Anyone visit that bus from the movie "Into The Wild" (Barrow: safety, park)

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by greenmartian

Here's a good article about Treadwell, with some VERY interesting comments from Alaskans who live with bears every day, and also some Alaskan hunting guides:

Timothy Treadwell Killed By Bears in Alaska | Jim Lynch: Technology and Other Musings

Edit: There are also some really idiotic comments from people who think Treadwell was a "bear whisperer."

Thanks for the link. I added my $1.25 (it used to be "two-cents," but inflation and the devaluation of the dollar has increased the value of that particular idiom. ).

[greenmartian]

Originally Posted by Glitch

Thanks for the link. I added my $1.25 (it used to be "two-cents," but inflation and the devaluation of the dollar has increased the value of that particular idiom. ).

Cool. I don't think you will be able to get through to some of the morons there. But at least you and some other folks that know bears might save somebody else from becoming the next Deadwell. Oops, I meant Treadwell.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by greenmartian

There are also some really idiotic comments from people who think Treadwell was a "bear whisperer."

Well he did become a "Bear Fart".... some of which are like a "Whisperer"

[Jimrob1]

I don't know when I have seen the words idiot or stupid used more on citydata to describe someone that has died. Especially such a young person that died all alone like that and he was just a kid.

It doesn't matter if his behavior would be described as foolish or whatever, he died a very lonely death and its beyond tragic. When I watched that movie I couldn't help but wonder. If there was alot more to this story, alot more to this young guys life that led up to such a tragic fate.

[warptman]

Tragic? He chose to do this on his own. I see no tragedy in stupidity.

[gobrien]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

I don't know when I have seen the words idiot or stupid used more on citydata to describe someone that has died. Especially such a young person that died all alone like that and he was just a kid.

It doesn't matter if his behavior would be described as foolish or whatever, he died a very lonely death and its beyond tragic. When I watched that movie I couldn't help but wonder. If there was alot more to this story, alot more to this young guys life that led up to such a tragic fate.

Alaskan's judge McCandless very harshly. He made three vital life-robbing mistakes-he didn't know there was a zipline type crossing at another spot on the river, he didn't know that the river would become fast and swollen by glacial melt-water, and he ate the wrong plant (most likely). He probably should have had a better map. He should have been educated better in harvesting a moose. I think it's a shame. I don't think he was stupid, just ill-prepared, which is fatal in Alaska. What angers people so much is that they don't want herds of like-minded people coming up here to die. I really loved the book, it explained the heart of the explorer in a beautiful way, but I'm probably one of the few Alaskans that don't get angry at the mention of this subject.

[Frostnip]

People around here get aggravated about it because it was 100% unnecessary, and because you hear people romanticizing it when they should be taking it as a wake-up call.

[alaskabushrat]

It is a shame that people who are suppose to be adults have to use childish name calling. In my lifetime here in Alaska growing up right to this day, I have seen many Alaskans who have been here way longer than a lot of these people make mistakes, some that should have never happen and die because, they they took that one unfortunate chance. This young man was not unlike the old pioneers. Many of them came here unprepared and paid the ultimate price. In case you don't remember, there was one person who knew where he was going and should have alerted authorities just as a precaution. I listen to a lot of radio and I have listened to both conservative and liberal talk radio, it would seem that name calling is a favorite past time in Alaska. I have seen a lot since 1947 and I can tell you, there is a whole different type of people who have settled in Alaska from the old days. That is why I would rather live off the road system. At times, the animals are a whole lot better to be around.

[alaskabushrat]

Originally Posted by johnny99

Many don't understand what he was trying to do. He wanted to get away from everything (society)and was deep into Tolstoy and Thoreau. He offered the guy who drove him in his watch saying he didn't want to know what time it was or have any association with the outside world. He was idealistic to the extreame but not crazy and, if not for making a few key mistakes that lead to his death, he would have walked out of there as anonymously as he walked in. He felt you had to test yourself to be fully alive. He did what many have talked about but never had the guts to do. He could have easily gotten the best gear and brought food in, but he wanted to put into practice the core beliefs he had. I am not sure I admire him but it strikes a primal cord somewhere deep in my soul and many others. If your a Walmart, sitcom, never read a book, beer guzzling type I doubt you could come close to understanding this kid. People degrade what they don't understand. He had the balls to not just talk about his beliefs but to truly live them out.

Very well said.

[Frostnip]

I guess it's a fair cop to say that I don't understand what he was trying to do. Or rather, I do understand it why someone would want to do that, but I think it's pretty darn off to call it something along the lines of a "primal urge"; there's a reason humans back in more "primal" times didn't live lives of isolation in the arctic wilderness. Sure, in many cultures people would test themselves against the elements as a rite of passage, but we're talking there about people who'd been trained up over the course of their lives to deal with the conditions, came from the same environment in which they'd be doing their thing. IMO the romantic lonely wanderer concept is more a reaction to modern urban life than it is a throwback to some earlier, purer area. You don't have to love Walmart or beer to realize that there's a good reason humans evolved cooperative social structures, cultural transmission of survival skills, and sophisticated tool-using...we're not exactly athletic marvels when compared to other critters.