Adventure in the U.S.

The United States is a country full of compelling locations. The one that interests me most that I have not yet visited is the Grand Canyon. I have seen so many pictures of the huge gorge in the rocks and it has always amazed me that it is in the same country with mountains and prairies and the rural green areas where I live.
The Grand Canyon is in northwestern Arizona and stretches 277 miles. Its width varies throughout from four to eighteen miles in some points. It was carved out by the Colorado River that courses through it, which ironically I have gone rafting in, just not in Arizona or through the Grand Canyon. To me it is so amazing that this huge canyon was carved out by a river and that it hasn’t collapsed. It is so big and deep it’s surprising it hasn’t collapsed.
If I were to go to the Grand Canyon I would have to fly there on an airplane since it is way too far away to drive there. It is about 1,943 miles away from Baltimore. The plane ride would take a little over four hours.
The Grand Canyon is most obviously known for the huge gorge in the rocks carved out by the Colorado River. There is a large park all around it as well though it is desert conditions there. I would need to have a lot of water with me if I were to go there since it is very hot and dry. While I am there I hope I would be able to go to the top and look around at the view while trying not to look down. I would love to go out on the Skywalk. The Skywalk is a glass-bottomed bridge that actually goes out over the edge of the canyon approximately 4,000 feet above the rushing water below. All four of my grandparents have done this and I’ve seen their pictures. It looks really fun even though it is so high up and if you look down it appears that there is nothing below your feet until the ground almost a mile below.
The Grand Canyon has always been a place of high interest to me and I hope that one day I will get the chance to go there.

Chris McCandless

Chris McCandless

1. Direct Characterization – when a book or story tells the reader about the character’s personality.
2. Indirect Characterization – when a book or story shows the reader about the character’s personality.
3. So far I feel that Chris is a very brave and daring individual that likes to take risks and is very self-confident. He thinks he will survive no matter what happens without a hitch.
Direct Character Traits Indirect Character Traits
Athletic- build Self-Conscious
Brown Hair Brave/ courageous
Tall Adventurous
Beard Independent

Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer was born the third of five children in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was raised in Oregon since he was two years old. He went to Corvallis High School and played tennis there until he graduated in 1972. Then, he went to Hampshire College to later get his degree in Environmental Studies in 1976. Krakauer married Linda Moore in 1980 and lived in Seattle, Washington until the release of his bok Into Thin Air, when they moved to Boulder, Colorado. He has accomplished many things such as his numerous books and his well-known climb of Mt. Everest known as the 1996 Everest Disaster where 15 people died.

Into the Wild

Into the Wild is a story of survival that ends in tragedy. Christopher McCandless was a normal teenager that did well in school and was good at sports. He grew up in a suburb of Washington D.C. and went to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Then, after he graduated in 1990 he suddenly stopped talking to his family, donated all of his savings to charity and burned the rst of his money. He had set off on an adventure of finding a new life and it started by trekking across the country. His adventure ended sometime in August of 1992 in Alaska. His body was found in an abandoned bus and it is believed he starved to death; easily explained by his weight of 67 pounds when he was found.He roughed the Alaskan wilderness for approximately 112 days, surviving on roots, berries, and wild game he shot with his .22 calibre rifle. Chris McCandless set out looking for a life, but instead he lost one.