:39,260 --> 00:31:41,660 he had kind of lost track of the days, 601 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:43,860 but he did say it was August. 602 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:45,060 That's so sad. 603 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:45,960 Yeah. 604 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,060 Any thoughts on his journaling shelves? 605 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,360 I mean, it's just, you know, sad that he was so excited. 606 00:31:51,460 --> 00:31:53,660 He was so young at 24 years old. 607 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,760 Who knows exactly what they want to do with their life. 608 00:31:56,860 --> 00:32:00,860 So, you know, he wanted to take three months off and was excited. 609 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,760 And then just for, I can't tell you, you know, 610 00:32:03,860 --> 00:32:06,460 how many times was probably going through his head. 611 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:07,860 Yep, I messed up. 612 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:08,860 Oh, yeah. 613 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:13,460 Well, his legacy has left somewhat of pop culture, 614 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:15,460 along with bus 142, 615 00:32:15,460 --> 00:32:19,460 because as the popularity of this story intensified, 616 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:23,360 several hikers attempted to make their way to the same bus 617 00:32:23,460 --> 00:32:24,760 where Chris perished. 618 00:32:24,860 --> 00:32:28,160 And I mentioned that several magazine articles were written 619 00:32:28,260 --> 00:32:31,160 along with that book and the movie reflecting 620 00:32:31,260 --> 00:32:34,460 Chris McCandless's misfortunes in Alaska. 621 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:38,160 This seemed to create somewhat of a pop culture. 622 00:32:38,260 --> 00:32:44,260 And over the years, many hikers came across that infamous bus 142. 623 00:32:44,260 --> 00:32:49,060 It's said that somewhere over 100 people have visited the trail 624 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,360 every year where Chris was found. 625 00:32:51,460 --> 00:32:54,660 Some hikers even had their pictures taken near the bus. 626 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,160 And one of those photos that I saw, Shelby, 627 00:32:57,260 --> 00:33:00,760 there was a hiker that was posing in the exact same manner 628 00:33:00,860 --> 00:33:03,460 that Chris was in his own photos. 629 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:07,160 Now, other hikers had to be rescued from the same area 630 00:33:07,260 --> 00:33:09,560 where Chris McCandless met his fate. 631 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:15,260 In 2010, a 24-year-old Swiss hiker named Claire Ackerman 632 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:19,460 drowned while she attempted to cross the Teclanica River 633 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,760 close to the location where Chris had camped. 634 00:33:21,860 --> 00:33:25,060 It's my understanding she was actually trying to get to that bus, Shelby. 635 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:29,960 But her fellow hiker said that she was not pursuing that campground. 636 00:33:30,060 --> 00:33:30,560 Wow. 637 00:33:30,660 --> 00:33:34,560 So again, you have a lot of speculations here on what was happening. 638 00:33:34,660 --> 00:33:36,760 Was she going to look for that bus? 639 00:33:36,860 --> 00:33:37,960 Was she not? 640 00:33:38,060 --> 00:33:38,960 I have no idea. 641 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:45,060 Between 2009 and 2019, at least 15 search and rescues 642 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:50,860 were coordinated to locate hikers who went in pursuit of bus number 142. 643 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,860 Eight more hikers had to be rescued from the Stampede Trail, 644 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:57,860 plus one more drowning occurred. 645 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:01,860 So that's a shame that anybody, you know, even if they were, 646 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:06,260 I mean, it's like me going to Washington, DC and seeing all these monuments. 647 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:07,660 I get it. 648 00:34:07,660 --> 00:34:08,960 It's historical. 649 00:34:09,060 --> 00:34:11,960 It's really cool to see, but I'm not going to put myself in danger 650 00:34:12,060 --> 00:34:13,160 to get there to look at it. 651 00:34:13,260 --> 00:34:14,160 Absolutely not. 652 00:34:14,260 --> 00:34:17,260 It seems like they need to move the bus closer to town 653 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,460 or put it in, I don't know, a museum or something. 654 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:22,360 Were you reading ahead on my notes? 655 00:34:22,460 --> 00:34:23,260 Oh, no. 656 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,160 Literally, I was about to tell you. 657 00:34:25,260 --> 00:34:31,360 Oh, they put it in a museum. 658 00:34:31,460 --> 00:34:32,460 Yeah, guess what? 659 00:34:32,460 --> 00:34:39,760 So on June 18th of 2020, Alaskan authorities removed that bus from the trail 660 00:34:39,860 --> 00:34:43,160 due to the dangerous terrain and the amount of hikers 661 00:34:43,260 --> 00:34:46,960 who continuously tried to reach the spot where Chris had passed away 662 00:34:47,060 --> 00:34:48,560 and needed to be rescued. 663 00:34:48,660 --> 00:34:53,360 And yes, Shelby, the bus now resides at the University of Alaska's 664 00:34:53,460 --> 00:34:56,860 Museum of the North in Fairbanks, Alaska. 665 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:57,860 So there you go. 666 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:01,260 That is an abridged version of Chris McCandless, 667 00:35:01,260 --> 00:35:07,760 the infamous hiker who unfortunately perished in the wild Alaskan terrain 668 00:35:07,860 --> 00:35:13,460 and had a lot of popularity following his adventure. 669 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:15,960 I did want to give you a side note on this. 670 00:35:16,060 --> 00:35:21,960 The hunter who found Chris inside bus 142 was at some point 671 00:35:22,060 --> 00:35:27,160 standoffish with the Alaskan authorities because in 2014, 672 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:32,660 he was shot to death when he used a vehicle in a threatening manner towards the police. 