Considering property (Kenai, Sterling, Tanana: live, fence, price)

[English_Nurse]

Your argument for him burning tires stands up to a lot of criticism.
It overlooks the possiblity that he was delirious from fever and not
thinking as rationally as you or I might in the same situation.

If he really went up there to kill himself. I doubt he honestly chose to starve to death as a means of suicide. Everything I've read said he either
ate something that was poisonous or something that had mould on it which caused him to get sick. Both of those possibilities can happen fast.
One second you can be fine, the next you're too weak to stand. Poison or fever. Sudden. Then again, he did have enough strength and clarity to write an SOS note and apparently go in search of food.

I just don't think you can say with any certainty what state of mind he was in. So why run the risk of being wrong and accuse someone who died under unpleasant circumstances of being 'stupid'.

He seems to be the focus of a lot of undeserved criticism.

There is no shortage of people in the world to bear the label 'stupid' or to be criticized for their actions, I don't think he rates very highly on that list all things considered.

It's the stupid people who don't go off into the wild and kill themselves that we ought to be getting upset about......... Right?

[English_Nurse]

There aren't many films set in Alaska that are made in Alaska. Even Northern Exposure was filmed out of state. So, much as I am not a big fan of Sean Penn, he at least made the movie in Alaska. McCandless, stupid or just unlucky, brought a lot of publicity to the state and a fair amount of increased tourism secondary to that publicity. Maybe it's not the kind of PR you want. But I'd say that given the book and film went international, not everyone who reads his story is going to want to trek off unprepared into the wilderness and cause you more hassle than good.
The very nature of Alaska is that it attracts people that are looking for a challenge and that are prepared to run the risk of the dangers of being in such a wild and remote place. I can understand how people who've lived there all their lives might get a little tired of this image. But it is what it is. You live in New York you're going to get sick of people wanting to take pictures of the Statue of Liberty. You live in Maine you get tired of everyone thinking you only eat Lobsters.
It's the people who spend their life in sloth and apathy and never try to challenge themselves that I think deserve the label of stupid and perhaps even deserve to die. But McCandless, as many errors as he made, was not in that category. He at least got off his ass and struck out for something other than the cosy and unchallenging life he could so easilly have stayed in. Not many people, not enough people, have that attitude. Boldness has to score him some credits. He paid with his life. Maybe it just didn't occur to him to burn the tires. Maybe that was his fatal mistake. But the kids across the street from me walking around in baggy pants falling off their butts and listening to rap music at full volume who have no other aspiration than to get shiny rims for their cars... THEY are the ones who are stupid and deserve to die. Not McCandless, whose only crime was not having the common sense that a lot of native Alaskans have.
Does that make any sense?
Either way, I retract my 'ignorant' comment. But I still think he gets some harsh criticism for dying. When no one would have cared less about him if he'd just graduated college and got a job in marketting and bought a nice car and lived to be 85. Do you see my point?

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by English_Nurse

Your argument for him burning tires stands up to a lot of criticism.
It overlooks the possiblity that he was delirious from fever and not
thinking as rationally as you or I might in the same situation.

It's the stupid people who don't go off into the wild and kill themselves that we ought to be getting upset about......... Right?

When he realized he was trapped by the river and fully able to think, that is when he should have started to figure out how to get rescued, not after it was "Too" late. All thoughout the movie at the bus, they kept showing how much weight he was losing, that is starving, the bit about the wrong plants make for a nice twist and a way to cover his dying from starvation. He may in fact have eaten the wrong stuff, but for a guy that is suppose to be so smart and book "read", it would seem that he would have been very up on what "to and not to eat".

Regardless, he did nothing to save himself except to spend a lot of time writing about his demise. I feel sorry for his family, but he did what he did to himself. I live only about 30 miles North of where he died, he wasn't the first and I doubt he will be the last. People have dragged themselves out of the "Wild" in a lot worse condition than him from an assortment of accidents or disasters that befell them. The difference was they had the will to survive, he just sat there and gave up. No signal fires, no nothing except his writing in a log/diary.

Anyway, I hope your adventure in Alaska will be all that you hope it to be, just be aware that it can bite anyone if you aren't ready for it.

