What if Chris had crossed the river...

[SteveSalmon]

~SS

[ellisd]

i think he would go see wayne. maybe not right at first, but I think within 1-3 months after after crossing the river [if he had]

[madmaxx1221]

i think he would go see wayne. maybe not right at first, but I think within 1-3 months after after crossing the river [if he had]

Yea he definitely would of went and saw Wayne and maybe Jan and Bob too. And we cant forget about Ron Franz but if he had crossed this website would never of been created There would be no story

[erikhalfacre]

There probably would still have been a story, just most of us probably never would have heard of it. I know of a handful of adventurers who's stories kind of eclipse McCandless' in terms of "sheer adventure value." I know I'm going to get flack for that comment so I'll clarify: The danger they subjected themselves too and the amazing amount of new ground they covered and things they discovered for themselves is probably 'more' than what McCandless did. Some of those guys are actually fairly famous for what they've done but NOTHING on a Christopher McCandless level. I think what made McCandless story reach so many was the mystery of it, which of course was a direct result of him having died and not been here to tell it for himself. I'll bet he still would have some day sat down and wrote a book though, and included some of these photos we'll get to see in "Back to the Wild." Just speculating here but it would seem fitting based on the people that he idolized being mostly authors themselves.

BTW if you don't believe me about people who have done more being less famous look up: Andrew Skurka.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/alaska-trek/koeppel-text

That guy's a maniac.

[SteveSalmon]

~SS

[erikhalfacre]

South probably. Back to the states. Or maybe even to a foreign country. Probably something more exotic than Canada/Mexico since he'd already done those. That of course is assuming that the AK trip wasn't the crown jewel in his tramping adventure and that he intended to continue that lifestyle. It could have very well been though that AK was the grand finale so to speak. Nobody can really know. He didn't really leave any clues that we know of.

[erikhalfacre]

If it were me I'd have gone to South America. I feel like South America is still way more wild and dangerous than most of this planet. Even their mountains look meaner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Torre

[GoNorth]

I'm also quite sure that Chris would have gone back to Carthage sooner or later, as he had promised to Wayne to work for him again in autumn. Before that he would probably have given back the boots to Jim Gallian and possibly contacted Stuckey, the guy who had driven him about a thousand miles up to Fairbanks.
I believe he would also have got in touch again with Jan and with Ron.
And of course no one can exclude that he would have contacted his family again, at least Carine.

But:

Nobody can really know. He didn't really leave any clues that we know of.

Exactly.

[jlawson]

I think if he'd made it back to civilisation in a weakened physical and mental state i feel or would like to think he would have returned to his parents and family even if only a short time, i think they'd all suffered enough. If only he'd made it.

[GoNorth]

I think if he'd made it back to civilisation in a weakened physical and mental state

Well, the thing is that at the time he tried to cross the river he wasn't really in a "weakened" state yet. At least mentally speaking, he must have been in very good shape. Physically, he had already lost quite a few pounds, but that wasn't new for him anyway.