The Alaskan Sojourn

Ankit Gupta
Sep 7, 2018 · 4 min read

26 years ago on this day, Sept 6 1992, Chris McCandless was found dead in the wilderness at the edge of Denali National Park in Alaska. His tragic story of giving up his family, his name & identity and hitchhiking all the way to the Alaskan wilderness to ultimately meet death was described in Jon Krakauer’s Into the wild. A very popular movie with the same name followed that book.

Bus No 142 that Chris used as shelter until his eventual death has now become an odd pilgrimage site. People hike up the Stampede Trail and have to cross the gushing Teklanika River by foot to reach the bus. The journey to the bus is however, fraught with risk. In 2010, someone died while crossing the Teklanika to reach the bus.

Denali is wild country. While some consider Chris’ adventure as a symbol of relinquishment, others think of him as being idiotic and unprepared to face the wilderness. Chris died possibly of poisoning from eating wild berries or by starvation.

Coincidentally and unknowingly, my Labor Day weekend trip to Alaska took me to Healy and the Stampede Road, the place from where Chris started his journey. We stayed at an Airbnb very close to the start of the Stampede Trail.

Our rustic Alaskan cabin — Stampede Road, Healy
Not a view you see daily — The bedroom window at the cabin !

In Healy, the bus used in the movie is parked so that people do not actually hike up the extremely dangerous Stampede Trail. Though I could not get a photograph with the bus, I found it parked in a closed compound.

Bus No 142 — from Into the Wild, Healy

I even crossed the Teklanika on a bus tour of Denali National Park.

I had always wanted to visit Alaska and be a part of the wilderness. Alaska did not disappoint one bit. Hikes to glaciers, cruise in the Kenai fjords & watching the white-sided Pacific dolphins, seeing Mt Denali — the highest mountain in North America, spotting wildlife in Denali, staying at a desolate & rustic cabin in the forest, seeing the Northern Lights on the flight back to Seattle — Alaska had it all!

Mt Denali, Denali National Park
The Alaskan alpine and tundra, Denali National Park
Hey Bear, Hey Bear, Go Bear, Go Bear 😂😂- Denali National Park
Mr Moose !! — Denali National Park
Mile 15, Denali National Park
Savage River Trail, Denali National Park
Denali National Park Visitor Center
Portage Pass & Glacier, Whittier
Whittier Harbor, Whittier
Aialik Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park
Kenai Fjords National Park
Portage Glacier, Whittier & Sea Lions, Kenai Fjords National Park
Dolphins of Kenai !

This is a huge item off my bucket list! Will return to Alaska in the winter !

Ankit Gupta

Written by

24 years old..trying to sort a quarter life crisis !

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