Chris Mcandless was a young man, who decided to give up his life savings and head off to travel throughout the US, and especially Alaska, to live off the land. He met many friends during his journey, some he shared a few hours time with, and some he spent a few days with. One of these people was a James Gallien, who drove him into Alaska. Gallien was concerned that Chris's gear seemed excessively trivial for the harsh conditions that he would face on the Alaskan trails. He said that there was "no talking" Chris out of plunging into the wilderness and that Chris couldn't wait to get started. After Jim took a picture of him, he vanished down a snowy trail on April 28, 1992. He never came out, but he did keep a small journal and some pictures which are with us today.

His story is one of rugged living. Like many adventurers he was both loathed (especially by native Alaskans) and admired. Yet he was skilled enough to last for 16 weeks on little more than rice and small game. He was brave enough to go it alone, even though he knew he might not make it back.

To some people McCandless might even seem a little spoiled as he had been raised in the comfortable, upper-middle-class town of Annandale, Virginia. His father, Walt, was an aerospace engineer ran a small and very prosperous consulting firm with his mother, Billie. There were eight children in the extended family: Chris; a younger sister, Carine, with whom Chris was extremely close; and six older half-siblings from his fathers first marriage.

More information can be found here