“As I walk the hemisphere // I got my wish to up and disappear // I’ve been wounded, I’ve been healed // Now for landing I’ve been, Landing I’ve been cleared.”
Like so many others, I became fascinated with the idea of setting off into the Alaskan wilderness to find the Magic Bus. The Magic Bus, where free-spirited adventurer Christoper McCandless aka. Alexander Supertramp found a tragic end in 1992. The Magic Bus was located just North outside of Denali National Park, along the Stampede Trail near a small town called Healy. In the Alaskan wilderness.
My Trip To Alaska
Together with a friend from Germany, I planned a two week summer vacation in Alaska. Our itinerary was going to start in Anchorage, drive to the Kenai Peninsula, and then all the way up to Fairbanks. My friend was going to go back to Germany a couple of days earlier, in which I was planning on hiking Stampede Trail - by myself.
I debated long and hard whether I should risk hiking this trail by myself, or at all, since there have been many casualties in the past wiht travellers attempting to get there. That being said, I was mortified by the idea of hiking the Alaskan wildlerness all by myself. Iwasn't just worried about losing my way, not being able to cross the river, or encountering Alaskan wildlife, I was mainly afraid of the solitude. However, seeing the Magic Bus was on the top of my Bucket List, however, and I didn't want to regret missing out on something that I had been dreaming of for such a long time. In the end… We only regret the chances we didn’t take, right?
Setting Off At Stampede Trail
With a rental car, I drove all the way to the end of Stampede Road, to the head of Stampede Trail. I knew that hiking the trail was going to be a difficult trip. Even though the Stampede Trail is mostly flat, it is also very muddy - I had watched several youtube videos about people hiking the trail, and knew it was going to be a wet affair.
The Alaskan wilderness is full of lynx, eagles and grizzlies and I knew I was gonna be mortified to see some of these animals up close. While I was absolutely excited to see a couple of bears during our tour of Denali National Park and Preserve, I did not want to meet them hiking alone. No thank you. After just five minutes into the hike, I spotted three moose - one of them literally blocking the trail. After the initial nerve-wrecking shock, I realized they went out of my way as soon as I approached them. Hiking through Alaska's wide-open space is a very humbling epxerience. However, if anything goes wrong, you are completely on your own.
That was the probably biggest challenge for me during this trip - hiking the wilderness all by myself. Setting out on this adventure all by myself was of course exactly rhe point of my whole expedition. You have to understand though, that I am a person who usually needs a good Netflix show or podcast as background noise. Thus, I knew this was going to be an issue for me. Since I was going to be out there all by myself without electricity or service, I was too scared to use my phone much, since I wanted to save my batteries.
Crossing the Teklanika River
Trying to reach the Magic Bus on Stampede Trail, hikers have to cross two rivers - Teklanika River and Savage River. Teklanika River is the first river to cross and unfortunately also the more dangerous one. Crossing the Teklanika River can be a make or break when hiking the Stampede Trail. Just a few months before I went on my adventure, another woman had drowned trying to cross the river. The rapid currents of Tek river were the very reason that prevented Christoper McCandless from leaving the wilderness.
I was so set to go on the adventure, that I was willing to give it a shot and at least hike to the river to see if I had a chance of crossing it. Thankfully, I was able to get a fair assessment of the conditions when we toured Denali National Park and Preserve, as the tour also led us over Teklanika River. I also spend a lot of time researching and analyzing various ways to cross a river. I don't know if you have ever crossed a river, but it's actually much harder than you would think. It's not a pool or lake after all, but a river, which can have very stron currents.
I remembered a time as a kid during summer camp, jumping into a river near my hometown and being quite surprised how quickly the current swept my wellies off my feet. I also felt that my several years of competitive swimming wouldn't do any harm when attempting the crossing. It did take me a few hours traveling along the river to find a crossing location I felt comfortable with. Hiking sticks helped me gauge the depth of the water before moving forward. With my backpack unfastened I waded across the river, which eventually became waist-deep. After making it across, I mainly felt relieved without considering I had to cross again on my way back.
The Magic Bus
Afer hours tromping through the dense trail, the path opened to reveal the goal of my journey: The Magic Bus. The entire way I debated what I was gonna do if there were people at the bus already. I couldn't decide whether I would be relieved - I wouldn't have to spend the night all by myself in that case - or irritated, since, who knew what those people were gonna be like? I found the bus completely abandoned however. Finnally seeing the bus gave me a feel of excitement but I was also really nervous considering I had to spend the night there all by myself. In the wild.
Seeing the bus in the morning in a lot more detail, was very emotional since there was a lot to explore. Besides a memory for Chris McCandless and the man's writings himself, there were a few things other travelers had left behind - from memorabilia to tools and usefuk gadgets for people's trips. Before heading back, I wrote my entry in the guest book that had been eft there for all adventurers to sign.
I spend less time at the Magic Bus than I initially thought, since I was worries about having to hike the whole trail back again and especially crossing the river. Seeing the bus finally in person also made me realize this was the place where a person died. I can only imagine what young Christoper McCandless went through during his time there.
And Now It's Gone
After many rescue mission and mulsiple deaths, the Department of Natural Resources decided to remove the bus in June 2020. Many people, including myself, have risked grave danger to retrace the steps of a man who wanted to escape the world. With the bus now finally gone, the allure for young adventurers is greatly diminshed.
My experience at the bus had a significatn impact on myself and I am still stunned that I actually set out on this adventure. Thinking about this experience now, I think that for me it wasn't even so much about the bus, rather than setting out on an adventure all by myself. I wanted to experience solitude - and prove to myself that I was capable of doint it. The Magic Bus was the ideal destination for this adventure.
I have hiked other dangerous hikes in the past, such as the Kalalu Trail, which has been ranked one of the most dangerous hikes in North America and even the world. In addition to that, I used to swim competitively for more than 8 years and thus consider myself a quite okay swimmer. Nevertheless, my adventure could have gone bad quite quickly and no swimming experience can help you much if you hit your head on a rock. I risked great danger hiking to a location I never woud've known existed if it weren't for the thrilling story of Into the Wild.
I think the Alaskan government did the right thing by deciding to remove the bus. People pay a high price for rescue missions - in terms of money and often their lives. You can now admire the Magic Bus in the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Kate recommends: The Into The Wild solo album by Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder. The album is based on Eddie Vedder's contribution to the soundtrack for the movie in 2007.