Hikers Rescued From Bus Made Famous by 'Into the Wild' - AK

What a head shaker. I would like to visit it though, but be a little better equipped for the river:

Three German hikers were rescued by Alaska State Troopers after hiking out to the dilapidated school bus on the Stampede Trail near Healy made famous by the book and film "Into the Wild." The hikers were unable to return due to high water on the Savage River.

http://www.adn.com/2013/05/28/2918793/h ... -made.html

If I was going to Alaska, I would want to visit the bus too. The man's story has haunted me for years.

With so many OTHER things to experience/see......the"bus" would be last on my list. Most Alaskan's believe the guy was a mis-guided
misfit. The reason....Alaska is NOT for the weak of mind/heart/body. It is UNforgiving, brutally beautiful and UNlike any other place in
the United States. Healy is approx. at 65 degrees latitude,which puts it and Fairbanks not that far from the Arctic Circle (66 degrees).

Your very existence (in the wintertime) is dependent upon just how innovative,proactive,MENTALLY strong and physically fit you are. Not uncommon to experience 50-60 BELOW for multiple days/weeks at a time......and the pitch black darkness that far north is one
BITCH to deal with.....he was so inadequately prepared,did NOT truly comprehend the complex issues he would encounter.

homeagain wrote: With so many OTHER things to experience/see......the"bus" would be last on my list. Most Alaskan's believe the guy was a mis-guided misfit. The reason....Alaska is NOT for the weak of mind/heart/body. It is UNforgiving, brutally beautiful and UNlike any other place in the United States. Healy is approx. at 65 degrees latitude,which puts it and Fairbanks not that far from the Arctic Circle (66 degrees).

Your very existence (in the wintertime) is dependent upon just how innovative,proactive,MENTALLY strong and physically fit you are. Not uncommon to experience 50-60 BELOW for multiple days/weeks at a time......and the pitch black darkness that far north is one BITCH to deal with.....he was so inadequately prepared,did NOT truly comprehend the complex issues he would encounter.

Although I partially agree with yer first sentence, I have ta say that I grew up in AK, so I'd prolly visit the bus next time I make it up there Totally agree about McCandless. He was an idiot, but he had a great dream and basically fulfilled that. I truly wish I was able to just pack up and head somewhere but alas, I have a lot of obligations that I'm not willing to throw to the wind. Either way, when my parents moved up to AK in the late seventies, a lot of Alaskans didn't have anything nice to say about the fellow.
When I was little we had family friends from TEXAS that lived in Healy for a few years in an a-frame and I was too young to remember a whole lot other than running around out in the 'nothing' with their son (and my best friend) at the time. Hahahaha, I got car sick on one trip up there and filled a bread bag! Oh man that sucked. There was a HUGE river about three quarters of a mile from their house, but when we visited it was always either dry or frozen. Weird thinking about it, I never saw water running in it. Perhaps it only ran with runoff, I don't know, I have NO IDEA exactly where that house was at, so I couldn't tell you if it was the Savage. ....Huh.... Anyway, they had a bluegrass fest in Healy once and I crushed my finger climbing up a dirt/rock hill, go figure. Fleeting man....fleeting.
My mom had a friend that lived in Fairbanks, but we only visited her once, but from what I remember, it was a nice place to live...in the summer, hahahaha. Dunno though, I'd prolly be able to live anywhere up there so long as I was prepared for the weather. I LOVE Alaska, if you can't tell from my posts, and I know you love it too Home.
The great thing about Alaska is you can go up there and have the adventure of a lifetime. What I DON'T like about the wide open adventure is the fact that it seems now you can go be a complete idiot and the State will do whatever it has to ta save yer dumb@$$. If those hikers were prepared to go to that bus then why is it they weren't prepared for a large raging river? I can think of several remedies for something like that but I'm not willing to share them. Like I said, definitely a head shaker.
If I were to repeat something about the True Great White North Homeagain, It'd be pretty well spot on with what you said. I have a friend that wants to move to Fairbanks and I've explained all of this to him a couple times. He's from Northern Michigan and has spent a lot of time around me talking about living in AK, so he's set on going. I have to disagree about the sunlight thing though. You still get a couple hours during the day in the winter, but it's overcrast as hell and might as well be dark. Guess it's the same, hahahahaha. Prudhoe Bay and places like that are the ones that'll STAY completely dark for months. Food for thought. Anyway, you ROCK Homeagain, you get my Alaskan thinking juices going and make me wanna go back even more. Perhaps one day I'll see ya at Willow Creek catching a salmon and we won't even know each other. *pssst*, Willow Creek is the SHIZnazzle!!*

FredHayek wrote: If I was going to Alaska, I would want to visit the bus too. The man's story has haunted me for years.

Dude, I know man...I know. If you're like me you'll do it before you kick the bucket :happier:

Jekyll wrote:

homeagain wrote: With so many OTHER things to experience/see......the"bus" would be last on my list. Most Alaskan's believe the guy was a mis-guided misfit. The reason....Alaska is NOT for the weak of mind/heart/body. It is UNforgiving, brutally beautiful and UNlike any other place in the United States. Healy is approx. at 65 degrees latitude,which puts it and Fairbanks not that far from the Arctic Circle (66 degrees).

