42 Facts About Chris McCandless

Christopher Johnson McCandless was born in Inglewood, California, and spent his early childhood in El Segundo, California.

Chris McCandless was the elder child of Wilhelmina Marie "Billie" McCandless and Walter "Walt" McCandless, and had a younger sister named Carine, born in July 1971.

Chris McCandless had six half-siblings from Walt's first marriage, who lived with their mother in California and later in Denver, Colorado.

In 1976, the family relocated to Annandale, Virginia, where Chris McCandless's father was hired as an antenna specialist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Carine Chris McCandless alleged in her memoir The Wild Truth that her parents inflicted verbal and physical abuse upon each other and their children, often fueled by her father's alcoholism.

Chris McCandless cited their abusive childhood, as well as his reading of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, as the motivating factors in her brother's desire to "disappear" into the wilderness.

Chris McCandless graduated from Emory University in May 1990 with a bachelor's degree in the double majors of history and anthropology.

An avid outdoorsman, Chris McCandless completed several lengthy wilderness hiking trips and paddled a canoe down a portion of the Colorado River before hitchhiking to Alaska in April 1992.

Chris McCandless was heavily influenced by 19th-century American writer and naturalist Henry David Thoreau, and was engrossed by his essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.

Wayne Westerburg recalls Chris McCandless stating that he hoped to get married and have a family in his future.

Chris McCandless left Virginia in the summer of 1990, driving a Datsun west in an apparent cross-country trip to California.

Chris McCandless's car was in poor condition and suffered numerous breakdowns as he made his way out of the eastern United States.

Chris McCandless carried no car insurance on the vehicle and was driving with expired license plates.

Chris McCandless's car was later found, repaired, and put into service as an undercover vehicle for the local police department.

Chris McCandless was suspected of burglarizing other cabins when food and money ran low, but only one case was ever positively confirmed by authorities after his death.

In early 1991, Chris McCandless left the Sierra Nevada and hitchhiked in a circular course south through California, into Arizona, and then north to South Dakota.

Chris McCandless worked at this job for the remainder of 1991, until one day suddenly quitting and leaving his supervisor a postcard, which read:.

Chris McCandless then headed to Colorado, where he used money from his job to buy kayak supplies as well as a handgun.

Chris McCandless then navigated the Colorado River, without a permit, and was occasionally pursued by wildlife and park rangers who had heard of his exploits from other river travelers, several of whom had been concerned that McCandless had been seen white water rafting in dangerous areas of the river with no safety equipment.

The authorities attempted, but never succeeded, in locating Chris McCandless, who was wanted due to his lack of proper river training as well as kayaking on the river without a valid boating license.

Chris McCandless eventually followed the Colorado River all the way to Mexico, where he crossed the international border through a spillway at the Morelos Dam.

Chris McCandless was briefly held in custody but released without charges after his gun was confiscated.

Chris McCandless was stated to be traveling with a "big backpack" and would give a false name if asked his identity.

Chris McCandless was described as very suspicious of people around him, unkempt, and smelling due to lack of hygiene.

Gallien, who had given Chris McCandless a ride from Fairbanks to the start of the rugged track just outside the small town of Healy, later said he had been seriously concerned about the safety of Chris McCandless after noticing his light pack, minimal equipment, meager rations, and obvious lack of experience.

However, Chris McCandless ignored Gallien's persistent warnings and refused his offers of assistance.

Gallien dropped Chris McCandless off, believing he would head back towards the highway within a few days as hunger set in.

On June 9,1992, Chris McCandless illegally stalked and shot a moose.

Chris McCandless did not have a detailed topographical map of the region and was unaware of the existence of an abandoned, hand-operated cable car that crossed the river.

At this point, Chris McCandless headed back to the bus and re-established his camp.

On September 6,1992, a hunter who was looking for shelter for the night came upon the converted bus where Chris McCandless had been staying.

State troopers found Chris McCandless's decomposing remains in the sleeping bag.

Krakauer wrote Chris McCandless could have died of "rabbit starvation", officially known as protein poisoning, from over-relying on lean meat for nutrition.

Krakauer speculated that Chris McCandless might have been poisoned by a toxic alkaloid called swainsonine, after eating sweet-vetch seeds containing the toxin, or possibly by a mold that can grow on them, when he put them into a plastic bag.

Chris McCandless put forward the proposal that McCandless starved to death because he was suffering from paralysis in his legs induced by lathyrism, which prevented him from gathering food or hiking.

The converted green and white bus where Chris McCandless lived and died became a well-known destination for hikers.

Chris McCandless's life became the subject of numerous articles, books, films, and documentaries, which helped elevate his life to the status of modern myth.

Chris McCandless became a romantic figure to some, inspired by what they see as his free-spirited transcendentalism, but to others, he is a controversial, misguided person.

Chris McCandless is the subject of Into the Wild, a nonfiction book by Jon Krakauer that was adapted into a film.

Chris McCandless has been a polarizing figure since his story came to widespread public attention with the publication of Krakauer's January 1993 Outside article.

Jon Krakauer's non-fiction book Into the Wild expands upon his 1993 Outside article and retraces Chris McCandless's travels leading up to the hiker's eventual death.

An eponymous 2007 film adaptation of Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn with Emile Hirsch portraying Chris McCandless, received a number of awards, including Best Picture from the American Film Institute.