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Summary: So Krakauer makes it back to his tent, all butt hurt that he didn't achieve his goal of summiting Devil's Thumb.  In a genius move, he decided to smoke a joint to make himself feel better since he's a bit depressed.  Well, he ends up setting his tent on fire causing it to vaporize one of the walls so the temperature inside drops by 30 degrees or so.  Good job, Jon!  Anyway, this causes him to think about his reason for running away to climb:  his volatile (p. 147) history with his father!  They have a very similar relationship to Walt and Chris - dad is stubborn, treats his son poorly, pushes him away with his medical school expectations (p. 148) since he himself is a doctor.  Yeah, I know: we've heard this story before.  Jon uses these complicated (p. 147) family memories as motivation:  he's going to attempt to summit the Thumb to prove his disbelieving dad wrong!  He fixes his tent by packing it with snow and forges a plan to begin his final ascent on a slightly "easier" side of the mountain, the southeast side.  At sunrise, he summons ALL of his courage and overcoming all of the terrifying (p. 150) obstacles, he finally makes it to the top - YAY!  He enjoys the view for a minutes, snaps a few pics, and begins his descent.  When he finally makes it off the mountain, he tells a few people what he did.  They aren't extremely impressed.  This makes Jon think about what he did and why he did it, causing him to say, "I thought climbing Devil's Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life.  In the end, of course, it changed almost nothing.  But I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams. And I lived to tell my tale" (p. 155). Years later when writing this book, he realizes that his hubris (p.155) pushed him to his limits to achieve his goal, but that the impact his possible death had on those who loved him would've been catastrophic.  This is why he believes that Chris had NO intention to die in the wild, that he was only chasing his young, irresponsible dream.

So he truly does sympathizes with Chris, giving his incite to if Chris really wanted to die in the wilderness. It's sad to hear the author say he did want to live after being done chasing dreams, which makes Chris's tale so much more tragic since he didn't want it to end like this.

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Summary: To answer Billie McCandless' question at the end of Chapter 13 about why anyone would do what Chris did, Jon Krakauer flips the script and tells his own story of Alaska adventure.  At the age of 23, Krakauer decides to head to the great north to find himself not by living in the wild, but by climbing the major mountains in the 49th state.  He becomes obsessed with hiking Devil's Thumb, a very steep, challenging ascent on the glacier (p. 138) known as the Stikine Ice Cap.  Like Chris, completing this climb becomes the only important thing in Krakauer's life.  Chris obsessed over the bush, while Jon's obsession (p. 134) is this rare climbing achievement.  Much like he anticipated, the ascent is dangerous and potentially deadly.  Krakauer proceeds with caution during whiteout snow storms while crossing over delicate crevasses (p. 140) which could crack and send him tumbling down hundreds of feet.  On a beautiful May day, Krakauer decides that this is it, he must summon the courage and concentration (p. 142) he needs to summit this peak today or else...Even with the warm temps and sunny day, the ice is impenetrable and Krakauer panics (p. 143).  He can see the summit, but he can't reach it.  His only option is down.

Is this why he's so invested in finding out Chris's story? Because he wants to know what drove him to run to Alaska as well.

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Woah! Chris heads out to meet his half siblings and finds out the truth about Walts past family life, he had two ongoing relationships with two different women at the same time. Chris was previously grateful (118) for all the hardwork that his father did, but could not see the respected (118) father figure he once knew. Once he got back, it was clear from how weakened he was that he was overconfident (118) in his own abilities, he grows tired and hateful of his father.  They asked him to attend college, he did so but held impatience (120) in his heart while doing so. He did also make money but he thought of the whole experience as a game (121) because where money was the points he got.

Walt was chasing the wrong bag man, and Chris is holding it against him too much to want to be around him anymore. He's getting ready to do something about it...

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This chapter talks (105) about how the riches of the Mccandless family came to be. It describes Walt meeting Billie and starting a family with her. The two could never show the compassion (104) of a parent like they truly could've because to support their children they had to be working (107) constantly. They had to fight a competitive (112) economy where they rose from the rags into the riches so that their children could live life more comfortably. Chris is given a guitar that his mother, Billie, always sung lullbies on. It was found in Chris's yellow Datsun after  his dissappaearance (105) in the first few chapters

