
Another death on trail to 'Magic Bus' from Into The Wild won't stop adventurers - pseudolus
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5228700/why-another-death-on-trail-to-magic-bus-from-into-the-wild-won-t-stop-adventurers-1.5228705
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setr
As I remember it, Into the Wild was a pretty clear suggestion that blindly
trying to turn to nature with no background, experience and knowledge was a
really easy way to die... even if he managed it for a few months.

So this seems particularly dumb if thats the inspiration

~~~
Nelson69
People seem to interpret it a few different ways. The idea of "checking out of
society" really appeals to some and he's heroic for doing it. Fight Club has a
similar, almost cultish, following.

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setr
I mean, both ideas exist in the movie; the idea itself was naive idealism and
the lack of preparation gets him killed.. but what little time he had there
was great.

The lesson: its a good idea, but don’t run in unprepared, and don’t think
nature is without danger

The apparent takenaway: it’s a good idea

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cal5k
It takes a long time to die of starvation. That can't have been a pleasant 4
months by any stretch of the imagination.

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setr
As I remember the film, it was death by poison mushroom, risked due to
starvation — I feel like it was a death depicted over maybe two weeks. I
remember the overall stay being quite bearable.. until the winter hit, and
everything went wrong; and death came swiftly and without mercy

But regardless the movie depicts it as a fairly slow, very painful, and a
fairly pathetic death (alone, weak, with lots of regret and little to show for
it), but still 90% of the movie was him running around in gorgeous nature
shots and small towns.

~~~
_underfl0w_
Actually, I believe (at least in the movie) it came from eating a type of
poisonous berry that he naively mistook for a very similar-looking
nonpoisonous berry.

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rkachowski
Maybe the best way to stop it would be to embrace it. Build a tourist site and
hand out postcards saying "I made it to the magic bus".

Give helicopter tours to rich people and exploit the irony of wanting to
explore the isolation and wilderness, yet do the same as everyone else.

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senorjazz
> Give helicopter tours to rich people

No, don't. Providing the most polluting form of transport to somewhere
isolated and tranquil for profit, to allow the rich and lazy to get there in a
day trip is disgusting. But hey they are rich, let them ruin it for others who
made an effort to get there. The rich are what we should all aspire to as the
ultimate form of success and happiness, right?

I find the constant hustle to find an angle to monetise something quite sad.
Especially when aimed solely at the rich to the detriment of everyone else.

Why does everything need to be exploited? Sanitised? Made safe. You undertake
something dangerous, then death is a possibility that is understood. Just
accept it.

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blaser-waffle
> I find the constant hustle to find an angle to monetise something quite sad.

You realize you're on Hacker News, right?

~~~
windexh8er
Monetization of something as a goal to be the next billion dollar unicorn vs
monetization of something useful as a lifestyle product are different paths
that cater to a majority of people who frequent HN. But constant hustle to
find an angle is another part of it. In some cases people find the next thing
organically, and then you have others constantly trying to slam the square peg
in a round hole. It seems as though the latter is more often focused on
acquiring wealth to be rich rather than having a passion for a tangible
product/solution.

~~~
brokenkebab
_often focused on acquiring wealth to be rich rather than having a passion for
a tangible product /solution_

There's nothing wrong with it. On the surface, what if someone has a passion
which is unprofitable? Becoming rich is the way, and motivation to be able to
practice it. And going deeper: having 'a passion' doesn't necessary make
anyone a better person vs someone who just wants to give his/her kids a better
start, and spend the last part of life being able to pay medical bills.

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mglass3000
This article is actually factually incorrect. He didn't die of starvation, he
died of poison. He ate some seeds that contained a neurotoxin or something
like that.

