maps or no?

[jcoulter]

I read the book, I am confused, did Chris have a map and if so which map? (Having looked at all the topo maps of the area I am just interested in how the reality might jive or not with Krakauer's statements. Like about the gaging station which is frankly in the last place I would look for a fording area as I would go upstream into the flats not downstream into a gulch where the water is higher and faster. i also note that Chris would need the D-5 Healy map to see the station although he was camping out in the D-6 area . . .

[Anewanddifferentsun]

The only map he had was a basic Alaska road map, but not the topographical map that would have included the location of the cable crossing. The road map he had did show the Stampede Trail. According to Jim Gallien on the Back to the Wild special on Animal Planet, Chris asked him if he knew where the Stampede Trail is, that Chris had heard or read about it sometime earlier.

[mike kramer]

Like we should believe anything the the back to the wild people say! No one in that group can be trusted with the truth!!

[GoNorth]

According to Jim Gallien on the Back to the Wild special on Animal Planet, Chris asked him if he knew where the Stampede Trail is, that Chris had heard or read about it sometime earlier.

This is also what Krakauer wrote in his book:

A little later Alex pulled out his crude map and pointed to a dashed red line that intersected the road near the coal-mining town of Healy. It represented a route called the Stampede Trail. Seldom traveled, it isn’t even marked on most road maps of Alaska. On Alex’s map, nevertheless, the broken line meandered west from the Parks Highway for forty miles or so before petering out in the middle of trackless wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. This, Alex announced to Gallien, was where he intended to go.

[Anewanddifferentsun]

According to Jim Gallien on the Back to the Wild special on Animal Planet, Chris asked him if he knew where the Stampede Trail is, that Chris had heard or read about it sometime earlier.

This is also what Krakauer wrote in his book:

A little later Alex pulled out his crude map and pointed to a dashed red line that intersected the road near the coal-mining town of Healy. It represented a route called the Stampede Trail. Seldom traveled, it isn’t even marked on most road maps of Alaska. On Alex’s map, nevertheless, the broken line meandered west from the Parks Highway for forty miles or so before petering out in the middle of trackless wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. This, Alex announced to Gallien, was where he intended to go.

Chris had been to Fairbanks once before. It's possible he learned about the Stampede Trail on that visit or shortly after he arrived in Fairbanks in late April 1992. Anyone who talked as much as he did about going to Alaska would probably have taken the time to do a little research. Krakauer's "losing the map" thing was great writing, but it wasn't factual. Chris had a map, although not the topographical variety that included the cable crossing. Another question to consider is this: did Chris's map show the park road to the south? It would have been a tough hike, I'm told, but why didn't he - assuming his map included the park road - head that way after he decided he couldn't get across the Teklanika? Speaking of which, the Animal Planet "Back to the Wild" special shows Chris falling in the Tek when he tried to hike back. Into the Wild shows the same thing. Is this factual? As for the Tek's flow in July, Chris's own photos do not suggest the river was running all that high. I've never seen it at any time, but I do know any river can be treacherous, depending on where you try to cross.