Damn, they really worked for that bag and it paid off

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In this chapter, we are once again brought back to the time of when Chris's identity (99) was still unknown. With the release of the magazine covering the details of the missing person, the investigators found this case even more perplexing (99) as they find the false leads (100) Chris left behind in his wake. After many calls from people falsely claiming to know the missing person, Wayne Westerberg gets wind of this and reports Chris's true identity. Once it's out, Sam Mccandless, Chris's older stepbrother, hears of this and seriously (101) wonders how he'll tell Chris's parent about this Tragedy (101)

Damn Chris had them around by the nose, but still ended up getting found. Sad to hear about Sam having to be the one to say it

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Summary: Another chapter about a dude who isn't Chris McCandless.  Everett Ruess shares many similarities with our main character though - he's a wanderer (p. 90), free spirit, well liked risk taker and lover of all things solitude and wilderness.  Everett is a bit younger than Chris when he begins his vagabond (p. 91) journey, dropping out of UCLA after only one semester to follow his dream (p. 96) of living a nomadic existence.  Unlike Chris, Everett focuses his travels in the southwest rather than north, but like Chris he also renames himself choosing the moniker Nemo after the character Captain Nemo in the Jules Verne classic Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. And yes, Nemo the fish we know today is named after that character, too!  While on a solo expedition in Utah, Ruess seemingly disappears, never to be heard from again.  A search party is sent to find him after he goes incommunicado (p. 93), but other than finding his donkey, some cave drawings/graffiti he made and pieces of his gear, Ruess was never seen again.  Stories vary on what happen to him - maybe he was a victim of his own reckless innocence (p, 97) and fell while hiking or possibly drown, but some speculate that he was murdered by Native Americans.  No one ever found him or his remains, so Everett's end remains a mystery.  Like Chris, Everett's passion for nature and adventure won out over a conventional life, yet neither man made it out of the wild...

WHAT A SCRUB. He died having more stuff than Chris did at the end of his own life, The biggest skill diff I've ever seen

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Summary: Jon Krakauer uses this chapter to show his readers that other men have come to their demise (p. 70) on Alaskan adventures, even if the circumstances are a bit different from those of Chris McCandless.  First up is Gene Rossellini, the modern day caveman!  Gene heads north from the lower 48 in the early 1970's.  He's a super intelligent guy looking to test himself in Alaska ...sound like anyone we know??  Well, "the mayor of Hippie Cove" as Gene is called lives a prehistoric existence, testing himself to see if modern day man can live in the same way as the cavemen did it back in the day. Gene tries his hardest, but sadly writes, "I learned that it is not possible for human beings as we know to live off the land" (p. 75) before plunging a knife through his heart when he realizes the true extent of his failure (p. 75).  Next up is crazy John Waterman.  Lots of similarities to Chris:  he's from the D.C. area, has MAJOR issues with his dad and is super smart.  John is an accomplish climber and alpinist (p. 79) before he starts losing his marbles, running for president of the United States on a platform to end hunger.  SPOILER ALERT:  He doesn't win the election!  Anywho, John comes unhinged, decides to climb the most difficult mountain in all of Alaska in the dead of winter and is never heard from again.  Alaska state troopers believe he probably fell down a crevasse (p. 80) to his death, although his remains were never found.  And last up is poor Carl McCunn.  Another transplant from the lower 48, Carl is the life of the party - just like Chris.  Good guy, fun to be around, charming, but lacks common sense & thinks someone will bail him out if he ends up in trouble.  Similar to Chris, he hatches a plan to go off into the wild for a few months BUT he fails to set up an Uber (think Uber plane!) to come back and pick him up.  The summer turns to fall and McCunn is starving and freezing.  But wait...a plane flies overhead and it looks like Carl is going to be rescued!!!  Unfortunately, Carl doesn't know that waving ONE hand in the air means you're good, no need to rescue you instead of throwing TWO hands in the air, the universal sign for HELP!!!  Carl is dying a slow and painful death by a mix of starvation and frostbite, so in his final diary (p. 81) he explains that he shot himself in the head to end his misery.  Guess Chris doesn't sound that crazy or unprepared after all, huh???

Absolutely crazy people, these people who share Chris's story don't paint a good picture of Chris himself. Two of them ended their own life so as not to be taken by nature, yet chose to try and fight it?

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Chris arrives at the abode of Wayne Westerberg, his mother, and his girlfriend. The three of them described Chris as a man who worked hard (62), and despite all the intelligence you could notice leaking out of him, there were gaps in his thinking (63). Chris had been a man of many talents, being able to play piano and sing while drunk, as well as figuring out stuff quickly. Yet despite all of his skills, he was stubborn (64), nearly irrational (64) when it came to talking about his own family, and always wanted things to go his way. It was later mentioned that there was no account of intimate or romantic relationships in Chris's life, displaying his willpower and dicipline when it comes to the cravings of the human body.