[warptman]

Ok kids, this is a post on buying property. Mcandless is dead and gone.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by warptman

Ok kids, this is a post on buying property. Mcandless is dead and gone.

Yep, and many people are coming here for the same reasons that he did. You would not believe how many people come here to go to the bus as if it is some kind of holy pilgrimage to Mecca. The Denali Borough is looking at dragging the bus out to the highway so they don't have to do rescues from these folks after they get themselves into trouble. A few have been lost already, were found, but they were clueless.

They buy land off of places like Ebay that are inflated five to ten times what the sellers bought it from the State of Alaska at from what the over the counter sales price was... most of what is swamp/bog/tundra that you can't build on unless it is a "Floating" cabin.

These folks make payments on the land for a year or two, then they give up on the dream and let it go back to the seller, who sells it again with another big down payment from a new buyer.

"Into the Wild" is when the land sales took off after the book was published, then again when the movie was released.

I think that is a good reason why it should be a part of this Tread, so folks can get a better idea that it isn't like the book at all. By the sounds of it, there is a lot of those folks here that are among that group that read the book and are after that spirit.

They just need a gentle "Slap" back to reality, to help keep their eyes open as they follow their dream!

[RayinAK]

Starlire9,

Countless times I have tried to tell people similar things about Alaska, but it seems that no matter what ones says, these folks have already made their minds and nothing is going to change it.

[DannyL]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Starlire9,

Countless times I have tried to tell people similar things about Alaska, but it seems that no matter what ones says, these folks have already made their minds and nothing is going to change it.

I totally understand how you feel.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Starlire9,

Countless times I have tried to tell people similar things about Alaska, but it seems that no matter what ones says, these folks have already made their minds and nothing is going to change it.

Yeah, me too, but I can sympathize with someone who has that dream. I grew up here and have been all over the World and have no other place I want to be, there is nice places, just not for me.

During the 1964 Earthquake, people broke into store's to get food... But they also left their name and address on a note to pay for the damage. It has changed a lot since then, but in the more distant parts of Alaska, there is still that spirit in a lot of places.

I have a cabin about fourty miles out "In the Wild" and some A$$e$ broke into it last spring just because they wanted a place to drink beer and use up my firewood while out snowmachining. I tracked them down and they paid for the damages, not to mention I scared them a bit too.

They had no clue that when most folks go out into a new area, those that are there know more about them than they ever thought. Hard to explain unless you live here for any amount of time. To get lost by yourself, you really need to go to a city of millions and nobody will pay the least amount of attention to you.

That is why when Mcandless was out there, he had to work at not being found, nor wanted to be.

[smurphy2000]

Hello,
I found this post when I was searching for information about the DeadMan Lake near Manley Hot springs also. (Heartshaped, I know there is more than one).

I bought my property for my husband as a christmas present. We are not like the other posters in that I don't see us living there year round to escape. My husband has always had that dream to go into the Alaska Wilderness and build his own cabin. He has several years in the construction trades, hunting, fishing outdoors, taking survival courses, etc. We already live in a very remote region and this is as far as I want to get! Nearest neighbor 30 miles away. On the grid, but it goes out enough for you to appriciate it!

But I was attracted to the deadman property becuase of the hunting and fishing I have researched is available. My husband has been away in Afghanistan so I thought he earned the right to play at his dream and the price was right so I bite. Even if we don't do anything with the property right away we are OK. I am aware we will have to pack water in, and can only get there by float plane, will have an outhouse. I can go like that a few weeks in the summer and be a good sport.

If anyone lives in the area and can give me any futher feedback I would truly appriciate it. I am from the lower 48 states and am not entirely familiar with the rules or customs with getting from Fairbanks to the lake by plane? How much weight can you take with you. What would be the typical price you would pay? what type of trees are growing there? (I have seen the satillite shots to see it is timbered, but what exactly is it?)

I have bought him a couple of highly recommended books on building your own cabin from timber on the site to include in his xmas present. If anyone has any other books or websites to recommend, again I would appriciate your info?

Thanks in advance for you tips/wisdom! I have already learned a lot and been facinated by this thread already! (Please forgive the spelling trying to get to work)

[Marty Van Diest]

Wow...Deadman Lake again?

I don't know why you have to haul water in. You have a whole lake full.

You can just boil it, or treat it, or filter it.