I know at that bus out in the wild you probably can't a signal but as technology and coverage improves you probably can.
Imagine how he could've taken a cell phone and then called for help only as a last resort if he really needed it!
Cell phones *did* exist then, and the bus was less than 20 miles from Healy and right on the border of a major national park, so it possibly did have a cell tower within range. Cell phones then were much larger and more cumbersome, and lacked internet and email capabilities, but they did exist. I made a trip up north about that time and borrowed one from a friend to use in case of emergency. It was spotty in picking up signals, but you had to be a long way away from a tower -- say, 100 miles -- before you got no coverage.
So McCandless might well have been able to use a cell phone, had he taken one with him -- but given his desire to rough it for the summer, it's unlikely he would have done so. He had other options -- he could have packed some emergency flares, for example. He quite evidently did not consider the possible courses of action should things go wrong.
Wow, didn't know he was within cell range! Makes him look all the more foolish!
I know he wanted to rough it but he could've taken one for emergency use only. I know others have said he could've simply walked out of there because he had a map!
I don't know that he was within cell range, either -- that depends on what service was available in the area at that time. What is certain is that service *did* exist -- cell phone usage began to become commonplace in the late 80's. However, how would McCandless have paid for mobile phone service? He had no permanent address to sign up for a contract. He could conceivably have done as I did, borrow one from an acquaintance for the duration of the trip.
I know others have said he could've simply walked out of there because he had a map!
The mystery of why he didn't walk out of there doesn't depend on his having a map (although he did have one). He also spent a month, before settling in the bus, exploring the area quite thoroughly, and would almost certainly have known from that alone that he could readily follow the river down to the park service road, where there was a bridge across the river, or could have gone upriver to a point where the river was much shallower and braided into narrower streams that would have been easier to wade through. He might even have tramped overland in spring as far as the major highway that winds around the park, but that trek would have been more difficult in summer when the muskeg terrain was thawed near the surface and presented a swampy obstacle.
We are left with the hypothesis that his injury, whatever it was, prevented his walking very far, or that he was too weak to undertake even the less arduous trek downriver to the bridge.
But aren't you assuming he was injured? Is there any evidence of this? I know people have speculated a soft tissue injury since he didn't just walk out but is it just speculation.
You would think he could've used a stick as a cane and hobbled to the bridge and park service road and got help. You would almost have to have a broken leg to be injured so badly that you couldn't even do that!
But aren't you assuming he was injured? Is there any evidence of this?
No, the evidence that McCandless was injured comes from his own pen. He had a sign mounted on the bus saying that he was injured and begging the passer-by to save him. It was also signed with his real name, Christopher McCandless, which leads to the second mystery, why was he called the "mystery hiker" when Alaska media broadcast news of the finding of the body? The sign was on the bus, clear to see, when the body was found.
The speculation is all about WHAT the injury was, not whether he had one. Hobbling to the bridge and park service road would have been doable for an able-bodied person, possibly not to one injured. It was a long hike, and over rough terrain -- uneven ground, rocky in spots, overgrown and muskeg-y in others, no path to follow, very hilly. A sprained ankle might have been enough to prevent his attempting it. Depending on which way he tried to go, it would be 15-25 miles.
Wow, that long? I thought help was just a couple miles away!
shareIt was stated in the movie by Chris' parents that he didn't have a phone. Which was the reason they decided to drive to Atlanta to check on him instead of call. Based on the scene where he refused a new car it was obvious Chris liked not keeping up with new technology. A phone wasn't useful to him, so he would have never considered purchasing a cellphone for an emergency. I get your point but it doesn't suit his personality.
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It is highly unlikely he was within cell phone range at the time. I would be surprised if cell phone service was available even in Healy at the time. Even then the max range of cell phones might be around 40 miles, not 100. 20 miles is a more realistic And even then that is generous. There are other factors that should be taken in to account. Cell phone signals are Line-of-Sight and are severely comprimised by rough terrain. All it takes is being behind a hill to lose your cell phone signal.
In modern times Satellite Phones would be a more likely choice for an emergency comm device. But the Iridium satellite system would not come online until 1998, several years after McCandless died. Satellite phones are designed to be rugged with a very long battery-life, two things most cell phones are not designed for, especially cell phones from a quarter-century ago.
It would be hard to argue that McCandless was "foolish" in some regards. But his failure to bring a cellphone with him was not one of not a foolish choice. It just wasn't a realistic one.
I was up there 2 weeks ago, and coverage on the Kenai Peninsula was very bad unless you were in Kenai, Seward or Soldotna. Coverage was a bit better between Anchorage and Talkeetna, but an info pamphlet I picked up re: Camping in Denali N.P. states that in the park cell phone coverage is nonexistant and sat-phone service is spotty.
shareI doubt he would have taken a cell phone if he could have. He wouldn't really have had a way to keep it charged.
Rather than a cell phone, the better wilderness option is a handheld ham radio. It has a far greater range and isn't dependent on cell coverage, a rechargeable battery, or purchasing a plan from a mobile provider.
But McCandless wasn't interested in such sensible provisions. He didn't even bring a compass. He was unaware that there was a hand-operated tram merely 1/4 mile from where he attempted to cross the Teklanika river.
