In Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, the character, Ken Thompson, comes across a river called the Teklanika Riverright before he spots Chris McCandless. He describes it as a "fast, icy, stream whose waters are opaque with glacial till. The trail comes down to the riverbank just upstream from a narrow groge, through which the Teklanika surges in a boil of white water. The prospect of fording this latte-colored torrent discourages most people from traveling any farter" (11). The first picture is exactly where Jon Krakauer was describing. By looking at this picture and how the author describes the river is very familiar to an area where I have been. The White River in Vermont is very much like the Teklanika River with the description of the "fast, icy, stream," and how the "latte-colored torrent," makes it easy for people to reconsider their plans to go on this river on either a tube or raft. I have gone down this river and it is probably one of the scariest experiences of my life. I wish I reconsidered going any farther than I did because the river got faster, colder, and there were many more rapids than when we decided to stop earlier. I felt like i could picture exactly what the river looked like without seeing a picture of the Teklanika River because of my exerience on the White River.
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ReplyDeleteFirstly, I liked the very beautiful picture you included in this post. It gives us a clear introduction to what your talking about and helps up perceive your words better. In addition, your personal connection to the events and locations of the story were easy to see as you described this terrifying journey you had, which may very well be similar to McCandless's journey on the Teklanika river. I have also gone rafting in Vermont, and I also know how frightening the journey can be, so I don't intend on trying it again anytime soon at least. It just goes to show how McCandless and I are two antithetical individuals. However, not many share similarities with McCandless. Great post!
ReplyDelete-Mitchell Ward
I remember when i went to Alaska, i went to this town named Talkeetna while driving to Denali from Anchorage. We stopped at this small alcove which was just as big as my neighborhood. It had a campground, train station, airport, a few shops, and one hotel. Though this seems pretty small, Talkeetna was a the only tourist rest stop for miles, a regional center compared to the other minuscule towns in Alaska. The main street was the only paved street and when i walked down it exploring the shops, i came across a small farm with some pet reindeer( of course) and right beyond the farm was a pebbly beach. As i came out into the open, i saw that this wasn't a lake, but a vast river. I later found out that this was the Susitna River. It seemed like the water was just sitting there because it was so big, but i could see that it was flowing pretty fast, carrying a dead log along with the ride. The landscape behind it looked forlorn and gray, wise and ancient. Rivers in Alaska are so different from those along the east coast. They are uninviting, freezing cold, and dangerous. Yet they have this sense of peace and calm along with that and you can sense the power of nature in Alaska; kind of like the untouched backwoods in Vermont. After some exploring and pictures, these Alaskan natives from Anchorage came. With them they hauled 2 big rafts. They explained that it was tradition to come up here, have an adventure, and test their courage for this river was very unpredictable. Just beyond the bend were hurling rapids, and fast water. It was good to know they were experienced and i wished them good luck. Seeing them float off into the distance carried by the river, through a tourist's point of view, it was hard to believe how harsh nature could be.
ReplyDeleteI have also gone rafting (not in Vermont but in New Jersey), and I remember getting really scared when the water started getting faster and faster. I remember the friend that was in the raft with me ended up getting so scared at one point that she accidently flipped the raft over and we ended up getting off the river and walking the rest of the way. I can definitely see why people at the Teklanika river (and you) would be scared of the rapids.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't know about other people, and maybe I'm crazy, but when I went whitewater rafting I enjoyed it. It's exhilerating to be tossed about by the whim of the currents, with nobody in control but the river, just hanging o for my life. It was awesome. Anyhow, when doing this kind of thing, no matter how much you enjoy it, you must always respect nature. In his haste to get to the wilderness, I think Chris forgot the cruel fairness of nature. No matter how morally pure you are, you must always be prepared or you could be seriously injured, even killed. There are experience hikers the world over that die on the slopes, simply because of one lapse in judgement. So one must always tread carefully, because nature is cruel and unforgiving. And if you slip up, nature will take you down. That's a fact. So no matter how fun it is, how interesting, how cool, you must always come prepared. Chris didn't.
ReplyDeleteI had a very similar experience to you, Caitlin, and Mengli while I was in Utah a couple of summers ago. My family decided to go white water rafting, and it was nice and peaceful at first, but then the river starting to get faster. The rapids started to get more violent, and we hurtled uncontrollably down the river. When we finally made it to the end, we tried to guide the raft over to the beach, but we kept on going, and nearly missed it. It was pretty terrifying considering the next landing spot wasn't for another 9 miles. I dont think that if I was Ken Thomson, I would have been able to cross the river
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ReplyDeleteYour experiance correlates very similarly to my experiance white-water rafting. Rafting is terrifing because of the unstablity, speed and inherent danger of the activity. Not only that, but falling out carries the possiblitiy of death- scaring the faint of heart. I know that when I went rafting, I fell out and needed the master guide to save me, otherwise, who know if i would have survived? Chris went on his own, entrusting his destiny in himself, sharing only with the unexpectedness of the river and its tribulations. He loves the idea of his fate and the river tied together, perhaps thought that by surviving the river he would be achieving an increased enlightenment tying him to the wilderness. There is nothing holding him back from dying because he seperated himself from family and society. He is free to die and to live exuberantly by taking these risks. We took them but we had a saftey net of procedures and protecol, plus people looking out for us. The idea of steering across the open rivers with out a map must have appealed to the adventurer in him also, in the same way that it terrifed you and I. We could not handle leaving out fates up to only our sure handling and the river's- as Jacob said- cruel fairness. Other thrill seekers must have avioded the Teklanika River, because of its "latte- colored currents" but they are unique, just like Chris. It added another elemnt of appeal which not many could appreciate. I know that I defenetly did not.
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