Almost all great adventurers have the sense to tell someone their whereabouts before going on an excursion. The most experienced hikers may know the land by the back of their hand, but a disaster can strike unexpectedly at any moment. Several incidents have happened where people have gotten lost in the wilderness without telling others of their location plans. Many people have gotten lost, some may not have ever been found, all due to not alerting someone of their plans beforehand. Aron Ralston, on obviously experienced mountaineer, was one day biking in the Blue John Canyon, according to the article “Miraculous Lost and Found” by Katherine Leonard. Ralston decided to stop his bike and admire the narrow canyon, when a massive eight hundred pound boulder broke loose, it tumbled down and got stuck, pinning Ralston’s arm under it. Ralston only had two burritos and three hundred fifty milliliters of water. He had to ration his supplies for four days until he made the decision… he had to save himself. Ralston didn’t communicate his whereabouts, he had to amputate his arm with his pocket knife. A Dutch family named the Meijer’s found him and proceeded to help him. This disastrous event could have been avoided if only Ralston …show more content…
He didn’t tell anyone where he was going ahead of time. The sixty four year old made an attempt to go across Utah’s Blue John Canyon, as expected, his attempt was cut short. Richards fell ten feet, he shattered his leg and dislocated his shoulder. He had two protein bars and an empty water bottle. With no way of contact, Richards began to rag himself back towards his car. Four days later, the Rangers began to look for him, they sent a helicopter out to his likely location. He got the choppers attention by using the flash of his camera. Richards was safely rescued, but the whole ordeal could have been avoided if he would have told his
The day is unlike any other. The mail has come and lying at the bottom of the stack is the favored Outside magazine. The headline reads, “Exclusive Report: Lost in the Wild.” The cover speaks of a twenty four year old boy who “walked off into America’s Last Frontier hoping to make sense of his life.” The monotony of the ordinary day has now vanished from thought as Jon Krakauer’s captivating article runs through the mind like gasoline to an engine. The article is not soon forgotten, and the book Into the Wild is happened upon three years later. The book relates the full story of Christopher Johnson McCandless and how he left his family and friends after graduating college in order to find himself. Krakauer based the book off of his article on McCandless that was printed in January of 1993. From the time of writing the article to the printing of Into the Wild, Krakauer was obsessed with the tale of the boy who rid himself of society and later turned up dead in the Alaskan frontier. In the foreword of Into the Wild, Krakauer describes McCandless as “an extremely intense young man [who] possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence” and who was in deed searching for a “raw, transcendent experience” (i-ii). Krakauer is correct in assessing this conclusion about McCandless. This conclusion is seen throughout the book in many different assessments. Krakauer uses logical appeal, a comparison to his own life, and assumption to bring about his assessment of McCandless’ life.
There is always going to be a ‘what if’ in Krakauer’s book Into the Wild; Chris lead himself to his own death. Unfortunately, the routes and the decision didn’t end as he wanted to but he was more alive than he ever was. His dreams were, in fact, wise but risky, but with the knowledge Chris had, he knew best. He knew could have read more or gone more into detail of the Alaskan wild but instead, he just read the book Tanaina Plantlore: An Ethnobotany of the Dena 'ina Indians of Southcentral Alaska, by Priscilla Russell Kari. Also, with the skill he experiences while hitchhiking, he could of acknowledge the difference in the environments. Lastly, being self-absorbed made his trip fatal because no one but a few friends knew where he was. The fact Chris didn’t tell his family where he was headed to lead him to his death in which he is only responsible for. But he died at peace according to his journal. By letting his family know where he was, they could 've sent a search party after a few months to see if he was safe. One follows their dream because of the challenges but Chris followed his odyssey because it was wise on his mind but a risk to
Most people are not bizarre enough to live in the wild with no money, identification, and just the clothes on their back, however; most people are not cut from the same fabric as Christopher McCandless. McCandless is an adventurous, Tolstoy idolizing, Transcendentalist nitwit whose naivete and foolish mistakes got him killed in the Alaskan wilderness, nevertheless he is an American examplar. Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild, a book based on who McCandless was and the adventure he led, raves and identifies with Chris. Whereas Peter Christian, author of the article, Chris McCandless from an Alaska Park Ranger’s Perspective, criticizes Chris and believes that he is unworthy of being labeled a hero. First, McCandless dedicates his life
Even though Chris McCandless made mistakes on his way to his death, the main reason he died was that he was simply, unlucky. All of Chris’ “misfortunes” can actually be traced back to his own arrogance and short-sightedness that put him in the proximity of chance. After deciding to come to Lake Mead, Chris “[ignores] posted warnings that off-road driving is strictly forbidden, [and] steer[s] the Datsun off the pavement where it crossed a broad sandy wash”(27). In the end, I found Chris McCandless to be someone to be admired, even though I pity the fact that he died.
