Tragic story behind photo of man holding note who hiked into the wild and never came back
Topics: History, US News, Travel, World News
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Chris McCandless / Wiki Commons
Topics: History, US News, Travel, World News
Back in September 1992, the body of a man named Chris McCandless was found inside an abandoned city bus in Denali National Park in Alaska.
McCandless was an avid explorer who gave up his entire life savings to Oxfram in 1990 to backpack and live as a nomad in North America.
In April 1992, McCandless hitchhiked up to Alaska, and was last seen alive by an electrician who gave him a ride to the head of a trail.
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That man, Jim Gallien, was concerned by McCandless – who introduced himself as Alex – having only a light pack, little equipment, and seemingly little experience of real survival skills.
However, he headed out into the wilderness with books, a rifle and some bits of food. After coming across an abandoned city bus near the Denali National Park, McCandless lived for 113 days, hunting animals and eating vegetation such as berries, roots and seeds.
After spending a number of months like this, McCandless made the decision to return, but he encountered a major problem when he realised he couldn't cross the Teklanika River.
When he first crossed in April, the river was far lower, but the run-off from the Cantwell Glacier over the summer months had caused the water level to rise significantly.
He headed back to the bus, where he wrote a note to leave on the window while he foraged for food.
It read: "Attention Possible Visitors. S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out.
"I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August."
Unfortunately, nobody saw the note and tragically, McCandless died before anyone discovered his pleas for help.
He also took a picture of himself holding up a sign that read: "I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!"
It's not clear when McCandless passed away, but according to reports, his last written note on day 107, read: "Beautiful blue berries".
Although the following days were recorded with slash marks, day 113 was left blank.
It's thought that McCandless' body was discovered around 19 days after he died. He was flown out of the remote region and an autopsy was carried out on his body.
It was determined that he died from starvation, although some have suggested that there could have been other factors, such as poisoning, that contributed to his death.
McCandless’ story became a non-fiction book called Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer.
That book was adapted into a feature film of the same name directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch as McCandless.