I suppose that different readers might consider certain actions that McCandless took as risky, while other readers might not consider that same act as risky. As for page numbers, that is a bit tough because different editions will have slightly different page counts. From my perspective, just about everything that McCandless did was risky. I think the opening chapter shows that quite well, and Jim Gallien would likely agree. Gallien could tell that McCandless was not equipped for an extended stay in the Alaskan wilderness, and Gallien even tried to tell McCandless this fact. Gallien commented on McCandless's lack of proper clothing and a weapon that was under-powered.
Still, Gallien was concerned. Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior, which in April still lay buried under the winter snowpack. Alex’s cheap leather hiking boots were neither waterproof nor well insulated. His rifle was only .22 caliber, a bore too small to rely on if he expected to kill large animals like moose and caribou, which he would have to eat if he hoped to remain very long in the country. He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, no compass. The only navigational aid in his possession was a tattered state road map he’d scrounged at a gas station.
I think McCandless's decision to go on his grand adventure without a topographic map was also a huge risk, and Krakauer points out in chapter 18 how that one tool might have saved McCandless's life.
If McCandless had possessed a U.S. Geological Survey topographic map, it would have alerted him to the existence of a Park Service cabin on the upper Sushana River, six miles due south of the bus, a distance he might have been able to cover even in his severely weakened state.
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