Battle of the Bus...with 3 Updates

Ever since the John Krakauer  book and Sean Penn movie (Into the Wild) came out, there's been a steady stream of visitors wanting to visit the old bus where Chris McCandless died.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/families-voice-support-of-bridge-across-river-to-reach-into/article_270e76a2-5223-11ea-bc85-3b3bc31e06df.html

Now they want to build a bridge, at the cost of how many million dollars, plus annual maintenance for upkeep. The easiest thing would be to haul the bus out to a more accessible spot where the trekkers don't have to cross the swift Teklanika River. They used to haul in mining equipment, that was the original purpose of the Stampede Trail. Why would they want to go the expense of a bridge rather than getting a small dozer and sledge to haul it out in the winter when the ground's frozen? Inconceivable!

Just like the book and movie, this print is a glamorized view of the bus, with a panoramic view of mountains in the background. In reality, the bus sits in a grove of trees, largely hidden from any scenic views.

I visited the area in the 70's with a friend who was going there on his dog team.The state had some open to entry land for homesteading. Since I was getting into back country skiing, I tagged along just for the adventure of skiing into some new places. We camped out near the bus and checked it out while we were there. Nothing special, just an old city bus that someone had hauled in for a hunting shelter. It had a wood stove, some cots, and a table and chairs. Kind of rough, but usable in a pinch. Now a days, it's apparently been stripped of most of the furnishings and the windows are mostly broken. Seems like a sad reminder of someone's wasted life.

Update: And then there's this...
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/five-tourists-rescued-after-trying-to-reach-into-the-wild/article_47aee2f8-567d-11ea-a879-47e7c8ec707d.html

Update 2: And now the government steps in...
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/denali-borough-proposes-moving-magic-bus-east-of-teklanika-river/article_e8e2b0ac-58e7-11ea-85c4-1f512e53897b.html
After almost thirty years of inaction, they're going to talk about it!

Update 3: Finally the government takes action!

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/denali-borough-assembly-supports-removal-of-mccandless-bus/article_1f9433e0-6681-11ea-b1db-e73f0b3be5f2.html

Unfortunately, the bus is not on borough land, their vote is kind of meaningless.

Cold January?...

We didn't really need the NWS to confirm it, but here's their summary:
Mean monthly temperature was -21 °F, which was 13.5° F below normal. The maximum temperature was 4°F on the 15th of the month, while the minimum temperature was -43°F on the 8th. This was the coldest Jan since 2006 and ranked as 16th all time coldest in 112 years of record.
The total monthly precipitation was 0.42", which was 0.16" below normal. Snowfall totaled 7.3" and the depth at the end of the month was 19".

But so far, it's gotten a lot warmer in Feb...

It was warm enough, about fifteen above, for the older dogs to get down on their bellies to cool off on the way back home. What's interesting is how the three oldest have figured that out, while the youngsters just stand around waiting to get going again. They'll learn!