Jedidiah White Spends 22 Days In The Wild
Another way to Bus 142
Written by Erik Halfacre
Photography by Jedidiah White
Alaskan Taiga as seen from the Stampede Trail
The vast majority of people who choose to make the trek out to Bus 142 do so by the usual route. The Stampede Trail is roughly a forty mile round trip from eight mile lake. Jedidiah White is different though, he took the road less traveled; a lot less traveled.
Jedidiah White is a college student at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he majors in Physics, Chemistry, and Biological Sciences as well as minoring in Mathematics. His hobbies include winemaking, cheese making, Italian and French cooking, wood working, packrafting, kayaking and backpacking.
White first became familiar with the story of Christopher McCandless in January of 2009 when he saw Sean Penn's film: Into The Wild. In the wake of a recent breakup White described his reaction to the film as "blown away." Growing up as a boy scout he had spent a lot of time hiking, kayaking, and enjoying the outdoors. College and other obligations though had taken away much of his time to do those things though. The film reminded him of his need for that kind of experience and he made the decision then, to go to Alaska and see the bus for himself on his own Alaskan adventure.
As White rode the Alaska/Yukon Shuttle from Fairbanks to Denali in the summer of 2010, it hit him that he was really going. He was actually there. He checked in with the National Park Service and was granted a backcountry pass for units 27 and 28. He arranged to leave his gun case, for his twenty-two and forty-five, with the park service. He also told them his trip plan, and that he expected to be out for about thirty days.
You might be wondering why White needed a back country pass when the Stampede Trail does not require that you have one, as nearly all of it is outside the park on the way to and from the bus. White had a wildly different route in mind though. He had read somewhere where Krakauer had written about hiking north from the park, in order to avoid the notorious river crossing of the Teklanika where the Stampede Trail crosses it.
View Jedidiah Whites's Waypoints in a larger map
From where the park road crosses the Teklanika, it flows north and through a canyon near Mt. Wright. From there it opens up and braids before it funnels back down to a single channel where the Stampede Trail crosses it. In his research, White read about a man named Roman Dial. Dial is one of Alaska's top backcountry wilderness travel experts. A common tool that Dial employs in his travels is the pack raft: a small one person raft just large enough for a person and their pack. White's own experience with kayaking led him to believe that a pack raft could be a useful tool in his own arsenal. After purchasing an alpaca raft for himself though, White decided to purchase a cheaper Sevylor raft on Amazon.com to carry his gear.
From the National Park Headquarters, White took a camper bus in to where the road meets the Teklanika River. He put his raft in to the water, and his journey was underway. Soon though, the river began to turn rapid, much further south than White had expected. "I freaked out," confessed White. He plunged his paddle in, attempting to get himself to the west shore of the Teklanika. The paddle jammed into the rocks on the bottom though and broke.
Jedidiah White's Sevylor raft he used for river crossings
Lynx tracks
Being swept downstream without a paddle, soon White's raft rolled, spilling him and the rest of it's contents into the freezing glacial water. In his desperate scramble for the shore, trying to keep all his gear from being swept away, White somehow managed to twist his foot on the rocks at the bottom of the river. Once safely to shore White gathered himself and assessed the damage. His foot was hurt. He figured at that point that he might have broken one of the smaller bones. Also, he had lost his binoculars in the river, a pair he had owned since he was eight years old. This realization was somewhat disheartening for White.
His medical kit also got dampened in the accident, but luckily most of the rest of his gear was protected by dry bags and still dry. Perhaps the worst part of the accident though, was that White's Alpaca raft had been damaged beyond field repair, leaving him with just the cheaper Sevylor raft. At that point it was decision time. White could have hiked back up the river bed a few miles and gotten back on a bus and headed out of the park. Despite the accident though, White chose to press on. He had spent a pretty penny getting to Alaska, and he had to make it worth his while.
For the next five days, White climbed up the mountain between him and the bus. His progress was slow due to his foot, and to the rainy June weather. Despite these things though, White was able to enjoy himself and even took time to observe the local eco-system. One thing that White noted were holes in the mountain, filled with rainwater. He would later learn that Dall Sheep had dug these holes while searching for minerals. The holes serve a double purpose though, as once filled with rainwater the sheep could drink collected rainwater from them.
The hike back down the mountain was much easier, and less steep, only taking half of a day. The original plan had then been to put the raft back into the Teklanika and float down to the Stampede Trail. With one raft down though, White chose instead to hike along moose and lynx trails. For a little under a week, he hiked north along these trails. One entire day was spent just trying to get through an area flooded by the beavers that live in that area. White also was treated to a rare encounter with a lynx. The wild cat stalked him, completely unafraid. In the end, he had to throw things at it just to get it to leave. The cat was the only large predator White encountered though. White's strategy for keeping the bears away (yelling Hey Bear often as he traveled) was proving effective.
Sunset on Eight Mile Lake
June twelfth, White found himself at the Stampede Trail. He turned west and headed towards the bus. He camped one night at what he assumed to be a hunters camp overlooking a pair of lakes. From there, it was straight to the bus. He knew he was close, so he pressed on late into the night of the 14th.
In the twilight of the Alaskan evening, White found himself at Bus 142. Outside the bus, was a pair of nice shoes. Thinking someone must be there, White yelled, but there was no response. He had the place to himself. Inside the bus White went through the contents of the pale blue suitcase he found there: a bible, a letter from Walter McCandless, a journal from Carine, a log of visitors, etc. It suddenly came over White how real this place was. Reading about it in books, and seeing the movie are one thing, but he was there, standing in the place it happened. The gravity of the place weighed on him. That night when he chose a place to sleep, he opted for the small cot next to the stove, rather than to sleep on the mattress where McCandless had died. To him, it was a matter of respect.
Bus 142 on the Stampede Trail in summer of 2010
When White had begun his journey, he had planned to spend a couple weeks at the bus. His various delays though had gotten him to the bus far later than he had planned. Once at the bus, he rethought his plans, and decided to stay for about ten days. For the next two days, White cleaned his laundry, gathered firewood, and tried to fish some grayling out of the Sushana river. As he did though, he began to think about his foot, and about the Teklanika river. He had read that folks from Healy had been considering pulling the bus out. He didn't want to get stranded, die, and end up being the reason they remove the bus, ruining the experience for future adventurers.
After two days at the bus White left at about 3PM on the sixteenth. The weather was beautiful and he made good time. At the Teklanika White put all of his gear into his remaining raft. He tied a cord to the raft and carried it with him as he forded the river unrestrained by the weight of his pack. Once across he pulled his raft after him.
Soon White found the Jeep camp east of Fish Creek. He was back in to civilization. Before long he was back out to the road, and from there he returned to the National Park Headquarters.
When asked what advice White would give to others hiking to the bus he offered the following:
Exercise: Physical fitness is of great importance out there, and specifically endurance.
Know Your Gear: Try out your gear before you arrive in Alaska. You shouldn't be pulling gear right out of the package you bought it in and throwing it straight into your pack before you leave.
Practice. Know how to use the things you will have with you.
I also asked White if he would recommend his route to others, and if so, what things people should be aware of before heading the way he did. He said he would recommend the route, but only to people with experience in route finding and bushwhacking. There's no real trail. You need to know how to navigate effectively.
White enjoyed his trip to Alaska so much that he plans to return in 2012. You can look forward to hearing about his adventures then as well.
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