Christopher McCandless Syndrom

[tabornik]

Does anyone remember Jon Krakaur's book "Into the Wild" or better yet the movie by the same title?
Well, there is an unofficial syndrome named after the book/movie's subject: Christopher McCandless, who, after graduating from college, donated all of this grad school money for world hunger and became a hobo. It is speculated that he may have been suffering from neurosis or psychosis, but he eventually thought he would take on the Alaskan wilderness without any experience or advice. He did some stupid things like camping in his car in a wash, where he almost drowned during a flash flood, and not using a proper topo map, which eventually lead to his demise.
But the syndrome is the belief that one can taking on nature is like a right of passage. In my many years of back country experience I have run into these "individuals" like on San Jacinto in the winter where one guy was walking down the trail with a ruck sack and a coleman sleeping bag. His intention was to build a snow cave and eat berries and small game. The problem was there was no snow and after the weekend we saw him at the tram station a little wiser. We tried to discourage him initially but he was pretty stubborn.
Then one spring we came across a guy hiking the trail to Mt Sill wearing jeans and a hoodie in 2 feet of snow. He said he was lost and luckily we were only a mile in so one of us volunteered to walk him out.
So what causes people to do this?

[backpackntrail]

I have often wondered this myself.... :S

[bdavison]

There are more....like that guy that thought he could become "friends" with alaskan polar bears.
He spent a year up there getting closer and closer to them...then you guessed it...

They killed him.

Who knows why these people do these things. Stupidity, ego, overconfidence, lack of education...who knows.

[natchez]

it's a spiritual uplifting that loses contact with reality I think :P

[salmonlov]

It is a human tragedy! Part of being human, seeking challenge and find anyway to daminate natural by survivor and fitness. Well, if they made it...there is more stories to tell. If not, perhaps their next life would be different. However, there are many guys with those type charators and that is why mountain rescue is always in needed of personel. This forum is good for most us who wanted to get away from civlization to find a tool to surve in wild for short peroid. Yes, you could make it. As long as you education youself with skills and planning!!! But still there is Mother Nature that you couldn't predict it....that is the chance you take 50/50. Always remember to conside all the worse that might apply to your wildness trip! Have an idea with good plan and always keep a good contact with your love one or people who you have recently in contact with. So if you are missing in wild, there is always easiler for them to rescue you. But if you want to be a loner as Christ McCandless, chance are you might not surve!

[natchez]

and still.... if there wouldn't have been people like that around in 'the old days' when modern equipment didn't exist and a portion of stunning adventurous risks were automatically part of the 'journey' - they would never had gotten to nova zembla (as an example) - or climbed mountains we are now that much more informed about. The north- or southpole expeditions a century ago were daredevil expeditions without a doubt. And though people prepared as best as they could there was absolutely no saying what would encounter them....

[bdavison]

Im not saying dont be adventurous, or even daredevilish...just be an educated daredevil and not a complete tool.

Its like motorcycle riders. Educated riders wear protective gear. Tools go riding with flipflops and shorts.

[tabornik]

natchez wrote:

and still.... if there wouldn't have been people like that around in 'the old days' when modern equipment didn't exist and a portion of stunning adventurous risks were automatically part of the 'journey' - they would never had gotten to nova zembla (as an example) - or climbed mountains we are now that much more informed about. The north- or southpole expeditions a century ago were daredevil expeditions without a doubt. And though people prepared as best as they could there was absolutely no saying what would encounter them....

I agree, but McCandless wasn't like Mallory or Irvine attempting Everest as they were accomplished mountaineers going into the unknown. McCandless had at his disposal modern camping equipment, topo maps, and such. I admire the spirit, but it was his stupidity that eventually did him in, since if he bought a topo map he would have known that there was a cable just minutes away to cross the river.

Every so often I run into spirited people who are not exercising common sense.

[GDeadPhans]

boy I remember when I was first starting out camping and hiking. I was out in the beginning of September, and I thought I was prepared. I brought everything but a jacket, cause stupid me thinking....bbbahhh its September it shouldn't be that cold. Well...here I was near Millinocket Maine (north Maine) freezing my ass off by 2AM. I learned quickly to BE PREPARED. Luckily for me it wasn't that harsh of a lesson, and I had my friend who lent me an extra fleece. In all fairness to me I was new, didn't know much about the sport, and took the lesson for what it was worth.

With that said, I think some people go way to extreme for themselves with little experience just thinking they can succeed...when they don't know what to expect. They just think "I can do this, this is nothing". Then they find themselves lost, with there plan of eating berries backfiring, temperatures dipping too low for their gear to keep them comfortable, a hole appears in their shelter allowing rain to pour in, and the list goes on and on.

[natchez]

I agree.