Epilogue Summary and Analysis

Ten months after McCandless's death, Krakauer, Billie and Walt take a helicopter to the bus site. Billie had wanted to follow the same overland path as her son took into the wilderness, but the Teklanika River is running too high, and the group is advised that not even an amphibious, all-terrain vehicle can cross it. The helicopter ride to the bus takes fifteen minutes. Billie notices that the wilderness looks much like the area where she grew up and realizes her son must have loved being here. Even Walt grudgingly admits the location's appeal. Billie and Walt enter the bus, where Chris died. Billie notices a spoon from the family's old silverware set. She inhales her son's jeans which still smell like him. Walt installs a memorial plaque inside the bus. Billie leaves a suitcase full of food for the next...