Luckily, an angel in the form of a Coast guard chef rescued him and sought out help. The next thing he knew, he was in a hospital bed without legs (from the kneecap down) and with a broken neck.
On April 26, 2003 Aron Ralston was hiking alone through Blue John Canyon, in eastern Wayne County, Utah, just south of the Horseshoe Canyon unit of Canyon lands National Park. When the unexpected happened where suddenly Aron’s life was on the line. Aron Ralston was an arrogant and independent adventurous. Ralston would do anything adventurous that didn’t involve family or someone helping him. He wouldn’t talk to any of his family. Ralston would ignore them because he thought they couldn’t help him. Also, he thought they would want someone to go with him in case of an emergency. After an hour or two of climbing mountains and hiking in the canyon Aron tried climbing down Blue John canyon. This canyon which only is three feet wide and seventy
McCandless is a very independent person, a person with high hopes, that has a lot of courage, and is a very brave man for going out by himself in the wild of Alaska of the Stampede Trail. Chris McCandless had a lot of courage on going to Alaska by himself at a young age. While Chris was at any city or anybody’s house, he was ready to go to Alaska. But while he was there, close to the end of his life, he left a note on the back of the bus saying, “S.O.S I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here i am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of god, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return by evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?” Chris McCandless was by himself at the time. He shows his courage because while by himself, he went back out even though he was near death. He went out for food. Food for his health. That shows how much courage he had for his trip. Chris McCandless encouraged many young men to ...
“August 2000, our family of six was on the way to a wedding. It was a rainy day, and Gregg was not familiar with the area. The car hit standing water in the high-way, and started hydro-planing. Greg lost control of the car. Then, the car went backwards down into a ditch and started sliding on its wheels sideways. After sliding for 100 feet or so, the car flipped, at least once. After flipping, the car came to rest on its wheels, and the passenger window broke out.
People make bad choices in life every day, some may be recovered from whereas others have fatal consequences. A reporter named Jon Krakauer wrote a biography called Into The Wild which is about a young man named Chris McCandless who makes a fatal decision which lead to his demise in Alaska. Aron Ralton's book called Between a Rock and a Hard Place is about his near death experience from making a bad choice. His perseverance and problem solving skills become his salvation in the hot and dry terrain of Utah. Chris and Aron were both eager for adventure and both had a love for nature and the outdoors. Chris died because he lacked Aron's prior knowledge of survival tactics, making Chris ill prepared for his journey.
Chris McCandless’s story, in Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer is an important story to be heard, but it should be read as a cautionary tale for all people wanting to go into the wilderness unprepared. Anyone going into an inhospitable region should be aware of this story and should not make the mistake of being
It was nearing nightfall so he layed down on the ground, covered himself with his hole-ridden blanket, and fell asleep. He woke in the morning and immediately began searching for his family. He described them to many people, even some of the American border guards, but there were so many families there that he could not find them. He stayed there for two weeks, begging for his food and sleeping on the ground, with no sign of his family anywhere. Then, he finally saw them.
It is very common to see people deciding to go mountain climbing, hiking, or sailing-in a place where they shouldn’t be, just for the thrill of it.
A blast of adrenaline charges throughout my body as I experience the initial drop. My body's weight shifts mechanically, cutting the snow in a practiced rhythm. The trail curves abruptly and I advance toward a shaded region of the mountain. Suddenly, my legs chatter violently, scraping against the concealed ice patches that pepper the trail. After overcompensating from a nearly disastrous slip, balance fails and my knees buckle helplessly. In a storm of powder snow and ski equipment, body parts collide with nature. My left hand plows forcefully into ice, cracking painfully at the wrist. For an eternity of 30 seconds, my body somersaults downward, moguls of ice toy with my head and further agonize my broken wrist. Ultimately veering into underbrush and pine trees, my cheeks burn, my broken wrist surging with pain. Standing up confused, I attempt climbing the mountain but lose another 20 feet to the force of gravity.
When it comes to traveling alone a lot of planning has to be involved in order to set off into the world. When a person is off on their own they don’t have the ability to rely on others to ma...