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Datsun break down
Trusty Datsun breaks down beside a river and McCandless carries on by foot. He buries some prized possessions in the mud beside where he left his car. -
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Hitchiking
McCandless hitchhikes to Lake Tahoe, then hikes into the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. Later he travels to the Cascade Mountains, the lava beds of the Columbia River basin and across the Idaho panhandle by way of hitching all within a few months, (exact timing uncertain). Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob find McCandless by the side of the road and offer him a ride. In Cut Bank, Montana, meets Wayne Westerberg. -
Parents go to Atlanta
McCandless's parents drive to Atlanta trying to find Chris and discover that his apartment was vacated five weeks earlier. -
Chris gets ticket for hitchiking
Chris Receives a ticket for hitchhiking in Willow Creek, California. -
Datsun discovered
A park ranger doing flood inspection discovers McCandless’s car, still operational, in the mud. -
Period: to
Canoing Colorado
Canoes down the Colorado, apparently traveling through Lake Havasu first then the Bill Williams River, the Colorado River Indian Reservation, the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, and the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground. After a while he takes a short break and sends a postcard to Wayne Westerberg at the Sioux Falls work-release facility where his friend has been incarcerated. -
Chris embarks on Colorado River journey
McCandless hitches to Needles, California, reaches the Colorado River and walks south through the desert, arriving in Topock, Arizona, where he buys a canoe, trying to realize a dream of boating through the Colorado. -
Chris reaches Moelos Dam
McCandless reaches the Morelos Dam and later arrives at the Mexico/Texas border. -
Waterfalls on the Colorado
Encounters a string of hazardous waterfalls while canoeing down the south Colorado River. -
Chris' parents employ a pivate investigator.
McCandless’s parents in the search employ a private investigator. The investigator shortly discovers that Chris donated his $24,000 college fund to OXFAM. -
Chris realizes he can't get to the Pacific.
After following a few false leads Chris realizes that he cannot reach the Gulf of California traveling through the Colorado. Still determined, McCandless finds a group of Mexican duck hunters who know English and offer to drive him to the Gulf. -
Period: to
Pacific is reached
Chris arrives at the Pacific and meets his goal. After rowing against the waves for a while he pulls his canoe out of the water and sets up camp on the edge of a desolate South American plateau. -
Chris finds cave
Seeking refuge from high winds, McCandless discovers a cave on the face of a cliff near the sea; he stays here for about 10 days. -
Chris ges back to Pacific
McCandless gets back in his canoe and heads out to sea once again; he encounters a violent storm that almost drowns him. -
Chris leaves canoe behind
After leaving his canoe at El Golfo de Santa Clara, Chris starts wandering northward again. -
Chris is caught at US/Mex border
The U.S. Immigration officials catch McCandless when he tries to sneak back into the country across the Mexico border. He spends one night in jail. -
Travels to Houston
McCandless travels to Houston after getting released from jail and then hitches to the Pacific coast. -
Chris travels to LA
Chris applies for an ID and a job in Los Angeles seeming as if he might settle down, then he quickly changes his mind and returns to the road. -
Grand Canyon
Hitches his way to the Grand Canyon and camps at the bottom of the canyon with a young German couple. He notes in his journal that he has lost over 25 pounds over the course of his journey. -
Returns to buried belongings
Christopher returns to where he abandoned his Datsun. He unearths the few belongings that he buried in the sand when he left and leaves. -
Las Vegas
On a whim Chris buries his backpack and hitchhikes into Las Vegas. May 10, 1991: Christopher leaves Las Vegas. -
Bullhead
Chris arrives in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he works for two months at McDonald's and lives in an empty RV overseen by an old man named Charlie. -
Postcard from Oregon
Although it is not certain, it seems McCandless was probably living in coastal Oregon, he sends a postcard to Jan Burres complaining about the interminable fog and rain. -
Meets Ronald
Chris meets Ronald Franz while hitchhiking near California's Salton Sea. -
San Diego
After being dropped by Franz at the San Diego waterfront, Chris mails Jan Burres a postcard telling her that he has been living on the streets in San Diego for a week. -
Postcards
Chris sends more postcards to Burres and Franz from Seattle. -
Calls Franz
After being dropped by Franz at the San Diego waterfront, Chris mails Jan Burres a postcard telling her that he has been living on the streets in San Diego for a week. -
Goes to Alaska
Chris Leaves Carthage, bound for Alaska. -
Meets Jim Gallien
Waking down the highway the “supertramp” is picked up by Jim Gallien, a truck-driving electrician on his way to Anchorage. A three-hour drive brings McCandless to the Stampede Trail. -
Finds the bus
Finds the old bus beside the Sushana River and writes "Magic Bus Day" in his journal. Decides to stay for a while, taking advantage of the bus's “ . . . crude comforts." -
Beaver ponds flood
What had been a series of frozen beaver ponds in April has become a lake. What once was an easily fordable river is now a raging torrent that McCandless cannot cross. Heads back to the bus. -
Chris McCandless Dies
Dies, apparently of starvation, in his sleeping bag in the bus along the Sushana River in Alaska. -
Body is found in the bus
Hikers and hunters discover McCandless's S.O.S. note and later his body in the bus.