673 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:33,460 What? 674 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:36,960 He was using his vehicle as a deadly weapon and was shot down. 675 00:35:37,060 --> 00:35:38,360 That's tragic. 676 00:35:38,460 --> 00:35:39,660 Yeah, that's wild. 677 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:45,060 So many people are split on if Chris was simply being reckless 678 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,360 when he hiked out into the wilderness unprepared 679 00:35:48,460 --> 00:35:51,060 or if he was just down on his luck. 680 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:56,060 Regardless, we would love to hear what our listeners have to think on this subject. 681 00:35:56,060 --> 00:36:01,260 So by all means, DM us on Instagram at dying to be found 682 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:06,260 or shoot us an email at dying the number to the letter B found at gmail.com. 683 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:10,360 So otherwise, Shelby, that's the story of Chris McCandless. 684 00:36:10,460 --> 00:36:11,760 Well, thank you for sharing. 685 00:36:11,860 --> 00:36:13,860 I really enjoyed that story. 686 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:14,360 Great. 687 00:36:14,460 --> 00:36:16,060 Are you ready for my teachable moment? 688 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:21,960 I am, but it is Shelby and cats and the said cat wants inside. 689 00:36:22,060 --> 00:36:23,160 So I must go let her in. 690 00:36:23,260 --> 00:36:23,860 I'll be back. 691 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:25,660 Okay, Shelby with cats. 692 00:36:25,660 --> 00:36:26,560 We'll be right back. 693 00:36:26,660 --> 00:36:30,360 I swear you all I'm going to start putting little stories in while she's away 694 00:36:30,460 --> 00:36:33,160 because I used to have a lot of fun with this with Beth. 695 00:36:33,260 --> 00:36:35,560 But again, we have a better platform now. 696 00:36:35,660 --> 00:36:37,560 That doesn't drop like she used to. 697 00:36:37,660 --> 00:36:40,360 I'm going to have to think of a story about Shelby with cats. 698 00:36:40,460 --> 00:36:41,060 I'm back. 699 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:43,260 Okay, now I'm ready for our teachable moment. 700 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:44,360 All right, here we go. 701 00:36:44,460 --> 00:36:45,260 Teachable moment. 702 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:49,460 I think this goes without saying that no matter what our hobby is, 703 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,560 we need to be prepared. 704 00:36:51,660 --> 00:36:54,860 People who run marathons don't just wake up and decide 705 00:36:54,860 --> 00:36:59,760 they're going to go jogging during the Boston Marathon or the Peach Tree Road Race. 706 00:36:59,860 --> 00:37:03,060 They prepare for them for months in advance. 707 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:08,860 People who climb Mount Everest do the same thing and even take professional guides with them. 708 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:10,560 Same situation here. 709 00:37:10,660 --> 00:37:15,060 Shelby, Chris to me seemed like a quite intelligent fellow 710 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:21,260 and he did well as a survivalist in Arizona and South Dakota 711 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:24,060 before he made his way to Alaska. 712 00:37:24,060 --> 00:37:26,960 But those conditions were completely different. 713 00:37:27,060 --> 00:37:28,960 So did he do his homework? 714 00:37:29,060 --> 00:37:30,560 That we'll never know. 715 00:37:30,660 --> 00:37:35,260 According to his journals, not as much as he probably should have. 716 00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:37,960 So whether you're planning to hike across Europe, 717 00:37:38,060 --> 00:37:40,660 take a rock climbing excursion, 718 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:44,460 or even plan a few months to hike the Appalachian Trail, 719 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:47,460 you need to understand what you're getting yourself into. 720 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,260 Read up on the conditions, 721 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:50,760 talk to experts, 722 00:37:50,860 --> 00:37:52,960 and pack the proper equipment. 723 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:54,160 So that's it, Shelbs. 724 00:37:54,260 --> 00:37:55,160 Short and sweet. 725 00:37:55,260 --> 00:37:56,460 That's my teachable moment. 726 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:57,360 I like it. 727 00:37:57,460 --> 00:37:58,460 Thank you so much. 728 00:37:58,560 --> 00:37:59,660 You're welcome. 729 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:01,360 So with that being said, 730 00:38:01,460 --> 00:38:03,160 are you going to say it or am I? 731 00:38:03,260 --> 00:38:04,260 You can say it. 732 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:05,760 That is a wrap. 733 00:38:07,460 --> 00:38:09,760 Thanks for listening to Dying to be Found. 734 00:38:09,860 --> 00:38:14,960 Before we go, we would love for you to leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. 735 00:38:15,060 --> 00:38:20,660 Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest at Dying to be Found. 736 00:38:20,660 --> 00:38:25,860 You can access our website, email, social media, and Storyline Request form 737 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:29,360 by clicking on our Linktree account found in our show notes. 738 00:38:29,460 --> 00:38:30,860 If you like our episodes, 739 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:34,260 consider buying us a coffee at BuyMeACoffee.com 740 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:35,860 slash Dying to be Found, 741 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,060 spelled just like you see it on our logo. 742 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:41,760 Feel free to message us on Instagram and let us know how we're doing. 743 00:38:41,860 --> 00:38:43,260 Or if you'd like a sticker, 744 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,560 with that, be sure to check us out every Thursday, 745 00:38:46,660 --> 00:38:48,360 wherever you get your podcasts. 746 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:50,760 We will talk to you all next week.