-
Chris was born in El Segundo, California -
Moved with his family to Annadale, Virginia -
Chris went the high school in Annadale, Virginia from 1983-1986. He played and coached for the cross country team.
-
Went to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia from 1986-1990.
Co-founded the college newspaper. He told his family he need a break and donated $24,000 to ending world hunger. -
Chris drove his old Datsun as far West as he could. Chris got stuck in a flash flood in Arizona. He was forced to leave his car. Chris left most of his belongings and burned his pocket change. Now goes by the name Alex Supertramp. -
Alex was forced to hitchhike after his old Datsun got stuck. A woman named Jans Burres picked him up, they connected quickly and Alex would send her postcards as often as possible. -
The small town Chris settled down in before going out into the wild. He fell in love with the town and a man named Wayne Westerberg. Even when Christopher left Carthage he would call and send Westerberg postcards. -
Christopher finds a canoe for sale and buys it to paddle the river in hopes to reach the Gulf of Mexico. He survived on the river for 36 days on 5 pounds of rice. -
On the border of Mexico decides to go to Mexico, however with his lack of identification he sneaks into Mexico by canoe. -
After getting into trouble Chris gets help from a group of Mexican duck hunters. The group drops him off in the gulf of Santa Clara and from there Chris heads North. -
Chris gets a full-time job at a McDonald's, a real ID, and a bank account. This was the longest he stayed in one place. -
This visit was short but important. This was when he started to plan for the Alaska trip. -
Salton City is one of the last visits before going to Alaska. This is where he meets Ronald Franz. Someone he connected very quickly with. -
Chris heads back to Carthage one last time to visit the people he met. He was in tears when he left. It was like he knew he would never see them again. -
As Chris is hiking to Alaska he meets a man named Jim Gallien. Gallien challenges Chris's views and tries to get him to not go. This is Chris's last human interaction and decides not to take up Gallien's suggestions. -
Chris Hikes the Stampede Trial of the Alaskan Bush. Chris eventually reaches Fairbanks. -
Chris leaves Fairbanks and hikes 26 miles into the wild until he crosses the Teklanika River. Here he found the "Magic Bus" and lived in it for 113 days. -
Chris mostly lives off of hunting small game and berries/vegetables. However, Chris was able to kill a 700-800 pound moose with a .22 caliber gun. -
Chris had a sack of Eskimo Potatoes. What Chris did not know was the seeds are poisonous and can make you very sick. Chris had consumed some of the seeds and became ill. Chris was not able to digest his food and started starving. -
About this time Chris was ready to leave but was stuck due to the river being too dangerous. His only option was to ride it out until winter when the river froze over. The problem was he was extremely weak. Chris had left a note saying he was in serious danger and need the be rescued. -
Christopher McCandless dies after surviving 113 days in wild Alaska. Christopher had lived a happy life and thanked the lord. Christopher may have died at 24, but he did more than most would do in 90 years. Christopher had died from poisonous seeds from the Eskimo potato. -
12 days later a group of moose hunters found Christopher's body inside the bus.