Your very existence (in the wintertime) is dependent upon just how innovative,proactive,MENTALLY strong and physically fit you are. Not uncommon to experience 50-60 BELOW for multiple days/weeks at a time......and the pitch black darkness that far north is one BITCH to deal with.....he was so inadequately prepared,did NOT truly comprehend the complex issues he would encounter.

Although I partially agree with yer first sentence, I have ta say that I grew up in AK, so I'd prolly visit the bus next time I make it up there Totally agree about McCandless. He was an idiot, but he had a great dream and basically fulfilled that. I truly wish I was able to just pack up and head somewhere but alas, I have a lot of obligations that I'm not willing to throw to the wind. Either way, when my parents moved up to AK in the late seventies, a lot of Alaskans didn't have anything nice to say about the fellow.
When I was little we had family friends from TEXAS that lived in Healy for a few years in an a-frame and I was too young to remember a whole lot other than running around out in the 'nothing' with their son (and my best friend) at the time. Hahahaha, I got car sick on one trip up there and filled a bread bag! Oh man that sucked. There was a HUGE river about three quarters of a mile from their house, but when we visited it was always either dry or frozen. Weird thinking about it, I never saw water running in it. Perhaps it only ran with runoff, I don't know, I have NO IDEA exactly where that house was at, so I couldn't tell you if it was the Savage. ....Huh.... Anyway, they had a bluegrass fest in Healy once and I crushed my finger climbing up a dirt/rock hill, go figure. Fleeting man....fleeting.
My mom had a friend that lived in Fairbanks, but we only visited her once, but from what I remember, it was a nice place to live...in the summer, hahahaha. Dunno though, I'd prolly be able to live anywhere up there so long as I was prepared for the weather. I LOVE Alaska, if you can't tell from my posts, and I know you love it too Home.
The great thing about Alaska is you can go up there and have the adventure of a lifetime. What I DON'T like about the wide open adventure is the fact that it seems now you can go be a complete idiot and the State will do whatever it has to ta save yer dumb@$$. If those hikers were prepared to go to that bus then why is it they weren't prepared for a large raging river? I can think of several remedies for something like that but I'm not willing to share them. Like I said, definitely a head shaker.
If I were to repeat something about the True Great White North Homeagain, It'd be pretty well spot on with what you said. I have a friend that wants to move to Fairbanks and I've explained all of this to him a couple times. He's from Northern Michigan and has spent a lot of time around me talking about living in AK, so he's set on going. I have to disagree about the sunlight thing though. You still get a couple hours during the day in the winter, but it's overcrast as hell and might as well be dark. Guess it's the same, hahahahaha. Prudhoe Bay and places like that are the ones that'll STAY completely dark for months. Food for thought. Anyway, you ROCK Homeagain, you get my Alaskan thinking juices going and make me wanna go back even more. Perhaps one day I'll see ya at Willow Creek catching a salmon and we won't even know each other. *pssst*, Willow Creek is the SHIZnazzle!!*

FredHayek wrote: If I was going to Alaska, I would want to visit the bus too. The man's story has haunted me for years.

Dude, I know man...I know. If you're like me you'll do it before you kick the bucket :happier:

Hey Jekyll.....got one BETTER for you.....Daily Dose of Dumb.......couple years back the troopers got a call from a cell phone,two
hikers from NJ.(I think,anyway the lower 48) were climbing some mountain and because the daylight (sun) was strong and extended
hours gave them sunburn they called to be rescued from the mountain....trooper responded that the chopper was in another location
and it would be the next day before rescue......chopper set down next day and two VERY sunburned tourists returned home.

Since I have SAD....the 2 or 3 hours of light is/was NOT near enough!.......(I bought a "sun box" and every morning at
7AM I would watch "NORTHERN EXPOSURE"........and get my vitamin D's for the day

MANNO, I still have ALL the dvd's of Northern Exposure and truly treasure pulling them out and reliving some of fun stuff about the
series......My fave was in the 4th season when Chris (the DJ) celebrates winter solstice with a creative light display that encompasses the whole town...."bonne Bare".....

homeagain wrote: Hey Jekyll.....got one BETTER for you.....Daily Dose of Dumb.......couple years back the troopers got a call from a cell phone,two hikers from NJ.(I think,anyway the lower 48) were climbing some mountain and because the daylight (sun) was strong and extended hours gave them sunburn they called to be rescued from the mountain....trooper responded that the chopper was in another location and it would be the next day before rescue......chopper set down next day and two VERY sunburned tourists returned home.

Since I have SAD....the 2 or 3 hours of light is/was NOT near enough!.......(I bought a "sun box" and every morning at 7AM I would watch "NORTHERN EXPOSURE"........and get my vitamin D's for the day

MANNO, I still have ALL the dvd's of Northern Exposure and truly treasure pulling them out and reliving some of fun stuff about the series......My fave was in the 4th season when Chris (the DJ) celebrates winter solstice with a creative light display that encompasses the whole town...."bonne Bare".....

Sheesh, those guys from NJ were definitely a couple screw balls, hahahahaha! That's hilarious. I hear ya about the Vitamin D, lot's of people up there lack sufficient levels and have ta take supplements. Very different from Colorado indeed. Got a laugh about the "sun box." Never did watch any Northern Exposure, I should though. :happier: