May 12th, 1990
Christopher Johnson McCandless graduates from Emory University and tells his parents he is going to spend the summer traveling in his yellow Datsun.
July 6, 1990
Chris McCandless arrives at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.
July 10, 1990
McCandless abandons his yellow Datsun after it is heavily damaged in a flood. He buries some belongings before setting out on foot with the rest in his backpack and manages to find boaters that take him to Callville Bay.
July-August 1990
McCandless hitchhikes to Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada mountan range, the Cascade mountains, the lava beds of the Columbia River basin and across the Idaho panhandle.
August 10, 1990
Chris McCandless receives a ticket for hitchhiking in Willow Creek, California.
October 1990
A park ranger discovers McCandless' abandoned Datsun.
October 28, 1990
McCandless walks south from Needles, Californa to Topock, Arizona where he buys a second-hand canoe.
October-November 1990
McCandless canoes down the Colorado River through Lake Havasu, the Bill Williams River, the Colorado River Indian Reservation, the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, and the Yuma Proving Ground.
December 2, 1990
McCandless reaches the Morelos Dam and the Mexican border.
December 12, 1990
After encountering hazardous waterfalls along the Colorado River, McCandless realizes that he will not reach the Gulf of California travelling in this route so he gets some local duck hunters to drive him there.
January 16, 1991
McCandless camps on a desloate plateau and in a cave on the face of a bluff before leaving his canoe at El Golfo de Santa Clara.
January-February 1991
McCandless crosses the border back into the US and spends one night in jail before traveling to Houston.
February 3, 1991
McCandless travels back to the west coast and applies for an ID and a job in Los Angeles but quickly changes his mind.
February 9, 1991
McCandless camps at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a German couple and notes that he has lost about 25 pounds.
February 24, 1991
McCandless recovers the few belongings he buried when he abandoned his Datsun.
February 27, 1991
McCandless buries his backpack and hitchhikes into Las Vegas.
May 10, 1991
McCandless leaves Las Vegas and heads towards costal Oregon.
July-August 1991
While in Oregon, McCandless sends a postcard to Jan Burres.
October 1991
McCandless arrives in Bullhead City, Arizona where he works at a McDonald's for two months and lives in an empty RV.
December 13, 1991
McCandless unexpectedly appears at Burres' campsite at The Slabs campground in Niland, California.
January 1992
McCandless meets Ronald Franz while he is hitchhiking near Salton Sea in California.
February 1992
McCandless is dropped by Franz at the San Diego waterfront and mails Jan Burres a postcard saying that he has been living on the streets of San Diego for a week.
March 5, 1992
McCandless sends postcards to Burres and Franz from Seattle, Washington.
March 12, 1992
McCandless calls Franz from Coachella, California and asks Franz to pick him up.
March 14, 1992
After spending a night at Franz's house, he is driven to Grand Junction, Colorado.
March 14-28, 1992
During this time, McCandless works at Wayne Westerberg's grain elevator in Carthage, South Dakota.
April 13, 1992
McCandless hitchhikes north and takes a picture of the official start of the Alaska Highway.
April 16-18, 1992
After leaving Carthage, bound for Alaska, McCandless stops at Liard Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada. He spends two days here before hitching a ride with Gaylord Stuckey in the cab of his truck.
April 18-21, 1992
McCandless stops at the University of Alaska's Fairbanks campus where he learns about edibile plants, buys a used gun and sends a postcard.
April 28, 1992
While walking down the highway, McCandless is picked up by Jim Gallien, an electrician on his way to Anchorage. After three hours, Jim drops McCandless off at the Stampede Trail.
April 30, 1992
McCandless notes that he can see Mt. McKinley.
May 1, 1992
McCandless finds an old, abandoned bus beside the Sushana River and decides to stay in it for awhile.
May 5, 1992
McCandless kills and eats a spruce grouse.
May-June 1992
During this period, McCandless lives on a diet of squirrel, spruce grouse, duck, goose, and porcupine.
June 9, 1992
McCandless kills a moose and takes a picture of the carcass.
July 3-5, 1992
McCandless prepares his backpack and sets out on the 20-mile hike back to the road. However, he encounters a river that has thawed and made it impossible to cross back over. He decides to return to the bus.
July 8, 1992
McCandless arrives back at the bus.
August 5, 1992
McCandless writes in his journal, "DAY 100! MADE IT! BUT IN WEAKEST CONDITION OF LIFE. DEATH LOOMS AS SERIOUS THREAT."
August 12, 1992
McCandless posts an S.O.S. note on the bus' door and forages nearby for berries. He writes his final journal entry: "Beautiful blueberries."
August 18 or 19, 1992
McCandless dies of starvation, in his sleeping bag in the bus along the Sushana River in Alaska.