Into the Wild chapter one the Alaska interior epigraph April 27 1992 readings from Fairbanks this is the last you shall hear from me Wayne arrived two days ago it was very difficult to catch rides in the Yukon Territory but I finally got here please return all mail I received to the sender it might be a very long time before I returned South if this adventure proves fatal and you don't ever hear from me again I want you to know you're a great man I now walk into the wild Alex postcard received by Wayne Westberg and Carthage South Dakota Jim Galleon had driven four miles out of Fairbanks when he spotted The Hitchhiker standing in the snow beside the road so I'm raised High shivering in the gray Alaskan Dawn he didn't appear to be very old 18 maybe 19 at most a rifle protruded from the young man's backpack but he looked friendly enough a hitchhiker with a Remington semi-automatic isn't the sort of things that gives motorist pause in the 49th state Galleon stared his truck onto the shoulder and told the kid to climb in The Hitchhiker swung his pack into the bed of the Ford and introduced himself as Alex Alex Galleon responded fishing for a last name just Alex the young man replied pointedly rejecting debate five feet seven or eight with the wiry builds he claimed to be 24 years old and said he was from South Dakota he explained that he wanted a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park where he intended to walk deep in to the bush and live off the land for a few months Galleon a union electrician was on his way to Anchorage 240 miles beyond the Denali on the George Parks Highway he told Alex he drop him off wherever he wanted Alex's backpack looked though it weighed only 25 or 30 pounds which struck Galleon an accomplished Hunter and Woodsman as an improbable light load for a stay of several months in the back country especially so early in the spring he wasn't carrying anywhere near as much food and gear as you'd expect the guy to be carrying for that kind of trip Galleon recalls as the sun came up they rolled down from The forested Ridges of the Tanana River Alex gazed across the expanse of the Windswept muskeg stretching to the South Galleon wondered whether he picked up one of those crack pots from the lower 48 who come north to live out the ill-considered Jack London fantasies Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits people who think the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier will patch all the holes in their lives the bush is an unforgiving place however that cares nothing for Hope or longing people from the outside reports Galleon in a slow nor a straw they'll pick up a copy of Alaska magazine thrum through it get to thinking hey I'm gonna get up there live off the land go bring me a piece of the good life but when they get here and actually head out into the bush well it isn't like the magazines make it out to be the rivers are big and fast the mosquitoes Eat You Alive most places there aren't a lot of animals to hunt living in the bush is no picnic it was a two-hour drive from Fairbanks to the edge of the Denali Park the more they talk the less Alex struck Galleon as a nutcase he was a congenial and seemed well educated he peppered Galleon with thoughtful questions about the kind of small game that lived in the country the kind of berries he could eat that kind of thing still Galleon was concerned Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a 10 pound bag of rice his gear seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior which in April still lay buried under the winter snowpack Alex's cheap leather hiking boots were neither waterproof nor well insulated his rifle was only 22 caliber bore a too small rely a bore too small to rely on if he expected to kill large animals like moose and Caribou which he would have to eat if he hoped to remain very long in the country he had no Acts nope dope no snow shoes no Compass the only navigational Aid in his position was a tattered State roadmap he'd scrounged at a gas station 100 miles out of Fairbanks the highway begins to climb into the foothills of the Alaska range as a truck lurched over the bridge across the nanana River Alex looked down at the Swift Current and remarked that he was afraid of the water a year ago down in Mexico he told Galleon I was out on the ocean in a canoe and I almost drowned when a storm came up a little later Alex pulled out his crude map and pointed to a dashed red line that intersected the road near the coal mining town of Hillary it represented a route called Stampede Trail seldom traveled it isn't even marked on most mats of Alaska on Alex's map nevertheless the broken line Meandering west from the Parks Highway for 40 miles or so before petering out in the middle of a trackless Wilderness north of Mount McKinley this Alex announced the Galleon was where he intended to go alien thought The Hitchhiker scheme was foolhardy and tried to repeatedly dissuade him I said the hunting wasn't easy where he was going and he could go for days without killing any gang when that didn't work I tried to scare him with bear stories I told him that at 22 probably wouldn't do anything to a Grizzly except to make him mad Alex didn't seem too worried I'll climb a tree is all he said so I explained that trees don't grow real big in that part of the state and that a bear could knock down one of them skinny little black Spruce without even trying but he wouldn't give an inch he had an answer for everything I threw at him Gillian offered to drive Alex all the way to Anchorage buy him some decent gear and drive him back to where he wanted to go no thanks anyway replied Alex I'll be fine with what I've got Galleon asked whether he had a hunting license hell no Alex scoffed how I feed myself is none of the government's business their stupid rules when Galleon asked whether his parents or friends knew what he was up to whether there was anyone who would sound the alarm if he got in trouble or was overdue Alex answered call me that no nobody knew of his plans and then in fact he hadn't spoken to his family in nearly two years I'm absolutely positive he assured Galleon I won't run into anything that I can't deal with on my own there was just no talking the guy out of it Kelly remembers he was determined real gung-ho the word that comes to mind is excited he couldn't wait to head out there and get started three hours out of the Fairbanks Galleon turned off the highway and stood his beat up four by four down a snow packed side road for the first few miles the Stampede trade was well graded and led past cabins scattered among weedy stands of spruce and Aspen beyond the last of the long Shacks however the road rapidly deteriorated washed out and overgrown with Alders it turned into a rough unmaintained track in the summer Road where he would hair would have been sketchy but passable now it was unnavigatable by a foot and a half of mushy spring snow 10 miles from the highway worried that he'd get stuck if he drove further Galleon stopped his rig on the crest of a low rise the icy Summit of the highest mountain range in North America gleans on the southwestern Horizon Alex insisted on giving Galleon his watch calm and what he said was all of his money 85 cents in Loose Change I don't want your money gallion protested iron and I already have a watch if you don't take it I'm going to throw it away Alex cheerfully retorted I don't want to know what time it is I don't want to know what day it is or where I am none of that matters before Alex left the pickup Galleon reached behind a scene pulled out old pair of rubber work boots and persuaded the boy to take them they were too big for him Galleon recalls but I said where to pair socks and your feet ought to stay half warm and dry how much do I owe you don't worry about it gallian answered and then he gave the kid a slip of paper with his phone number on it with Alex carefully tucked into a nylon wallet if you make it out alive give me a call and I'll tell you how to get the boots back to me galleon's wife had packed him two grilled cheese and tuna sandwiches and a bag of corn chips for lunch he persuaded the young hitchhiker to accept the food as well Alex pulled a camera from his backpack and asked gallin to snap a picture of him shouldering his rifle at the trailhead then smiling broadly he disappeared down the snow covered track the date was Tuesday April 28 1992. Galleon turns the truck around made his way back to Parks Highway and continued towards Anchorage a few miles down the road he came to the small community of hilly where the Alaska State Troopers maintain a post Galleon briefly considered stopping and telling the authorities about Alex then thought better of it I figured he'd be okay he explains I thought he'd probably get hungry pretty quick and just walk out to the highway that's what any normal person would do