ALASKA | OUTDOORS & ADVENTURE

Film 'Into the Wild' explores Alaska's wilderness

From the Associated Press,
06:53 AM PDT, October 03, 2007

The new movie "Into the Wild" tells the story of Christopher McCandless, a young adventurer who wandered across the continent and died in the Alaskan wilderness in 1992 at the age of 24.

Fans of the movie may be inspired to visit some of the locales and landscapes featured in the film. You can even enter a contest to win a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, part of a joint promotion between the movie and the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau, at http://www.intothewild.com/. (Click on ``Adventure'' for the entry form; the contest ends Oct. 26, 2007.)

But the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that local tourism officials also are concerned about insuring the safety of tourists who might come on their own seeking to see the abandoned bus near Denali National Park in Alaska where McCandless died. The remote site is out of cell phone range, reachable only by hiking the Stampede Trail and fording the Teklanika River.

The newspaper reported that Fairbanks tourism officials plan to include an article about the book, movie and trail in an upcoming 2008 visitors guide, but that the article will include a cautionary note about potential dangers.

Alaska is only one of many places featured in the film, directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch as McCandless. Scenes from the movie include shots of Hirsch camping in the Gran Desierto de Altar, part of Mexico's Sonoran Desert; taking a tram to California's San Jacinto Peak; and visiting a bar in Carthage, S.D.

Where am I?

To reach this view of a mountain lake, it's about a 4-mile hike from one of the classic, woodsy old national park hotels of the American West.


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