Haunting note left by man who was lost and living inside 'magic bus' for 113 days
Moose hunters stumbled upon a staggering discovery back in 1992, as they found a harrowing note written by a man who survived for 113 days inside the 'Magic Bus' before tragically passing away.
It's alarming quite how easy it is to get lost in the wilderness, as even one wrong turn can leave you in distress and you can quickly find yourself in a life or death situation if you're not careful.
24-year-old Christopher McCandless unfortunately discovered that back in 1992, when he got lost on Alaska's Stampede Trail and quickly found picked up an injury in an already dangerous situation.
Upon his travels he found the abandoned Fairbanks Bus 142 – often referred to as the 'Magic Bus' – making it his shelter for 113 days in total before his eventual demise.
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McCandless was able to survive for that long despite his perilous situation by collecting various plants and hunting small animals, but at the point of his death he was only 67 pounds (30 kg), with medical officials declaring the cause to be starvation.
His body was eventually discovered by moose hunters who were on the very same trail, and they found a harrowing note by his body which details the desperate situation the 24-year-old found himself in before his death.
Presumably designed to be read by anyone who found the bus while he was out hunting and foraging, the note reads:
"Attention possible visitors. S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is no joke," with the last two words underlined by McCandless to emphasize the urgency of his message.
"In the name of God, please remain to save me," he pleaded. "I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August ?"
His story was eventually turned into a 9,000-word essay by Jon Krakauer, who then fleshed it out into a book in 1996, which was subsequently adapted into a successful film in 2007, immortalising his tragic story.
As many comments underneath a post on Reddit detailing McCandless' note have pointed out, one of the most devastating aspects of his eventual death is that the bus was just a short distance from both a bridge he could have used to find his way out, and a ranger cabin stocked with food and firewood.
One commenter notes that the terrain of Alaska makes this far more complicated than it seems though, illustrating that "interior Alaska is a massive swamp with very little discernible landmarks.
"Traversing that terrain is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and its incredibly hard to navigate. It's a massive wall of black spruce and like walking on a water bed."
Add onto that an injury that prevents you from going too far, and it's more of a surprise that he was able to survive for as long as he did.