Into the Wild project

  • Chris McCandless is born

    This is the exact day and year Chris was born
  • Chris arrives at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.

  • Chris abandons his car after it is damaged by a flash flood. Loads his belongings into his backpack and sets out on foot.

  • McCandless's parents drive to Atlanta looking for their son and discover that his apartment was vacated five weeks earlier.

  • Chris receives a ticket for hitchhiking in Willow Creek, California.

  • Chris's Datsun is discovered by a park ranger.

  • The private investigator employed by McCandless's parents discovers that their son donated $24,000 to OXFAM.

  • Encounters hazardous waterfalls along the Colorado River.

  • Seeking refuge from high winds, discovers a cave on the face of a bluff, where he stays for 10 days.

  • Arrives in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he works for two months at McDonald's and lives in an empty RV overseen by an old man named Charlie.

  • Applies for an ID and a job in Los Angeles, then changes his mind and returns to the road.

  • Sends a postcard to Jan Burres in Niland, California, including a map so she and boyfriend Bob can visit him in Bullhead City.

  • Spends one night at Franz's house.

  • Dropped by Franz at the San Diego waterfront. Mails Jan Burres a postcard telling her that he has been living on the streets in San Diego for a week.

  • Meets Ronald Franz while hitchhiking near California's Salton Sea.

  • Hikers and hunters discover McCandless's S.O.S. note, then his body in the bus.

  • Hitchhikes north. Takes a photo of the sign that marks the official start of the Alaska Highway.

  • Pitches his tent on frozen ground not far from the Stampede Trail.

  • Waking down the highway, is picked up by Jim Gallien, a truck-driving electrician on his way to Anchorage. A three-hour drive brings McCandless to the Stampede Trail.

  • Kills a moose and takes a photo of himself with the carcass.

  • Discovering maggots on the carcass, abandons it to the local wolves.

  • Prepares his backpack and sets out on the 20-mile hike back to the road.

  • What had been a series of frozen beaver ponds in April has become a lake. What once was an easily fordable river is now a raging torrent that McCandless cannot cross. Heads back to the bus.

  • Writes in his journal, "EXTREMELY WEAK, FAULT OF POT. SEED. MUCH TROUBLE JUST TO STAND UP. STARVING. GREAT JEOPARDY."

  • Writes "DAY 100! MADE IT!" and "BUT IN WEAKEST CONDITION OF LIFE. DEATH LOOMS AS SERIOUS THREAT."

  • Posting an S.O.S. note on the bus door, forages nearby for berries. Writes his final journal entry: "Beautiful blueberries."

  • Dies, apparently of starvation, in his sleeping bag in the bus along the Sushana River in Alaska.