MY BOY DIED NEVER EMBRACED ROMANTIC LOVE

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Chris happens upon a lonely old man named Ron on his travels. Ron lost his wife and child in an auto car accident and has been left empty and adopting new children to fill that void. His tendencies flare up when he meets and finds out more about Chris. Chris, the Wayfarer (48) he is, was wary of living a solitude (55) stationary life. He feels the joy of life (57) through the adventure (51). When Ron offers to adopt Chris, he got wary (59) of Ron's Geniune (55) attempt to create a stronger relationship. Chris preps to leave and tells Ron he should embrace a Vagabond life to experience true joy truly. After Chris left, Ron hears from two hitchhikers that Chris McCandless died in the magazine they read. Then contacts the author to give his account of his encounter with Chris, now a vagabond wanderer after adhering to Chris's words.

What a tragedy for the old man to have been a part of of, the person who could've gave him joy walked out of his life after not holding onto him strong enough had died.

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Bullhead City #Socks #Mcdonalds #misfits

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Chris escapes the winter weeks by spending some time in Bullhead City. While it was thought to be intolerable (39) for Chris to work for corperates, he gets a job at Mcdonalds. He has an unfriendly relationship with the interviewee after he had told Chirs he needed to dress and shower right to be able to work there. His Co-workers had always thought of him as a nice (42) drifter (41) who could get work done, albeit it at a slower pace. Chris got sick of all the snowbirds (44) of the city, and promptly made prepartaions to leave. Not giving up his ideals (44), he continues down his path.

Just surprised that he could maintain the job for so long without complain from management about his attitude

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Chris struggles far more than in any previous chapter. He abandoned (26) his favorite car that gave out so much value because of a flood. Now having to face a new, alien (27) challenge he didn't think of. He then is ripped off by a man calling himself Crazy Ernie, who makes him work for no pay until Chris gets impatient (28) and runs away. He then gets in trouble with the law and gives his real name to them which could be traced to find him, but luckily for him, it does not. Currently, he's scrapping the lands for food hungry (30), and he's lost 20 pounds from before the journey started. Even after all that, he almost loses his life in the turbulent ocean currents.  His spirit (37) does not wane though, it may be even stronger after all this challenge.

What an actually dumb play from Chris to give his real name thinking no one is looking for him. Also yeah that's some tough stuff to get through

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Chris approuches the Carthage, and is enveloped in it's immensity(15). He meets Wayne and the resident of the city, he starts to feel attachment (18) to the town as he works as a worker (18) under Wayne. Being estranged (18) from his own family, he starts to feel at home (19) with the people of this town. Despite it all, he chooses to leave in search of full control over his destiny.

Chris doesn't want to give up all that effort he put in to ditch his old life just for a new quieter one. Which is understandble, but makes you wonder what his exact values are as we continue to read his story

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The Stampede Trail #DEADGUY #BUS #STARVEDLMAO

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We follow three men on their way through the Stampede trail. A ragged land of ridges and boggy (10) lands. They travel through these lands undeterred (12) by the stalking (11) terrors of the wild (9). As they travel further up the trail, they come across the deathly scent of a dead person. They make their way to a bus (10) which seemed to be where the smell originates from. Two people are already there concerned, it seems as though they found the body of Alex. They begin to wonder who this man was because he has no identification

What an ironic end, the bravado, the social capability, and the confidence is not awarded in the end as he dies alone.

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This Foolhardy (5) Hitchhiker (3) is picked up by a trucker on the side of the road of freezing nowhere. The trucker is reasonably distressed when he hears how Excited (6) our protagonist, "Alex", is about going into the wild. He actively tries to dissuade Alex from doing what he's about to do, telling him he's ill-prepared. Alex only has a light backpack (3) not meant for camping or trips, nor is his rifle (3) strong enough to hunt the big game that lives there. Alex ends up going anyways, not before getting some gear and food from our kind trucker.

He refuses to listen to commonly good reasoning, and for some reason decides to put his life more in danger by actively making it hard on himself

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In one of the few instances that I'm outside of my house or schools is when I'm walking to the gym with my friends after school. It's boring on the path we take, not much is there that's visually exciting. There was once this sunflower that I saw and wondered how it got there, when did it get there? I've walked the path multiple times beforehand and when I first saw it, it was that height.