'Into the Wild' bus on display during preservation work

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Tuesday, October 12th, 2021 1:51pm

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Alaska Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, extract an old bus from the Stampede Trail using a CH-47 Chinook helicopter over Healy, June 18, 2020. (Air Nat. Guard Photo)

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — An abandoned city bus that people sometimes went on deadly pilgrimages to Alaska’s backcountry to visit can now safely be viewed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks while it undergoes preservation work.

The bus became famous in the book “Into the Wild” after Christopher McCandless died there in 1992.

The bus located about 25 miles from Healy had been a beacon for people wanting to recreate McCandless's steps.

After two deaths and 15 rescue missions since 2009, the state removed the bus last year.

Fairbanks TV station KTVF reports the bus is now on display while workers preserve it for eventual outdoor display at the Museum of the North in Fairbanks.

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