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scott_s
McCandless starved to death. _Why_ he starved to death is not settled (and
probably never will be), and a poison which prevented his body from
metabolizing food is one suspected contributing factor:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_McCandless#Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_McCandless#Death)

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GarrisonPrime
Ironic that people who respect an independent spirit and trailblazer (or so
they see him) think the best way to do so is follow in his footsteps.

~~~
feenix566
When McCandless began his journey he didn't know the bus was there. He just
picked a random direction and started walking. If you're intentionally walking
towards the bus, you're following his literal footsteps but you're not
replicating the same conditions. If you wanted to really follow in his
footsteps you should pick an equally random direction and start walking. Odds
are you won't find a bus and no one will ever find your body.

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Waterluvian
Recently in Ontario the Amber Alert system for forcibly alerting phones got
booted up. It got me thinking about the use of technology for non-optional
alerts.

What if phones were loaded with some basic geometry layers, so when your
phone's GPS detects you're outside the polygon, it forcibly alerts you: YOU
ARE OUTSIDE THE RANGE FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES. 911 AND EMERGENCY RESCUE NOT
GUARANTEED."

I got thinking about this also because of how emergency services are often
perceived as being some universal guarantee, taken for granted in the modern
world. I wonder if people don't really grok that they're completely outside of
the safety net they grew up in.

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OnlineCourage
I like how your proposed alert notification is in capitalized letters and post
hoc. "DUE TO RECENT LEGISLATION RESTRICTIONS ON CELL TOWER PERMITS IN WILDLIFE
AREAS, AT&T HAS DETECTED THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER WITHIN OUR PLATINUM CELL TOWER
COVERAGE AREA. YOU ARE NOW IN THE IMPENDING DEATH NO EMERGENCY SERVICE ZONE,
GOODBYE."

~~~
Waterluvian
That's how our amber alerts are presented. Alongside a forced max volume
klaxxon. It's quite the spectacle when a whole room of people's phones go off
at the same time.

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schnable
How did the bus get there?

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theandrewbailey
It was towed there.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede_Trail#Bus_142](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede_Trail#Bus_142)

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kbos87
“>> Have you been to the bus? >> I have not. I've only been as far as the
river. I went to the river to see it for myself when I was reporting on this
whole pilgrimage phenomenon a few years ago and I watched a group of hikers
cross that were headed to the bus and three of them were swept downstream and
one of them almost drowned.“

A reporter who can’t figure out why people keep going to the bus sure had an
easy time justifying why they themself went.

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Simulacra
I consider the bus a sacred spot for everyone who wanted to escape the world
and find themselves. That said, at this point, it truly is a place you go at
your own peril, and if you die it's no one's fault but your own. Death is sad,
but the dangers are well known by this point.

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jacknews
RIP

But to any other would-be followers, imagine completing your "wilderness"
pilgrimage, only to find a couple of other groups already camping there.

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fortran77
Move the bus to a museum in an accessible place and charge admission. Let a
private company get the contract so it won't cost taxpayers.

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matthewdumler
I swore I read there was a bridge not far from where he crossed?

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nappy-doo
Not quite a bridge, it was a cable with a carriage. I believe the carriage was
chained on his side, but I don't know if it was locked.

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ackfoo
IIRC, the guy who gave him a ride to the start of the trail tried to give him
a map that would have showed the cable not far from where he tried to ford on
his way back, but was prevented by high water.

McCandless had some idiotic notion that the map would degrade the purity of
his experience of nature, or something like that, so he refused.

How ridiculous that someone who was a fan of the book would die trying to ford
the same river at the same place that stopped McCandless. Did they not read
that part of the book where Krakauer decribed the cable, or did they just not
remember it?

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nraynaud
I don't see too much of an issue to be fair, experience comes from taking
risks and surviving crises, not from staying home. And you take risks because
you know people will help you if something bad happens.

Of course 2 trends are against it: the tribals who believe they are more legit
than others to do the trek for some reason (like the hunters or locals), and
the economists who believe taxes should pay for the army, not for rescuing
citizen who had an accident, and that normal citizens who want to do that
should pay an army of guides and sherpas who will iron out any issue. I don't
subscribe to any of it, tribalism is a license to be an asshole, and guides
tend to be only nice to wealthy clients.

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cf141q5325
Its volunteer firefighters who are responding to the calls for rescue.

>It's primarily volunteer firefighters that execute these rescues. And there
have been numerous rescues.

Getting yourself knowingly in that danger, relying on people having to rescue
you if it doesnt pan out seems rather shitty to me.

~~~
nraynaud
that's what hunters, miners, people lighting their fireplace or people driving
their cars do all the time there.

