Singapore Man Rescued past Bus 142

[erikhalfacre]

Hi, as many of you already know, I run a site at http://www.pathfinderalaska.com/stampedetrail about hiking the Stampede Trail. Consequently I follow it very closely in the news. Recently I spotted this article in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner:

http://www.newsminer.com/bookmark/11291021

It is about Sin Mong Xing, a 23 year old from Singapore. In the article they talk about how the State Troopers had to go out and 'rescue' Mr. Xing after he became 'lost' in the wild. If I were you, and I had the time I would read this article because it is typical of the pieces found in Anchorage Daily News and the Fairbanks News Miner any time anything goes even slightly wrong for someone out on the trail. Something that wouldn't even be news (such as a couple of teens getting a truck stuck and having to get help to pull it out) all of a sudden becomes 'journalism' when it happens on the Stampede Trail because of it's relationship to the McCandless story. I decided to find out Mr. Xing's side of the story for myself by contacting him directly. We had a long email exchange which can be found here:

http://pathfinderalaska.com/stampedetrail/xingemails.html

To briefly summarize, Xing was more 'escorted' out of the wilderness rather than 'rescued.' When he was flown over by a State Trooper plane he indicated that he did not need rescue. Along with the State Troopers though, was an ATF agent (Alcohol Tobacco and FIrearms.) The reason they escorted Mr. Xing out of the wild was because of a phone call they got from a musher that had seen him on the trail saying that he was armed, crazy, and suicidal. Being a foreign national, it was illegal for him to be in possession of a handgun. The troopers used that reason to justify escorting Xing out of the wild. What evidence did the musher have that Xing was crazy and suicidal? I can only speculate but I would imagine that the fact that Xing was headed to 'McCandless' bus' was enough evidence for him to make that claim.

My point in sharing all of this is that there is a huge percentage of Alaskans who think that if you are going to the bus you are some kind of a suicidal nut job 'just like McCandless' and despite where they live, their sense of adventure is merely skin deep. They don't understand those of us who want to take risks and experience the wild, and they don't understand what value we see in McCandless' story. They don't understand that regardless of the mistakes McCandless may have made, there is a core to his story, one of Adventure and yearning for freedom, that strikes a cord with some people. They don't understand that every journey to the bus is not just some Hippie's pilgrimage to the site where they're idol died of stupidy, but rather an act based in a desire to better understand one man's story; to see the world that he saw and knew and understand his motivations.

These people, many of them my friends, neighbors, and acquaintances here in Alaska, feel that the best solution to stop people from 'getting into trouble' is to have the bus removed. I feel that would be a tragedy. My suggestions on how to avoid this conclusion are simple. Write letters to the Anchorage Daily News and to the Fairbanks Daily News Miner expressing your opinion. Beyond that, if you want to go to the bus be VERY prepared and VERY respectful of the wilderness. Don't take unnecessary risks, and don't do anything you wouldn't want ending up in the paper because believe me, they're just waiting for you to slip. If you don't have the wilderness experience for a trek forty miles through the Alaskan Taiga, then don't go yet. Practice. Hike more established routes. Work up to it. If you have questions ask me. Ask other Alaskans. A lot of us are willing to share and help you get the skills you need.

Just be responsible and be outspoken. Make sure this landmark is around for many many generations of hikers to enjoy and challenge themselves. Don't let the slap-a-warning-label-and-safety-rails-on-everything whiners take this from us.

Thanks for reading,

Erik Halfacre
(907)982-2221
erik@halfacreimages.com

[Jedidiah]

A friend of mine in Bettles, AK told me about this a week or so ago. Pretty interesting. Discussion of this article can also be found under the General Discussions forum "Another rescue on the Stampede...but! it wasn't necessary."