Images (8)

Chris McCandless

  • Chris is born

    Chris is born
    Billie gave birth to Chris, who became the younger brother to his half-siblings, Sam and Quinn McCandless, and eventually the older brother to a full sister, Carine McCandless.
  • The Family moves to Virginia

    The Family moves to Virginia
    Chris’s family moved from California to Virginia for his father's job at NASA
  • The Family Starting their own business

    The Family Starting their own business
    Walt quits his job at NASA and starts his own consulting business with Billie
  • Chris Keeps Getting Lost

    Chris Keeps Getting Lost
    Chris keeps getting lost, but some people help him back on his path. He thinks he has found the Wellteco canal, but he gets stuck again
  • Chris graduates from Emory university

    Chris graduates from Emory university
    He graduated with the GPA of a 3.72 as a history and anthropology major.
  • The Family's Last Contact

    The Family's Last Contact
    Chris writes a letter to his parents with his transcripts and gives away the rest of his money. Then he disappears and changes his name to Alex Supertramp
  • Chris arrives at Lake Mead National Park

    Chris arrives at Lake Mead National Park
    Chris arrives at Lake Mead National Park. Then he gets caught in a flash flood, and the car's engine gets wet.
  • Datsun is totaled but the flood is over

    Datsun is totaled but the flood is over
    When the flood is over, he tries to start the car, only for the battery to drain. Then he abandoned the car
  • Hiking around Lake Mead

    Hiking around Lake Mead
    hikes around Lake Mead and hitchhikes a ride from a boat to the shore
  • Chris goes to Chico

    Chris goes to Chico
    Chris accepted a ride from Crazy Ernie and got a job, but stole a bike and went to Chico
  • Chris Meets Jan and Bob

    Chris Meets Jan and Bob
    Chris meets Jan and Bob. They saw him walking on Highway 101 and began to befriend them.
  • The Ticket

    The Ticket
    Chris was ticketed for hitchhiking near Willow Creek. The officer wanted to know where he lived, so Chris gave his parents' address. The ticket appeared in Walt and Bil-lie’s mailbox at the end of August.
  • Chris Meets Wayne

    Chris Meets Wayne
    Wayne picks up Chris as a hitchhiker in Cut Bank and takes him to his friend's house. Wayne’s friend feeds Chris because he is starving. Chris wants to go to Saco hot springs
  • Wayne Offers Chris a job Before he Goes

    Wayne Offers Chris a job Before he Goes
    Wayne almost drops Chris off 10 minutes away, but Chris stays three more days. When Wayne and Chris depart, Wayne tells him that if he needs a job to call him.
  • Chris Gets a Job and Settles Down for a While

    Chris Gets a Job and Settles Down for a While
    Chris comes back and gets a job with Wayne (Wayne says that Chris was the hardest worker that he knew and set the highest standards for himself)
  • Park Rangers Find His Datsun

    Park Rangers Find His Datsun
    Rangers find Chris's Datsun with a noted attached that says “This piece of shit has been abandoned. Whoever can get it out of here can have it.”
  • Chris Needs to Find a New Job

    Chris Needs to Find a New Job
    Wayne was arrested for a felony, but the two remain close,
  • Leaving Carthage

    Leaving Carthage
    Chris leaves Carthage and decides to continue his journey.
  • Needles, California

    Needles, California
    Chris hitchhikes to Needles, California, with a trucker.
  • Topock, Arizona

    Topock, Arizona
    After he was brought to Needles, he began walking through the desert until he reached Topock, Arizona. While he was there, he bought a canoe.
  • Paddling Down the Colorado River, the Gulf of California, and Into Mexico

    Paddling Down the Colorado River, the Gulf of California, and Into Mexico
    After Chris bought the canoe, he decided to paddle it down the Colorado River to the Gulf of California, across the border with Mexico.
  • Chris Goes to Yuma

    Chris Goes to Yuma
    Chris paddles through Yuma Proving Ground and sends a postcard to Wyane
  • Morelos Dam and the Mexican border

    Morelos Dam and the Mexican border
    Chris reaches Morelos Dam and the Mexican border and thinks he will be denied entry because he has no identification. So he sneaked into Mexico by paddling through the open floodgates.
  • Chris is in Trouble

    Chris is in Trouble
    Chris only finds waterfalls where the ocean was supposed to be and is losing hope.
  • Chris Gets Some Help

    Chris Gets Some Help
    Chris is giving up because there is no ocean but only a vast swamp. Then, he gets stuck, but he runs into duck hunters who take him to El Golfo de Santa Clara.
  • Chris's new Camp

    Chris's new Camp
    Chris sets up camp on a bluff and begins living on the beach.
  • Chris Almost Drowns

    Chris Almost Drowns
    While Chris is on the boat, there are high winds and waves while on the boat it flips. However, Chris manages to swim to shore and bring the boat back.
  • Chris Leaves The Bluff

    Chris Leaves The Bluff
    Chris leaves the boat and starts walking north.
  • Chris Gets Caught at The Border

    Chris Gets Caught at The Border
    Chris gets caught at the border with his gun and spends the night in custody without his gun.
  • Period: to

