Into The Wild: Chris’s Journey

Christopher McCandless was young man, straight out of college, who just wanted to escape society. As soon as he graduated, he head off on one great adventure. From July 1990 to his death in April 1992, Chris was hitchhiking up and down the western part of the United States. Below is a list of significant places he went and the people he met along the way.

1. Annandale, Virginia: Chris’s childhood home, lived with Walt (dad), Billie (mom), and his sister Carine McCandless
2. Atlanta, Georgia: Chris attended college at Emory from 1986–1990
3. Mojave Desert, Arizona: July 1990
4. Lake Mead, Arizona: July 1990
5. Northern California: August 1990, Chris meets and works for Crazy Ernie
6. Orick, California: August 1990, Chris meets Jan and Bob Burres
7. Carthage, South Dakota: September 1990, Chris meets and works for Wayne Westerburg
8. Topock, Arizona: October 1990, Chris buys a canoe and heads down the Colorado river
9. Tex-Mex Border: January 1991: Chris is caught and held overnight on the border but released the next day
10. Bullhead City, Arizona: May 1991
11. Imperial Valley, California: December 1991 stayed with Jan and Bob in the slabs
12. Back to Carthage, South Dakota
13. Salton City, California: January 1992 meets Ronald Franz
14. Grand junction, Colorado: March 1992 Ron drops off Chris
15. One last stop in Carthage, South Dakota
16. Fairbanks, Alaska: April 1992, studies plants at the university and Jim Gallien picks Chris up
17. Stampede trail, Alaska: Chris is dropped off by Jim Gallien and this is the last place he is seen by another person.

Chris's journey