Epilogue

Ten months after learning of their son's death, Walt and Billie McCandless travel with Krakauer by helicopter to visit the "Magic Bus". Krakauer notes that it takes the helicopter fifteen minutes to cover the distance it took McCandless four days to walk.

After spending time quietly walking around the bus, Billie finally climbs inside. Both parents can smell their dead son's jeans. Walt places a memorial plaque inside the door. Billie arranges a bouquet beneath the plaque, and leaves survival supplies and a first-aid kit under the bed.

Billie tells Krakauer, "Many people have told me that they admire Chris for what he was trying to do. If he'd lived, I would agree with them. But he didn't, and there's no way to bring him back...Most things you can fix, but not that" (199).

Krakauer ends this story of adventure that results in tragedy with a low-key, but no less heartbreaking scene. It is because of Krakauer's reporting and writing skills and his capacity for empathy with the misguided young man that the reader is able to share the family's sense of loss, rather than merely judging McCandless for his accomplishments and failures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D4DSIi-PuY