Chapter 4

In October 1990, a yellow Datsun was discovered by a team of park rangers at Detrital Wash, near Lake Mead. Covered in mud, the car had apparently been struck by a flash flood. There is no sign of the car’s owner. Loose change, rations, and the keys were found in the car. They search for the car’s owner, but are unable to trace them. Krakauer reconstructs this incident from Chris’ journal. In July 1990, Chris set up a camp at Detrital Wash ignoring warnings against off-road driving. A few days later, a flash flood almost sweeps Chris off. Chris is able to save his tent and backpack but his car was drenched and stopped working. He abandons his car and belongings, buries the license plate, and burns the money that was left. Chris set out to hike around Lake Mead, but soon he was suffering from heat stroke. He then requested passing boaters to give him a ride to a marina at the end of the lake. Over the next two months, he hitchhiked around the West, where he met a man known as “Crazy Ernie.” Crazy Ernie offered him a job at a rundown ranch in northern California. However, Chris quits this job after realizing that he would not be paid for his hard work.

Jan Durres and Bob, a pair of drifters, meet Chris at Highway 101 and offer him a meal. He camped with them for a week in Orick Beach where they taught him the basics of hiking and tramping. Jan forms a bond with him as he reminds her of her estranged son.

Before meeting the couple, Chris is given a ticket for wrongful hiking. He registers his parents’ address for the records. Receiving this information, his parents hire a private detective to find him. The detective is unable to find Chris but tells his parents that he has donated his college funds to Oxfam.

To cross the Colorado river, Chris buys a canoe. In his canoe, he crosses the Mexican border but is unable to find the canal that leads to the Gulf. He is demotivated and disheartened, but is rescued by duck hunters who give him a ride to a fishing village on the Gulf of California. He continues to live on his canoe until it is almost engulfed by a storm. Following this incident, he decides to travel north without the canoe. Chris is caught illegally migrating to the USA from Mexico and spends one night in jail. He attempts to work in Los Angeles to obtain an ID but is unable to adjust in society. He rejects another job in Las Vegas and returns to reclaim his backpack from the desert. He celebrates having been able to stay alive on the city streets on his own.

Chapter 5

After his camera is ruined, McCandless stops taking photographs and writing in his journal. Therefore, little is known about his whereabouts during this time. He lived in Bullhead city, Arizona, for two months and worked at a McDonald’s and opened a savings account. His coworkers remember him as a good but rebellious worker who hated to wear the prescribed shoes and socks.

Chris is homeless for a while until an old man offers him a trailer that he is overseeing while its occupants are away. Chris invites Jan and Bob to come to the trailer, but before they can arrive, he is bored of the city and ends up at their drifter campsite. He helps Jan sell books and heartily recommends Jack London’s Call of the Wild. He often talks about his dream of undertaking a great Alaskan odyssey. A few days later Chris announces that he wants to resume his journey, so Jan drops him at Salton Lake, California, and forces him to take some money and supplies from her. Chris refuses to accept anything.

Chapter 6

In January 1993, Ronald Franz wrote to Krakauer requesting for a copy of his article published in the Outside magazine. He shares that he knew Alex and wants to know about his story. While camping and hiking in the desert in California, Chris meets Ronald Franz or Ron at Palm Springs. Chris takes a ride from Ron until Oh-My-God springs, where he had set up camp. They become acquaintances and Ron grows fond of Chris, Chris reminded Ron of his own son whom he lost in a car accident. He teaches Chris leatherwork. Chris makes a belt into which he carves the details of his journey. Thereafter, Ron drops Chris off at San Diego. Chris tries to find a job but is unable to do so and returns to Seattle.

Later, Ron helps Chris out when he is stranded in Coachella, California. Ron convinces Chris to let him drive all the way till Carthage where Wayne has a job for Chris. On this trip, Ron asks Chris if he could adopt him. The question makes Chris uncomfortable and he does not give a direct answer. Ron receives a letter from Chris again advocating that Ron should take up a life on the road. Ron pays heed and moves out of his apartment to the desert, awaiting his young friend’s return. Ron only finds out about Chris’ passing from two hitchhikers who share the news of a hiker who froze to death. Ron realizes that it is “Alex” and is heartbroken and takes up alcohol.