From his Wikipedia page:
His venture into a wilderness area alone, without adequate planning, experience, preparation, or supplies, without notifying anyone and lacking emergency communication equipment, was contrary to every principle of outdoor survival and, in the eyes of many experienced outdoor enthusiasts, nearly certain to end in misfortune.
Alaskan Park Ranger Peter Christian wrote:
When you consider McCandless from my perspective, you quickly see that what he did wasn't even particularly daring, just stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate. First off, he spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild. He arrived at the Stampede Trail without even a map of the area. If he [had] had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament [... ] Essentially, Chris McCandless committed suicide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless
Not having an emergency communication device of some kind is just further evidence of his ignorance and willful stupidity. A person prudent enough to bring an emergency communication device wouldn't have gone solo into the Alaskan wilderness so ill-prepared in the first place.
But McCandless wasn't interested in such sensible provisions. He didn't even bring a compass. He was unaware that there was a hand-operated tram merely 1/4 mile from where he attempted to cross the Teklanika river.
He didn't need a compass -- he knew where he was, he had a map, he was close to several roads and only 20-25 miles from town, and on the edge of a large, well-maintained national park with facilities, roads, bridges, cabins and so forth. He had explored the area quite thoroughly when he first got there, but settling down in the bus proved to be his fatal mistake.
He didn't die in the bus because he didn't know a way out -- he died because he didn't -- or couldn't -- try to get out. Which it was, we'll never know.
The hand-operated tram would have been no use to him even if he HAD known about it. The cable car was on the far side of the river, and McCandless had no way of making it come to his side, any more than he could have summoned a rowboat tied on the opposite side to come to him. It required a human in the car to make it cross the river.
That said, ham radio outfits were rather complex things back then -- my best friend's dad had one, and it took up a fair bit of space, and required a lot of training and a license to operate. What we might well ask is why he didn't take emergency flares or build a fire to signal for help. He had managed all his other solo trips into the wilderness with no phone or radio, and he clearly overestimated his ability to deal with Alaskan conditions -- or with an emergency, illness or accident, which appear to have been factors in his case. He was poorly prepared all right, but not so much a babe in the wilderness as some have portrayed him (the film doesn't go into his personal history at all, so this conclusion is certainly justified based on just the movie).
If he had actually been "in the wild," a phone would not have helped. The cell towers were not positioned out in the middle of nowhere back in the early 90's. (I know because I trekked up north at that time. My cell picked up signals near towns and cities, but not way out in the middle of nowhere).
He wasn't completely unskilled, as he survived for quite a long time in his bus, and could have gotten out there alive. He just totally ran out of luck - with the river, the poisonous plants, then the lack of living food.
"I don't care what you believe in, just believe in something ! No matter what..."
You're right, IMO, that luck played a major role here. Also, in fact the real-life Chris McCandless had a great deal of wilderness camping skills and experience; what he significantly (and tragically) lacked was such experience in a subarctic region like Alaska.
However, the river, the plants and the absence of living food are misrepresented in the film (this is called artistic license, but many viewers want to know the actual facts as well as the Penn version of events).
The Teklanika River was too fast-moving and swollen when Chris went back the way he came. However, he had a number of other options, which he certainly knew of, including going downsteam to the park services road and getting the bridge, or going upriver, past the park service cabins, and crossing the river where it is braided into smaller streams. We don't know why he didn't attempt either, but luck (in the form of accident, injury or illness) likely played a role.
The plants were not poisonous, and McCandless ingested no toxins; neither was mold that grew upon such plants poisonous or inhibitive of digestion. Chris kept a food diary, and it is clear he simply did not take in sufficient calories, especially fats and carbs, to stay alive.
As for living food, another big mystery is why he did not attempt to catch fish. He had fishing gear; the salmon were running at the time (and other nutritious and edible fish were readily found in the area), yet he made no mention in his diary of any attempt to fish. Maybe he disliked fish. However, that's an unexplained omission. He could have survived on a diet of fish alone for months, as fish contain high-quality omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, as well as quality protein.
Yeah, those could be plot-holes indeed - except the plants thing which was completely changed.
"I don't care what you believe in, just believe in something ! No matter what..."
Same thing for Titanic. If cell phones existed, the people on the sinking ship could've called for help.
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How we gonna pay last year's RENT?!
Imagine how he could've taken a cell phone and then called for help only as a last resort if he really needed it!
You must have missed the part where he wanted to be cut off from society. He burned his money because money "makes you cautious".
Not sure if it's accurate, but earlier in the movie it mentions that he never had a phone at all, not even a landline (when his parents first drove up to see him, and found him moved out months earlier).
So the chance of him bringing a cellphone along seem rather zero.
In all of this we also have to remember that if he was injured part of the reason why he didn't suck it up and try to crawl his way out of the place might have been due to being frozen by fear of leaving the shelter.
shareIf cellphone existed, then I'm sure he would taking selfies and then upload them to flickr, instagram, panoramio, facebook. Well, at least that what I would do.
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People only want to hear what they want to hear
I think he would have thrown it away or gave it to someone because he really didn't needed it beforehand just like he gave away all his money and abandoned his car.
:)