Anyone visit that bus from the movie "Into The Wild" (Fairbanks: oil, office)

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by Sly dawg

I noticed on the map of the national park that stampede trail is a perfect rectangle of non park land. When the park boarders were set, was the mine still active? Who owns that chunk of land now or is it public land? I ask because when hiking there I saw a broken down truck camper in the woods maybe a mile or two in. And several miles in is some type of camp, not sure if it is a hunting camp or what but I recall seeing a shack or something there and it's obviously used a lot.

try looking it up here
LandRecords.info: Alaska Cadastral Data Portal

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by Sly dawg

Thanks for the info star, I read in the book it was hauled there for a bunk along with two others. I guess they put the barrel burner in after it broke down?

Since I wasn't there when it was in operation, I can only tell you about it from one of the Elders back then, who worked in one of the mines that lived in Healy some odd twenty years ago when I met him in the Totem, he said the bus was running when he worked there. To me that means it wasn't dragged in by Dozer, but should be dragged out to keep anyone else from dying there trying to reach it. The barrel stove was put in back in the 1970's, there was no stove in it before then unless somebody made repairs the stove pipe hole.

I'm sure there is a lot of different versions, but there was a drivable road to there with a river crossing when it first went there, and that makes it a pretty viable story. Dragging a bus out that far with a D-8 would have ripped the entire front end out, which is fully intact.

And yes that is McKinley in your photo, but that view is what it looks like from the park entrance. Would like to have a point on a google map to see where you said it was taken. The view doesn't look the same from the North side of the mountains and hills that would block the view. If I'm wrong, have no issues with that, I would much rather give out accurate information, but I have never seen the Mountain riding three and fourwheelers to the cabin, may have been bad weather obscuring it, so would be interesting to see where the photo was taken if you can since you can google it.

[Sly dawg]

Thank you on the info from how the bus was put there and used. I was only going on the book and google searches so a resident means more to me than a book. As far as the picture goes, it was taken a mile or less into the stampede trail. I am talking about after the 8 mile lake. There is a big parking lot just before the road turns into a trail, I recall the mountain being visible a mile or less into the hike from that parking lot. I didn't notice it on the way in but on the way out I stopped before the parking area to take a break. My hiking partner noticed it before me and has film footage of it but his camcorder was dead on battery but I took several photos. If you don't think I took the picture from stampede go see for yourself, I have no reason to lie about it. Like I said, it was within a mile of the parking lot so you don't need to hike far. I will try to put the little video clips he filmed but they are only 2-3 seconds long. I have a couple more pictures if it but they are all from the same general area. I do have pictures of Denali from within the park too, I was able to see it from there but I only assumed it was Denali when I saw it from stampede.

[ArcticState]

Originally Posted by warptman

Illusion, confusion, and delusion...

Hey I don't want him in my state!

[Moose Whisperer]

Originally Posted by ArcticState

Hey I don't want him in my state!

Begich is back?

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by Moose Whisperer

Begich is back?

NOOOooooo....tell me it isn't true! oh damn can't put a smiley face icon in on a edit! so....smiley face icon

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by Sly dawg

Thank you on the info from how the bus was put there and used. I was only going on the book and google searches so a resident means more to me than a book. As far as the picture goes, it was taken a mile or less into the stampede trail. I am talking about after the 8 mile lake. There is a big parking lot just before the road turns into a trail, I recall the mountain being visible a mile or less into the hike from that parking lot. I didn't notice it on the way in but on the way out I stopped before the parking area to take a break. My hiking partner noticed it before me and has film footage of it but his camcorder was dead on battery but I took several photos. If you don't think I took the picture from stampede go see for yourself, I have no reason to lie about it. Like I said, it was within a mile of the parking lot so you don't need to hike far. I will try to put the little video clips he filmed but they are only 2-3 seconds long. I have a couple more pictures if it but they are all from the same general area. I do have pictures of Denali from within the park too, I was able to see it from there but I only assumed it was Denali when I saw it from stampede.

Well you peaked my interest because I don't ever remember ever seeing the Mt. McKinley from the trail out to the bus. I've flown down the valley at 500 feet above the trees and don't recall seeing the mountain from that elevation on good days either until I am a few mile past the bus (to the west) or climb up to a higher altitude clearing the mountains. There seems to be an opening where you might see the mountain from the ground after you clear the smaller mountain ranges past the bus.

Anyway, below is some Google shots I took and the three start from about 14 miles up to a few hundred feet above the bus area. The red line is the line of sight from one to the other, at the lower elevations, the mountain is obstructed by the smaller ones closer to the bus, you can see the red line going though the mountain range.

Anyway, you may have seen one of the other mountains looking though a pass or something, but if you can find the right spot on google, you may have a window to see it though, but the valleys seem to run the wrong way. From the bus, the Peak of McKinley is about 65 miles, your photo makes it look a lot further away which is odd.

Anyway, would like your take on it.


From the Movie "Into the Wild", people claim that they can see Mt. McKinley from the bus or that area. Looking down there is a smaller mountain range that should be blocking the view from ground level.

2.5 miles up from the bus, you can see a direct line of sight to the mountain from the bus

Direct line of sight from the mountains from a short distance above the bus is blocked from the range of smaller mountains about twenty miles away. Which seems to make seeing the mountain only visible from the movie.

[Marty Van Diest]

Someone should send that street view car out the trail to settle this issue once and for all!

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest

Someone should send that street view car out the trail to settle this issue once and for all!

I think they should just drag it out to the road and let everyone sit in the driver's chair, that way it can "rust in peace" and not cost any more lives for the clueless... Outside of McCandless, I think the death toll after he died there is four or so, not counting the ones that had to be rescued.

Won't be there much longer at the rate it is getting stripped and the parts sold on ebay.

The Mountains by the Bus... Between McKinley and the bus, not much of a place to get a good visibility of the Mountain, and they got all the way like that to Healy (the Highway)

[Marty Van Diest]

Yeah, I talked with two guys. Both young and in shape straight out of the marines. One was experienced in Alaska and the other guy was new. When they got to the river it was high. They tried it in a couple places and it was too risky. The experienced guy wanted to turn back but the other guy wanted to just chance it. Luckily the Alaskan convinced him that it was a life or death risk and got him to turn around.