    Chris is on The go

    Chris spends the next 6 weeks moving from Houston to the Pacific coast and meets a German couple.
  • Chris Goes to Los Angels

    Chris Goes to Los Angels
    Chris goes to Los Angles to get a job but immediately goes back on the road after he feels to tied down.
  • Chris Birthday

    Chris Birthday
  • Back Into The Familiar

    Back Into The Familiar
    Chris returns to Derial Wash
  • Period: to

    Goodbye Camera

    There are no pictures until May 10, 1991-January 7, 1992 because he buried it with his backpack and ruined it
  • Period: to

    Spends Time on The Oregon Coast

    Chris spends two months on the Oregon coast, probably around Astoria. He complained that the rain and fog were terrible.
  • Hitched Highway 101

    Hitched Highway 101
    Chris hitched down U.S highway 101 into california.
  • Might Settle Down

    Might Settle Down
    Chris arrives in bullhead city. Chris really like the city and starts to settle down and gets a job at Mcdonald's. He even sends a postcard to Wayne saying how much he loves the city.
  • Jan Might Come to Bullhead

    Jan Might Come to Bullhead
    Chris sent a postcard to Jan and she might come down to visit him.
  • Jan is Coming to Town

    Jan is Coming to Town
    Chris writes to Jan in a letter says how happy she is that shes coming and gives her instructions on how to get to his home.
  • Surprise Visit From Chris

    Surprise Visit From Chris
    Chris goes to see Jan and he doesn't like bullhead anymore.
  • Chris Stays at The slabs

    Chris Stays at The slabs
    Chris stays with Jan until one day he admits his plan for an Alaskan journey. When he says this Jan believes hes crazy but she gives him a ride to Salton city so he can pickup his last check.
  • Chris Moves to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

    Chris Moves to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
    After Jan dropped Chris off he setup camp at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, not far from the Salton Sea.
  • Ronald Franz met Chris

    Ronald Franz met Chris
    In mid-January Chris was hitching back out to
    the bajada when he met Ron Franz, who stopped to
    give him a ride.
  • Bye, Salton City. Hello, San Diego!

    Bye, Salton City. Hello, San Diego!
    Chris leave Salton city to to go to San Diego to earn more money for him trip.
  • Chris' Birthday

    Chris' Birthday
  • Chris Calls Franz

    Chris Calls Franz
    Chris wishes Franz a happy birthday and confesses that he is having trouble finding work.
  • Chris Sends a Postcard to Jan

    Chris Sends a Postcard to Jan
    Where he says that he has been living on streets of San Diego for the past week. He complains about the rain and missionaries. He also says that he cant find a job and he wants to head for Alaska no later than May 1st and he may go back and work for Wayne in South Dakota.
  • A Message From Seattle

    A Message From Seattle
    Chris sends a card to Jan and Franz from Seattle. He admits he has began to hop trains and that he's been caught and beaten up by a guard.
  • Period: to

    Franz Picks up Chris

    Franz drove Chris from Salton city, California to Grand Junction, Colorado and Franz left Chris on the shoulder of interstate 70 outside of Grand Junction, Colorado.
  • Chris Goes to Carthage

    Chris Goes to Carthage
    Chris wrote to a letter to Franz that he will not be in South Dakota very much longer and that Wayne wants him to stay working at the grain elevator through May and then go combining
    with him the entire summer. However, Chris really wants to go to his Alaskan trip no later than April 15.
  • Chris Arrives in Fairbanks and Sends a Postcard to Franz

    Chris Arrives in Fairbanks and Sends a Postcard to Franz
    Chris finally arrives in Fair banks from hitchhiking with Gaylord Stuckey and two day later Chris sends a postcard to Wayne and begins his adventure.
  • Chris Gets a Ride With Gallien

    Chris Gets a Ride With Gallien
    Chris takes a ride to the stamped trail with Gallien. and takes Chris to the edge of Denali National Park
  • Chris Finds the Bus

    Chris Finds the Bus
    Chris finds an old empty bus beside the Sushana River. The bus became his home for his time in Alaska.
  • Chris & The Moose

    Chris & The Moose
    Chris kills a moose for the first time. This is the biggest animal he has killed yet and was very happy that he will have enough food for awhile. He is so very proud he takes a picture
  • Chris Has no More Food

    Chris Has no More Food
    Chris left his meat in a hole in the side of the hill to try and smoke it. However, something went wrong and the maggots ruined all of the meat he had.
  • Day 100!!

    Day 100!!
    Chris has survived 100 in the Alaskan wild but he is starving.
  • S.O.S

    S.O.S
    Chris writes an S.O.S. note and puts it on the bus door. He wrote this note to tell anyone that comes by that he needs help and is very sick. He also writes his last journal entry talking about the last food he ate.
  • Chris dies

    Chris dies
    Chris died in his bus in his sleeping bag. He died from starvation and was too weak. He knew that his journey was over and that was his end, so he took this picture as his last one with a note that said "I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!"
  • Chris' Body is Found

    Chris' Body is Found
    Chris' body was discovered by Hikers. He was found in the bus in the sleeping bag, about 19 days after his death. They also find the S.O.S. note, and so they get back to town and tell the police what they found. The police searched the bus for information.