Chapter 7

Chris works hard at Wayne’s grain elevator and does all kinds of odd jobs to earn enough for his Alaskan adventure. He works hard around the warehouse for a duration of a month. During the interview, Wayne mentions to Krakauer that even though Chris was mostly alert, he seemed absent-minded at times. Chris also engages in meaningful conversations with Gail Borah, Wayne’s girlfriend, who becomes his confidant. Wayne supposes that Chris had had a fallout with his father but he didn’t probe Chris for any familial details. Krakauer comments on the sexual naivete of Chris who might have sworn to be a virgin like his literary and philosophical idol, Thoreau.

To prepare himself for his Alaskan adventure, Chris seeks knowledge from hunters. Wayne suggests that Chris should spend some more time with them and that he could later fly Chris to Alaska. Chris squarely refuses and shares that he wants to reach the woods on his own, without “cheating.” Chris entrusts Wayne with his leather belt, journal, and photo album, and bids a tearful farewell to Gail. She senses that this is their last meeting. Chris sends postcards to Wayne and Jan before beginning his Alaskan odyssey.

Analysis: Chapter 4 to Chapter 7

The incident of the flash floods at Detrital Wash underscores Chris’ determination and commitment to adventure. However, it also highlights his hamartia, a lack of preparedness resulting from not paying heed to people’s advice. In some of these sections, we see similarities between Chris’ desire to explore and his comfort with taking risks. He always prefers adventure over comfort, preparation, and patience. The boaters who rescue Chris on Lake Mead are some of the people who helped Chris continue his journey for as long as he did. Jan’s feelings of protection and care toward Chris foreshadow the many meaningful relations Chris will forge along the way. He only mentions his family when he shares their postal address after his encounter with officers for wrongful hiking.

His adventure with the canoe, rescue by the Mexican guides, and the interaction with border officers all point to his love for spontaneity and his propensity to take risks. These instances also highlight how luck favored him during his journey. In these chapters, we also witness his lack of compatibility with the society. He is no longer adapted to life in the city; only nature and wilderness can quench his thirst for adventure.

His rebellion at McDonald’s shows his disdain for capitalism and a tendency for disobeying norms that seem senseless to him. The rhythm of his fast-paced travel is a metaphor for his restlessness and need for an itinerant way of living. He chooses the term “Alaskan Odyssey” to describe his journey, highlighting the inspiration from Jack London’s fiction.

His attachment to Jan is a rare moment when he indulges in protective, motherly affection. However, he still refuses help from Jan and Bob, just like he refused to take help from his own family. Chris believed that he must undertake and complete this adventure without external aid and gifts.

As Krakauer mentions, various people whom Chris had encountered and managed to build a relationship with were eager to know about his fate. Chris’ evasion of Ron’s question about adoption signals to his preference for independence over familial ties. Chris’ campsite near Oh-My-God Springs is in contrast to the city life he had previously found insufferable. He also finds authority difficult to obey, as seen in his run-in with a railway security guard.

Chris’ advocacy for a nomadic life to Ron has shades of a religious fervor for conversion. He suggests it passionately and writes a long letter about it with the intention of making the old man see life in the way that he sees it himself. The heartbreak of the old man upon finding out about Chris’ demise is such that he loses faith in God and drowns in alcoholism.

The description of the odd jobs taken up by Chris further solidify his resolve to have an Alaskan adventure. He is committed to his plan and is not distracted by connections with Wayne or Gail or promise of safety and convenient ways of life. Wayne’s anecdote about the incident of absent mindedness exhibited by Chris along with Gail’s foreboding is a prophecy of Chris’ end. Every relationship that Chris builds on this trip highlights the lack of his connection with his biological family. Chris’ tendency to abstain from material things could stem from his commitment to celibacy, like his heroes, or it may be a result of lack of awareness about these worldly things due to his inexperience. The act of handing over his legacy, the photo album, and the belt reminds the reader that Chris is a resolute young man who is aware that his journey could not just be dangerous but also fatal.