Into the Wild was a famous film made in 2007, based on a novel of the same name by Jon Krakauer, which followed the life of Christopher McCandless who traveled across America all the way into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 90s. McCandless perished about 113 days into his trek across Alaska on the Stampede Trail.
The film based on the book became insanely popular and made movie watchers eager to go on the trail that McCandless had followed for themselves.
One of the most interesting attractions on the Stampede Trail was the abandoned bus that the film had shown. The bus, best known as Fairbanks Bus 142 and “Magic Bus,” and was also where McCandless had spent three months of his time on the trail, treating it as a home before he decided to hike back to civilization. Unfortunately, due to glaciers McCandless had never made his way back and had lived in the bus for one additional month before falling to his death.
The bus was finally removed from its home this month, taking its first trip in decades. It was removed by by the Alaskan Army National Guard last Thursday on a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter, which airlifted it to displace it from the trail.
The decision to remove the bus came up after the Department of Natural Resources came to the realization that having it on the Stampede Trail could actually be a detriment to public safety as it incentivized those familiar with “Into the Wild” to take the same trip as McCandless. It’s position in Healy, Alaska is right in the midst of the brutal Alaskan wilderness.
The Department of Natural Resources believes that diehard fans of Into the Wild will no longer make the trek, or at least be more reluctant to make the trek, if such popular attractions and landmarks are not there, to make their pilgrimage worth it.
Every year a multitude of people attempt to follow the same trail that McCandless had followed, hoping to succeed where he had failed. However, the trail is very dangerous and has resulted in the deaths of hikers, like with McCandless, at times.
A little less than a year ago, a Belarusian woman had died on the trail trying to cross the river that led to the “Magic Bus” while with her new husband. Even more recently, Alaskan state troopers had to rescue five Italians on the trail on their trip back from visiting the bus.
Hopefully, the removal of the bus will dissuade hikers from attempting the difficult Stampede Trail, but if they have not heard about the removal of the bus, then the efforts of the Alaskan Department of Natural Resources will have been in vain.
Featured Image courtesy of Department of Natural Resources/Reuters
