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Graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Christopher McCandless' parents discover that he is going to spend the summer traveling in his Datsun after graduating from a university in Atlanta, Georgia. -
He arrives at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
He is just beginning his adventure in the wild. He starts in Nevada. -
McCandless hitchhikes
He goes to California's Lake Tahoe, then hikes into the Sierra Nevada mountains. He travels to the Cascade mountains, across the lava beds of the Columbia River basin, and across the Idaho panhandle. -
He meets new people
McCandless gets discovered by Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob on the side of the road and befriend him. He also meets Wayne Westerberg In Cut Bank, Montana. -
His parents drive to atlanta
They go to Atlanta looking for their son and discover that his apartment was vacated five weeks earlier. -
Receives a ticket
He got a ticket for hitchhiking in Willow Creek, California. -
Datsun is discovered
McCandless's Datsun got discovered by a park ranger -
Gets through river and desert.
In Needles, California, he reaches the Colorado River. Walks south through the desert, arriving in Topock, Arizona. -
Canoes through many places
Canoes on the Colorado River, traveled through Lake Havasu, the Bill Williams River, the Colorado River Indian Reservation, the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, and the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground. -
Discovery of the donation.
The private investigator that was employed by McCandless's parents discovers he donated $24,000 to OXFAM. -
Reaches a new point in his journey
He reaches the Morelos Dam and the Mexican border. -
Gets to the Gulf of Calofiornia
He realizes that he will not reach the Gulf of California traveling this route, and meets duck hunters who drive him there. -
Sets up camp
McCandless pulls his canoe out of the water and sets up camp on the edge of a desolate plateau. -
Says in a cave
Seeking refuge from high winds, discovers a cave on the face of a bluff, where he stays for 10 days. -
Gets into a storm
Back in his canoe, encounters a violent storm that almost drowns him. -
Begins his northward journey.
He left his canoe in El Golfo de Santa Clara, and started wandering northward. -
Gets caught and put in jail.
McCandless is caught by U.S. Immigration officials when he tries to slip back into the country from Mexico. Spends one night in jail. -
Goes toward the Pacific.
He travels to Houston and then to the Pacific coast. -
Applies for job
He applies for an ID and a job in Los Angeles, then changes his mind and returns to the road. -
Camps out.
He camps at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a young German couple he met. -
Gathers his belongings
Get the few belongings that he buried in the sand when he abandoned his Datsun. -
Hitchhiking to Vegas.
McCandless buries his backpack and hitchhikes into Las Vegas. -
Leaves Las Vegas
McCandless packs up and Leaves Las Vegas. -
Living in Oregon
He is possibly living in coastal Oregon. He sends a postcard to Jan Burres complaining about the interminable fog and rain. -
Lives in Arizona
He arrives in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he works for two months at McDonald's and lives in an empty RV. -
Appears in Niland
He unexpectedly appears at Burress's campsite at The Slabs campground in Niland. -
Hitchhikes in California
McCandless meets Ronald Franz while hitchhiking near California's Salton Sea. -
Stays in San Diego
He gets dropped by Franz at the San Diego waterfront. He also mails Jan Burres a postcard telling her that he is living in San Diego. -
Living in Seattle
Sends postcards to Burres and Franz from Seattle. -
Living in California
He calls Franz from Coachella, California -
Stays at Franz's house
McCandless spends one night at Franz's house. -
Gets to Colorado
Franz drives him to Grand Junction, Colorado. -
Working in South Dakota
He works at Wayne Westerberg's grain elevator in Carthage, South Dakota. -
Heads for Alaska
He Leaves Carthage, bound for Alaska. -
He stops in Canada
He stops at Liard Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada, -
Gets taken to the Stampede Trail.
Waking down the highway, he is picked up by Jim Gallien who brings McCandless to the Stampede Trail. -
Mt. McKinley
McCandless sees Mt. McKinley. -
Finds a bus
Finds an old bus beside the Sushana River. Decides to stay for a while, taking advantage of the bus's ". . . crude comforts." -
Gets ready for his hike
McCandless prepares his backpack and sets out on the 20-mile hike back to the road. -
Back at bus
McCandless arrives back at the bus. -
Posts an S.O.S.
He posts an S.O.S. note on the bus door. -
McCandless dies
McCandless dies, apparently of starvation, and is in his sleeping bag in the bus along the Sushana River in Alaska. -
McCandless is found
Hikers and hunters discover McCandless's S.O.S. note, then his body in the bus.