Chris McCandless

The importance of knowing what you’re doing

Chris McCandless is one of the best examples of the importance of knowing some survival skills before wandering out into the wilderness and being able to stay alive. With the personal reasons that led him into his situation aside, this is one of the best examples of how easy it is for something to go wrong, and in this case, he was found dead in a sleeping bag weighing only 30kg.

There are many people out there who think they have what it takes to survive in the wild, just like McCandless did, but hopefully, unlike McCandless, you are smart enough to know how much you know and how much you don’t, which should stop you from going into the middle of nowhere with next to nothing.

McCandless had always been a fan of the outdoors and had completed several lengthy hikes in his time, as well as canoe trips down the Colorado River and many nights spent outdoors. In his later life, he would travel around North America and only worked when he needed to as a farm hand or in catering, but most of the time he slept outdoors and moved around on foot or by hitching a ride.

After making it from South Dakota to Alaska something inside him changed and he decided to live in the wilderness permanently, but due to his low funds and overconfidence he brought the smallest amount of supplies and equipment.

The last time he was seen alive was on April 28, 1992, by a local electrician who gave him a ride to the start of the Stampede Trail in the Denali Borough, Alaska. Along the ride McCandless had spoke about his intentions and was repeatedly warned off the idea as his supplies looked more suited for a single night on a campsite as opposed to survival in the harsh Alaskan wilderness.

Despite the warnings, McCandless headed down the trail until he came to an abandoned bus located around 28 miles west of Healy, a small region within the Denali Borough. At this point, he had just under 5kg of rice, a Remington semi-automatic rifle with 400 rounds, a few books on plant identification, and a small selection of camping equipment.

Over the next 107 days, his journal entries talked about how he hunted small game for food and even managed to kill a moose at one point although the meat spoiled quickly since he didn’t know how to preserve it. Over time the game animals would start to move away from the area and his earlier plans to keep moving were halted by the thick vegetation he had no tools to cut through.

The last entry he wrote was on day 107 which simply read “Beautiful Blue Berries” After this days 108 to 112 were marked simply with a few lines, and on day 113 there was no entry at all. From the state of the body, it is believed he died about 2 weeks before a group of hunters found him, at which point he weighed only 30kg.

It seems unlikely that he chose to stay there until he starved to death, but the Teklanika River was heavily flooded and most likely blocked any attempt to return. At some point before he died he left the following message in the bus, 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?”

So what did Chris McCandless do wrong?

Apart from just saying “everything” it would be more useful to break it down into areas.

Lack of supplies and equipment

When you go into the wild you should take enough of everything so you don’t need to rely on wild food unless you have to, or at the very least have an emergency supply that can last long enough to escape your situation. The quality of equipment he had was far too small, and too low quality, with his tent being something you’d use to camp next to a beach in the middle of summer.

Lack of knowledge

One of the books he took was about identifying wild plants for food. It’s all well and good having a book that tells you what’s ok to eat, but they normally don’t show plants at all ages across all the seasons. If you plan to rely on wild plants for food then you’d better be really good at identifying them. The meat he gained from killing the moose spoiled after a few days since he didn’t know how to preserve it, something that could have been taken care of by making a smoker. If he really knew what he was doing he could have even made it into pemmican, a survival food that can last for years if made correctly.

Lack of skills

The rifle he had with him was a Remington semi-automatic rifle, though the exact model isn’t mentioned. He also had 400 rounds of .22LR hollow point ammunition which is a small caliber hunting round designed for killing small game, though it is capable of taking down something deer-sized with a well-placed shot. A rifle like this in the right hands could provide food for many months, but in the case of McCandless, he didn’t seem to realize that hunting the same spot over and over simply wouldn’t work. If he knew this and his tracking skills were better and he could make a decent shot then he may still be alive today.

No escape plan

When he knew he was in trouble and began to starve, he simply turned round and went back the way he came without realizing that doesn’t always work. he had no phone to call for help and no emergency signaling equipment, instead, he thought he could just walk out of his situation, which leads us to the next point.

He didn’t check local weather and terrain warnings

Avalanches, floods, raised rivers and storms can all block someone from getting out of a situation, but these things aren’t exactly new. Any local in a remote region with be able to tell you about the weather and when it’s safe to go to certain places. Finding out if that huge river you need to cross floods is something you can learn online, with a quick check on the site of the organization that governs the area. If he knew the river would block his route he may have abandoned his wilderness survival attempt early enough to beat the high waters.