Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Oklahoma Teen Inspired By ‘Into the Wild’ Missing In Oregon

Back in my car racing days, a guy who had no racing experience told me he wished someone would give him a car to race in the Baja 1000. He said that he knew he would win if the car didn't break because he would hold it to the floor the whole way!

I had to look up who David Icke was. I am really, really sorry I did that. I'm sure synapses died in the process -- fortunately not the ones involved in remembering who Harold Ickes was, 'cause I still remember him.

I'm going to start keeping a list of people I see in the news and have no idea of context when I see the name. Kim Kardashian comes first (and, no, I don't want anyone telling me...).

Sorry about that, George. Should have attached a warning label. Toxic, hazardous waste.

Dog! You have outdone yourself.

I have been inspired by common sense to enjoy life yet do the right things and come home safely from each trip I take.

I read Into the Wild and saw the movie. I kept wondering if Christopher McCandless wished he knew more about reading a map as he slowly starved to death. While I won't come out and say he deserved to die a painful death, I do think it's a good thing he never had children................................DUG

My heroes/heroines have been the likes of Buckminster, Linus, Grace, Crick & Watson - dropped in favor of Rosalind, Turing and, of course, Deming.

I don't follow celebrities as such, but because we all need an anti-hero, I find the antics of LiLo instructive. DON'T DO THAT! Besides, the Reg has a fascinating project named LOHAN . (Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator). Caution: Adult humor & innuendo.

So who is David Icke? I don't want to know!

Well we all have our own opinions. As Amy Farrah Fowler once said "cultural perceptions are selective".

Search for Oklahoma teen turns to sightings in NW


GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Sheriff's deputies on Tuesday followed up on reported sightings around the Northwest of an Oklahoma teenager whose truck was found on a remote volcanic mountain after he set out to test himself against the southeast Oregon wilderness.


More here

As I recall, McCandless didn't bring a map. I think the idea was to experience the wilderness as if he was the first person ever in that area, chart his own course so to speak. Funny how he ended up staying in an abandoned van, not too far from where he started, way short of his destination.

If I recall correctly he "researched" the area on a map before he left. I don't know if he had it with him in the bus or not. If not, he is an even bigger dummy than I previously gave him credit for............................DUG

He did not bring a map. His plan which I do see as foolish was to hike 500 miles cross country to the coast while living off the land in the early marsh mess of spring. Pulling that off would be a major accomplishment for the most skilled outdoorsman.

Then he is a McDummy. Think how much sooner he would have died without the bus.........................DUG

The guy (kid) made a colossal mistake and paid for it with his life. Some were brought up better than others, and we don't know what, if any, demons he was dealing with and possibly trying to exorcise.

It good to learn from others' mistakes, but it's also good to let the dead rest in peace. While I find a little humor and ridicule in the numerous rescues on places such as Whitney or San Jacinto's Skyline/Cactus to the Clouds, where people test themselves before they're ready; berating the dead over and over again isn't really necessary. JMHO.

Your differing opinion is noted, however I stand behind my assessment of his stupidity and disregard for those he left behind and those who discovered his remains............DUG

I'm gonna go ahead and be honest. I read Into the Wild on my first deployment to Iraq. I was inspired by it. It actually inspired me to backpack. However, I learned from the numerous mistakes he made. I think its great to try and find yourself however, you must know what you're looking for when you find it.

I think there will always be stories like this one. McCandless or Everett Ruess, there is always an adventurer that meets with peril. I think the lessons to others are important though. First, it is all about context. There are few stories told about the people that set off and do something like this and survive. Partly, because it is not much of a story if you survive.

I also think that it is interesting that the book and movie "Into the Wild" has got the play it has. Hey, I'm a giant Krakauer fan; he's one of my favorite authors. I find it interesting how people get different lessons from the book. What I got is that he was completely self absorbed, cold and cruel to his family and pretty much unprepared to set out and survive at the edge of wilderness. It was like he read Walden and didn't get the point.

I feel bad for the kid's family.

Wait, what? McCandless and Reuss in the same sentence? I assume that was for contrast rather than comparison, polar ends of some kind of spectrum. One was an extraordinary traveler, the other extraordinarily ignorant and arrogant. Whatever happened to Reuss, it was not due to lack of skills, experience and preparation for the fundamental perils of wilderness travel. In fact, I think it is fair to say that the only peril McCandless faced was his own complete lack of everything that Reuss had going for him, including a coherent vision.

Actually, I see plenty of similarities between Reuss and McCandless, as does Wikipedia's entry on Reuss

See also

Christopher McCandless, subject of Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild and later adapted into a film by Sean Penn (2007)

Carl McCunn, wildlife photographer who became stranded in the Alaskan wilderness and eventually committed suicide when he ran out of supplies (1981)

McCandless was not ignorant, he was well educated and very well read. He was simply inexperienced and took on more of a challenge than he realized. He studied the Alaskan backcountry in books, read survival tactics, had a gun, knew how to hunt, was taught how to butcher a kill etc etc, but he just hadn't ever done it. To not bring a map was a stupid mistake, but he was not a stupid or ignorant person. He was warned about the dangers by many people, but for an invincible youth pursuing the adventure of a lifetime, common sense warnings don't mean much.

Reuss walking off into the remote Utah desert in 1934 with two burros is not all that different in my opinion. He may have had some good cowboy skills, but it was still a dangerous adventure.

Seriously ? Wikipedia? Even if wiki meant anything, the only similarity mentioned there is that Krakauer mentioned Reuss in his book. I don't call that "plenty" of anything.

As far as education and being well-read, none of that means McCandless was not ignorant in the particular endeavor that he was on: and there, he was almost completely ignorant. I have read 8 or ten books on Everest, but I have never been above 14,500, never climbed on snow or ice: I think I'll do K-2 next season: wanna come?

And c'mon: knew how to hunt? Taught to butcher a kill, etc? So how come he lost a moose that could have fed him for weeks, maybe months, and never took another one? In four months. One conversation with a guy in grain elevator is "being taught"?. As for the map, schmap. When faced with the river, he didn't even look 1/4 mile upstream or down for a possible alternative.

And if you don't see the difference between that and "Reuss walking off into the remote Utah desert in 1934 with two burros ", then on second thought, I retract the K-2 invitation. One big difference would be the two burros. Another other would be the 4 years of successful experience he had before the Utah trip.

Sorry to sound so caustic, but the idolatry and apologia heaped on McCandless, some by Krakauer but an inexcusable excess by Penn, can only feed and perpetuate the type of ignorance that leads to further possible tragedies such as may have befallen Dustin Self.