Christopher McCandless

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Thank you so much for the clarification!

Interesting stuff. I actually looked for that cabin for a while on our trip, but did not find it (for now obvious reasons.)

I wonder if this is the Suburban referred to:



This is at the Stampede Airstrip as I understood it from Ms. Hines.

Either way, I'd love to have a rig like that of that era. I just wouldn't like fueling it.

There's one of those 50s Suburbans that's abandoned in a field on private property near where I currently live. (I'm in an area of acre lots that used to be way out in the boonies; the City of Sacramento eventually sprawled out to here and grandfathered the area in, so people own chickens and have trailers and other things that aren't permissible in the city.) That Suburban is HEAVY-it's sunk into the mud up to its axles, and it did it by itself! My grandfather used to call vehicles like that "panel vans". The International L-150 "Metro" was far more popular here in CA, and my grandfather owned one. By the time I was born it no longer was operable, but I played in it as a kid. Very basic van, a basic dash and a big steering wheel sticking up from the floor and a column shift three speed transmission.

I've never seen inside one of those old Suburbans, but I suspect that it's based upon the GM "redneck truck" (can't remember the official name) that was made in the early 50s. You can find pics on the net-a metal dash with two gauge clusters, a steering wheel, and a big shifter on the floor. And yes, they got about 8 mpg. But gas was 25 cents a gallon, so who cared? You want a "real" 4x4 today, buy yourself a Land Rover Defender, the flat nosed, boxy vehicle you see in pics of Africa. They weren't selling them in the USA for a while, but I think they're being offered again. Be prepared to fork over $50k or more.

pezar wrote:Be prepared to fork over $50k or more.

No thank you!

I've got a nice little 4x4 ranger back home for offroading. I just like the way they look. I've seen one driving around the Spenard area of Anchorage in the past, fully restored.

In reality I'd probably never buy one, but I can always put it on my when-i'm-a-billionaire list.

Chris McCandless was very smart for finding the bus and using it for shelter. However, I agree that it was somewhat contradictory for Chris to stay in the bus because he wanted to go on the journey to Alaska to escape the outside world. The bus was built in a factory, and is not native to the environment. Nevertheless, since Chris did not have sufficient materials to build a tent, or maybe he couldn’t have because of the extreme conditions, it was a good idea for Chris to stay in the abandoned bus and call it home.

In reality, I would have to buy, I agree with Chris at the bus is paradoxical, because he wanted to journey to Alaska to escape the outside world.