Abandoned bus made famous by 'Into The Wild'
movie is airlifted from the Alaskan wilderness
after increasing numbers of tourists had
to be rescued and two drowned trying
to reach it
Daily Mail (UK),
by
Emer Scully
Original Article
Posted By: zephyrgirl,
6/19/2020 1:22:02 PM
A 1940s-era bus where a 24-year-old adventurer starved to death in the Alaskan wilderness has been removed after tourists died while trying to reach it. A US Army helicopter airlifted the vehicle from the spot just west of the Teklanika River, where it had been left to rust for more than half a century. The bus was made famous by Into The Wild, a book and film that told the story of Chris McCandless' death after he lived inside it for 114 days during the summer of 1992.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Catfur27 6/19/2020 1:59:14 PM (No. 449976)
Original poster says it all.....
...looks like less Darwin Award Candidates this year...
10 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Safari Man 6/19/2020 2:00:14 PM (No. 449977)
Back in 1990 I was hiking the John Muir Trail southbound from Yosemite and met a northbound hiker who, to my amazement, had started in Mexico. He had a very bushy beard, dirty clothing, large floppy hat and was unlike any of the other hikers I had met. Most were happy to see other hikers and share stories about the trail where they had come from, what it was like, how many mosquitoes, etc. Not this guy. It was like pulling teeth to get information out of him. I never asked where he was headed and he didn't seem to want to share. Only upon watching the movie many years later did I come to believe it was Chris McCandless; it all fit -- time, place, appearance, etc. Now I wish I had bugged him just a little bit more for his story, but we only spent about 10 minutes talking and then he was on his way.
14 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Vaquero45 6/19/2020 2:01:14 PM (No. 449979)
The two people that drowned trying to get to that bus probably would have gotten killed before their time anyway, attempting something equally as ridiculous. You can't fix stupid.
6 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Videodrone 6/19/2020 2:09:16 PM (No. 449986)
Always wondered how it got there in the first place.
Should have left it with a sign "Abandon all hope of rescue beyond this point"
3 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 6/19/2020 2:22:19 PM (No. 450000)
Reminds me of that California hippy guy who became known as the "Grizzly Bear Whisperer." His last "whispers" were found on his video recorder and were the screams of his girlfriend and himself as they were dragged from their tent and ripped to shreds by one of his "followers."
You'd never skydive without first getting a lot of instruction and with your instructor jumping with you a few times. Similarly, you'd never want to do solo hiking without being extremely well versed in survival. Even though he professed his undying love for "Mother Nature," she is in reality a homicidal maniac responsible for more deaths than all the wars ever fought, combined. Trust her at your own peril.
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Urgent Fury 6/19/2020 2:22:39 PM (No. 450001)
Why couldn't they just drive it out? Somebody drove it in there...?
--AOC
8 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 6/19/2020 2:23:58 PM (No. 450002)
My understanding is that part of the Alaskan wildnerness has very little edible food. In areas where food can be easily found you will also be competing with wildlife - including the brown bear (grizzly). Either way he was probably doomed.
4 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Jethro bo 6/19/2020 2:43:12 PM (No. 450027)
This only remnds us how far we have come as a society. Now, wannabe Darwin Award winners simple take over Seattle city streets and have no worries about missing a vegan meal.
6 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
DVC 6/19/2020 2:46:48 PM (No. 450034)
Good riddance. People are so stupid and city people are so totally, massively unaware of what it takes to stay alive once you leave the handrails and paved sidewalks of their urban safety nets.
5 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/19/2020 5:22:59 PM (No. 450169)
With all of the beautiful places on this Earth to visit, a rusty old bus would be way down at the bottom of most people's list.
5 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 6/19/2020 7:55:31 PM (No. 450259)
Sounds like a real Tourist Trap. Grizzly bears need to eat too.
1 person likes this.
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Comments:
This is sad on several levels - first that McCandless stupidly lost his life by being unprepared for surviving in the wilderness, that others have repeated his mistaks instead of learning from it and the authorities have had to risk their lives to rescue the stupid and reckless.