View Full Version : Hikers in AK trying to reach "the bus" rescued
Good grief.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/02/25/hikers-rescued-alaska-after-visiting-infamous-into-wild-bus/4865355002/
gpburdelljr
02-25-2020, 09:57
https://www.google.com/search?q=there+are+idiots+everywhere+and+they+dont +even+know+they+are+idiots&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=insv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim8-_H7eznAhVjm-AKHQ37ALEQ_AUoAXoECA0QAQ&biw=890&bih=598&dpr=2#imgrc=Dw4J4RKKjjKbVM
seems like this happens every year.........
Were I to be appointed King in Charge of Everything in the Area, I would haul that bus out of the woods and chop it up for scrap. It's starting to remind me of Stephen King's "Christine."
AsoloBootsSuk
02-25-2020, 12:10
Does anyone know this area. Several accounts of problems are related to river crossings, rivers rising, etc. Did the bus cross these rivers to get to its resting place? Is there a road into the site? If the bus made it there, the terrain can't be too challenging. That just leaves weather and stupidity to cause problems.
Paleolith54
02-25-2020, 12:15
Pretty interesting how few people who need a selfie with the bus either failed to read the book or didn’t understand how McCandless died.
see below........
trying to edit my post and got all messed up..
https://whiteblaze.net/forum/images/icons/icon1.png
Does anyone know this area. Several accounts of problems are related to river crossings, rivers rising, etc. Did the bus cross these rivers to get to its resting place? Is there a road into the site? If the bus made it there, the terrain can't be too challenging. That just leaves weather and stupidity to cause problems.
.
doing a quick google search brings this up---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede_Trail
AsoloBootsSuk
02-25-2020, 12:47
Good info.^^^^
I'm surprised the Yutan Construction Company has not been sued under the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine. They abandoned their property on public land leading to the death, misadventure and rescue of several idiots, lol
GoldenBear
02-25-2020, 12:51
few people who need a selfie with the bus either failed to read the book or didn’t understand how McCandless died
It's the same way with A Walk In the Woods. I found the book hysterical because it was pretty obvious that these two guys had no idea what traversing the AT would entail, and consequently didn't get very far. How someone could read this book, and then conclude that walking the AT without proper preparation is a good idea, is beyond me.
Old Grouse
02-25-2020, 13:54
Cut the damn bus up, get a chopper and yank it out of there. Problem solved.
Paleolith54
02-25-2020, 14:10
Good info.^^^^
I'm surprised the Yutan Construction Company has not been sued under the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine. They abandoned their property on public land leading to the death, misadventure and rescue of several idiots, lol
Yeah, there's always someone else to blame for people being idiots, especially if it's a company. Why not just sue Krakauer for writing the book? Shoot, he probably even made money from book sales, a serious transgression. For that matter, let's close down Everest, it attracts far more over-funded and under-qualified people than the bus ever will.
here's some info about what it would take to remove it....
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Moving-the-Magic-Bus-Should-it-stay-or-should-it-go-399562001.html
Old Grouse
02-25-2020, 14:38
here's some info about what it would take to remove it....
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Moving-the-Magic-Bus-Should-it-stay-or-should-it-go-399562001.html
Worth the effort. Hauling out the trash and maybe saving a life or two.
Traveler
02-25-2020, 14:53
There are a few certain realities of life, one being you cannot protect people from themselves. Every year people head out for an adventure woefully unprepared, be it an abandoned bus in AK or on the AT and suffer the consequences of nature indifferent to their plight.
illabelle
02-25-2020, 15:04
The wiki article says the bus serves as a backcountry shelter for hikers, hunters, etc. Other than its appearance, how is it any different from any other backcountry shelter, and why would we single it out for removal?
People make bad decisions, and they will continue to do so, whether the construction company is sued, or the author, or somebody else.
AsoloBootsSuk
02-25-2020, 15:20
It has gained so much notoriety now that I'm surprised someone hasn't salvaged it. If I had restaurant up there, I 'd throw up a pavilion in the back parking lot and use the bus to attack business.
blackmagic
02-25-2020, 16:42
The bus currently sits on state property, and is considered an abandoned vehicle. Bruce Sackinger, a Natural Resource Specialist with DNR said anyone who is interested in moving or disposing of the bus would need to go through DNR in Fairbanks and submit a detailed proposal That proposal would need to include what you want from the state, a plan to move to move the bus and what you plan to do with it.
Sackinger said once the proposal is submitted, the bureaucratic process begins, and depending on permitting and whether or not someone wants to take ownership of the bus would determine how long it would take before anyone received approval to move it. They said it would likely take at least a year based on paperwork, the amount of public input and consideration of competing interests.
Or some enterprising anarchists could pack out some acetylene torches and dismantle the thing and scatter the pieces. Or just leave them to rust -- I imagine a pile of scrap metal would hold a lot less allure.
Regrettably, not everyone is "hiker material", and yet they hike.
blackmagic
02-25-2020, 16:49
Use the bus to attack business.
WAR BUS (https://www.flickr.com/photos/brb_pictures/43883997132) ROLL OUT
stephanD
02-25-2020, 17:07
That people go there to take selfies where the young man died, i find that sickening. What a ****ed up species we are.
LazyLightning
02-25-2020, 19:30
I'm with the 'can't save people from themselves' crowd... just like somebody always says on a local radio station "the world is way to over populated already, so why try to save people from their own stupidity?" - not the exact quote but that's the point of it.
Of course you never wish anything fatal on anybody, and your not wishing against recues when someone is in trouble, ect... but why try to educate grown adults on common sense.... this is generally speaking on a lot of things, not just the bus!
2 people died trying to get to the bus and I'm willing to bet that bus saved more then 2 people from the elements over the years.
4eyedbuzzard
02-25-2020, 20:15
That people go there to take selfies where the young man died, i find that sickening. What a ****ed up species we are.Large numbers of people go to sites known almost exclusively because of people's deaths at those locations. Definitely not uncommon. A lot of history is rooted in human death and tragedy. And before phones and sticks and selfies, people used timers or others took their pictures with old fashioned cameras. In death, Chris became a bit of a celebrity to those who share at least some of his disdain for conventional life and materialism. Others disagree and find him predominantly an irresponsible fool driven entirely by wanderlust. But regardless how you view his particular story, standing on the spot where something historic happened is often much more real than just reading or watching a movie about it. I understand why some people might want to go there. A trip to the bus is not for me - but I understand.
That all said, they should be billed for the cost of the rescue and endure whatever public ridicule comes their way for being unprepared, irresponsible @$$holes. Sympathy has limits.
gpburdelljr
02-25-2020, 22:22
Richard Proenneke Is an example of the right way to live off grid.
Christopher McCandless is an example of how not to do it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke
I’d much rather see the cabin Richard Proenneke built, and lived in for almost 30 years in remote Alaska, than to see a bus where a fool died.
greentick
03-01-2020, 01:52
Skycrane logging helo flies for ~$5K/hr and already based around AK.
Lift that sucker to Healey and make it a touron draw. Or just drop it at the dump.
After the requisite bureaucraptic paperwork of course...
Why does anyone want to save these idiots from going to that bus? They probably found a pokemon out there that they didn't have. If they aren't prepared to make it back thats their fault. Quit rescuing them and they will quit going there. Or they will die. Either way the problem is solved.