Into the Wild bus likely finds new home in Fairbanks museum

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An infamous bus appears headed to a new home at a museum in Fairbanks after being removed from Alaska’s backcountry to deter people from making dangerous, sometimes deadly treks to visit the site where a young man documented his demise in 1992.

The state Department of Natural Resources said Thursday that it intends to negotiate with the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North to display the bus, which was popularized by the book “Into the Wild” and a movie of the same name and flown from its location near Denali National Park and Preserve last month.

“Of the many expressions of interest in the bus, the proposal from the UA Museum of the North best met the conditions we at DNR had established to ensure this historical and cultural object will be preserved in a safe location where the public could experience it fully, yet safely and respectfully, and without the spectre of profiteering,” Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige said.

The bus became a beacon for those wishing to retrace the steps of Christopher McCandless, who hiked to the bus in 1992. The 24-year-old Virginia man died from starvation when he couldn’t hike back out because of the swollen Teklanika River. He kept a journal of his ordeal, which was discovered when his body was found.

McCandless’ story became famous with author Jon Krakauer’s 1996 book “Into the Wild,” followed nine years later by director Sean Penn’s movie of the same name.

Over the years, people from around the world have travelled to the bus, located about 25 miles (40 kilometres) from the town of Healy, to pay homage to McCandless.