Into the Wild Facts

I've heard that the scenery in Into the Wild is so beautiful it will make me want to find a bus for sale. I'm about to watch the movie, but I already know the ending. So I'm just doing a little bit of research so I don't freak out too much. Yes, I'm that much of a control freak. I have to know what happens in movies before I watch them.

I wish that Into the Wild had stayed with it's original title.T he book is based on a 9,000 word article entitled "Death of an Innocent" by Jon Karkauer. Here is a timeline of some of the last years of Chris McCandless' life:

1990

* June: Leaves Atlanta, Georgia after graduation;
* July 6: Lake Mead National Recreation Area;
* July 10: Begins hiking around Lake Mead;
* End of July: Picked up by "Crazy" Ernie and goes to northern California;
* August: Orick, California, meets the Burreses;
* September: Carthage, South Dakota, works for Wayne Westerberg;
* October: Needles, California, then to Topock, Arizona where he begins a canoe trip down the Colorado River;

1991

* January 11: caught in a storm off the coast of Mexico;
* January 18: cross the United States border illegally;
* February 3: goes to Los Angeles "to get an I.D.";
* February 24: returns to Lake Mead to retrieve items he had buried;
* February 27: Las Vegas; works at an Italian restaurant;
* May: Leaves Las Vegas;
* July-August: Oregon Coast;
* September: Bullhead City, Arizona; works at McDonalds and opens a savings account, mentions in letters that he might finally settle down;
* December: Niland, California, meets back up with the Burreses, helps them at flea markets at "Slab City";

1992

* January: Salton Sea; meets Ronald Franz;
* February: Carthage, South Dakota, works for Wayne Westerberg;
* February: San Diego to get supplies for trip to Alaska;
* March 5: Seattle;
* Early March: Coachella, California; calls Franz and asks to be picked up;
* March 14: Franz drops him off in Grand Junction, Colorado;
* April 18: Whitefish, Montana;
* April 27: Fairbanks, Alaska;
* April 28: begins walking the Stampede Trail;
* August 18: Dies at Age 24.
* September 6: body discovered on the Stampede Trail.