Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild tells the story of Chris McCandless’s unsuccessful efforts to survive in the Alaskan wilderness, where he was discovered dead several months after he passed away. In chapter 16, Krakauer tells of McCandless’s experiences in his early days in Alaska, where he hitchhikes along the Alaska Highway and is picked up sequentially by two different men: Gaylen Stuckey and Jim Gallien.
Chris meets Gaylen Stuckey at a hot springs. Although initially apprehensive about picking up a hitchhiker, Stuckey decides to give Chris a lift in his RV. Stuckey likes Chris and, hearing about his issues with his father, urges him to let his parents know his whereabouts. Chris travels with him for several days, until they reach Stuckey’s destination of Fairbanks.
Jim Gallien is discussed in several earlier chapters of the book as well, because he was most likely the last person to see Chris alive. After picking up the hitchhiker—who called himself “Alex”—outside Fairbanks, Gallien took him to Denali National Park. He tried to convince him to get more of the gear he would need and that the timing was wrong for a wilderness trek, as there was still more than a foot of snow on the ground. Realizing that Chris was adamant, he gave him a sandwich and some old boots and dropped him off at a trailhead. No further sightings of Chris alive were reported.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Who was Jim Stuckey? How did he and Chris get along?
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