- A US Army helicopter on Thursday lifted the abandoned bus featured in the film “Into The Wild” out of the Alaska wilderness because of safety concerns.
- Several hikers have had to be rescued on their way to visit the bus, and two people have drowned in rivers.
- The motivation to visit the bus comes from Chris McCandless, who lived in it in 1992 while adventuring. He eventually died of starvation.
- Jon Krakauer wrote a book about McCandless in 1996 called “Into the Wild.” The book was adapted into a movie with the same name in 2007.
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The Alaska Department of Natural Resources and Alaska Army National Guard on Thursday airlifted “bus 142,” an abandoned bus made famous by the 1996 book and 2007 movie “Into the Wild” from a remote trail near Denali National Park in Alaska.
Officials told Reuters that too many people were risking their lives attempting to trek to the site of the bus.
“We encourage people to enjoy Alaska’s wild areas safely, and we understand the hold this bus has had on the popular imagination,” Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige said in a statement. “However, this is an abandoned and deteriorating vehicle that was requiring dangerous and costly rescue efforts. More importantly, it was costing some visitors their lives.”
Adventurers have tried to visit the bus to retrace the steps of Chris McCandless, a 24-year-old man who lived in it in 1992 while adventuring.
After graduating from Emory University in 1990, McCandless trekked through the wilderness. He hitchhiked to Alaska in April 1992, where he found and lived in the bus for three months.
Jon Krakauer wrote a popular nonfiction retelling of McCandless’ adventures in his 1996 book “Into the Wild.”
Alaska Department of Natural Resources/Handout via REUTERS
About 60 years ago, a road crew hauled the bus to a trail, Denali Borough Mayor Clay Walker told Reuters.
“It turned into a perilous attraction that needed to be addressed,” he said. Walker added that lifting the bus out of the wild was the right thing to do.
“At the same time, it is part of our history and it does feel a little bittersweet to see a piece of our history go down the road,” he said.
Hikers from around the world have tried to visit the bus every year, and some have needed to be rescued and others have died.
The Department of Natural Resources is considering a new home for the bus.
