Into The Wild

Graduation

May 12, 1990

Christopher Johnson McCandless graduates from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He tells his parents that he is going to spend the summer traveling in his car, a used yellow Datsun.

Into the wild

Period: May 12, 1990 to Sep 12, 1992

Letter to Family

Jun 1, 1990

Mails his final college transcript and a brief note to his parents' home in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. McCandless's family will never hear from him again.

Lake

Jul 6, 1990

Arrives at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.

Advenures

Aug 1, 1990

Hitchhikes to California's Lake Tahoe, then hikes into the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Travels to the Cascade mountains, across the lava beds of the Columbia River basin, and across the Idaho panhandle. Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob discover McCandless by the side of the road and befriend him. In Cut Bank, Montana, meets Wayne Westerberg.

Looking for son

Aug 1, 1990

McCandless's parents drive to Atlanta looking for their son and discover that his apartment was vacated five weeks earlier.

Uhoh

Aug 10, 1990

Receives a ticket for hitchhiking in Willow Creek, California.

Discovery

Oct 27, 1990

McCandless's Datsun is discovered by a park ranger.

walk a mile in these louboutins

Oct 28, 1990

In Needles, California, reaches the Colorado River. Walks south through the desert, arriving in Topock, Arizona, where he buys a second-hand canoe.

mula

Dec 1, 1990

The private investigator employed by McCandless's parents discovers that their son donated $24,000 to OXFAM.

we made it

Dec 2, 1990

Reaches the Morelos Dam and the Mexican border.

Uhoh pt2

Dec 6, 1990

Encounters hazardous waterfalls along the Colorado River.

help

Dec 12, 1990

Realizes that he will not reach the Gulf of California traveling this route. Meets duck hunters who drive him there.

Home

Dec 25, 1990

Seeking refuge from high winds, discovers a cave on the face of a bluff, where he stays for 10 days.

near death experiece

Jan 11, 1991

Back in his canoe, encounters a violent storm that almost drowns him.

caught by the popo

Jan 18, 1991

Caught by U.S. Immigration officials when he tries to slip back into the country from Mexico. Spends one night in jail.

houston

Feb 2, 1991

Travels to Houston and then to the Pacific coast.

road is life

Feb 3, 1991

Applies for an ID and a job in Los Angeles, then changes his mind and returns to the road.

weight watchers

Feb 9, 1991

Camps at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a young German couple. Notes in his journal that he has lost over 25 pounds.

Vegas

Feb 27, 1991

Buries his backpack and hitchhikes into Las Vegas.

Bye Vegas

May 10, 1991

Leaves Las Vegas

Hello Arizona

Oct 15, 1991

Arrives in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he works for two months at McDonald's and lives in an empty RV overseen by an old man named Charlie.

Letter pt2

Dec 9, 1991

Sends a postcard to Jan Burres in Niland, California, including a map so she and boyfriend Bob can visit him in Bullhead City.

Niland

Dec 13, 1991

Unexpectedly appears at Burres's campsite at The Slabs campground in Niland.

ronald franz

Jan 15, 1992

Meets Ronald Franz while hitchhiking near California's Salton Sea.

san diego

Feb 21, 1992

Dropped by Franz at the San Diego waterfront. Mails Jan Burres a postcard telling her that he has been living on the streets in San Diego for a week.

I need a ride

Mar 12, 1992

Calls Franz from Coachella, California, in the desert not far from the Salton Sea and asks Franz to pick him up

colorado

Mar 14, 1992

Driven by Franz to Grand Junction, Colorado.

Work

Mar 28, 1992

Works at Wayne Westerberg's grain elevator in Carthage, South Dakota.

Alaska Bound

Mar 29, 1992

He leaves Carthage, bound Alaska

stuck

Apr 15, 1992

Stops at Liard Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada, where he is stuck for two days before hitching a ride with Gaylord Stuckey in the cab.

Start of something new

Apr 18, 1992

Hitchhikes north. Takes photo of the sign that marks the official start of the Alaska Highway.

on the road

Apr 28, 1992

Waking down the highway, is picked up by Jim Gallien, a truck-driving electrician on his way to Anchorage. A three-hour drive brings McCandless to the Stampede Trail.

mountains

Apr 30, 1992

Sees Mt. McKinley.

murder

May 5, 1992

Kills and eats a spruce grouse.

journal entries

Jun 30, 1992

Writes in his journal, "EXTREMELY WEAK, FAULT OF POT. SEED. MUCH TROUBLE JUST TO STAND UP. STARVING. GREAT JEOPARDY."

bye pt2

Jul 3, 1992

Prepares his backpack and sets out on the 20-mile hike back to the road.

bus

Jul 8, 1992

He arrives back at the bus.

journal entry pt2

Aug 5, 1992

Writes "DAY 100! MADE IT!" and "BUT IN WEAKEST CONDITION OF LIFE. DEATH LOOMS AS SERIOUS THREAT."

this is the end

Aug 12, 1992

Posting an S.O.S. note on the bus door, forages nearby for berries. Writes his final journal entry: "Beautiful blueberries."

heartbreak

Aug 18, 1992

Dies, apparently of starvation, in his sleeping bag in the bus along the Sushana River in Alaska.

discovery

Sep 5, 1992

Hikers and hunters discover McCandless's S.O.S. note, then his body in the bus.