By Katherine Ramsland

(Continued)

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The Wilderness Trek

So Brianna was certainly under someone's influence when she walked out into the cold and failed to return, whether it was the ideas of a newly discovered guru, signals from her father, or stress from her home life, such inexplicable treks are not unheard of. Christopher Johnson McCandless, a child of affluence and a top student, hitchhiked to Alaska in 1992 and went alone into the wilderness near Mt. McKinley, ill-prepared but determined to prove something to himself.

Captivated by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, who had forsaken his wealth to experience a spiritual awakening, McCandless gave away his entire savings of $24,000, abandoned his possessions, burned the money in his wallet, and hoped to reinvent himself in more rugged terms. He sought transcendence through raw and extreme experience. Instead, he starved to death. Some called it a subconscious death wish, others just a lack of preparation coupled with several unfortunate miscalculations. The last person who saw him alive, who gave him a ride, thought McCandless clearly did not know what he was up against. But such is the nature of passionate idealism. It really does undermine critical reasoning. Jon Krakauer documented the ill-fated journey in Into the Wild, unable ultimately to decide what had motivated the young college graduate.

"He was an extremely intense young man," Krakauer writes, "and possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence."

McCandless seemed to know he could die, but also indicated that he might eventually return home, triumphant in his ability to survive and thrive in the wild. Before he expired, emaciated and alone, he'd written an SOS to anyone who might be able to get him out, an indication that he did realize his error. Yet finally he knew he wouldn't make it and apparently resigned himself to the consequences of his spiritual decisions.

We can only hope that Brianna's sudden departure was not similarly motivated and that she will eventually be found and returned to her family.

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