The "Into the Wild" story seems to keep popping up (and is indeed powerfully fascinating and symbolic to some). This latest theory of what killed Chris McCandless may be of interest. How much weight to give it? I leave that to you.

"A researcher named Ronald Hamilton had written a paper arguing that McCandless had, in fact, been killed by the wild potato seeds, but not because of any "toxic alkaloids." Rather, Hamilton argued, McCandless's meager diet and malnutrition in the wilderness had made him susceptible to a rare but brutal affliction called "lathyrism" that gradually paralyzes its victims. Lathryrism occurs primarily in malnourished young men, and it is caused by the ingestion of an amino acid that was first discovered in the seeds of wild grass peas."

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-chris-mccandless-died-in-into-the-wild-2013-9

makes a compelling argument for:
A. knowing what plants are safe for consumption or
B. having a good guide for edible plants for your region.

Actually, Mr. McCandless had a guide of edible plants and the plant seeds he was eating were supposed to be safe. But the article explains how under certain circumstances they are not.

The article is worth reading.

Shoulda planned better:
* brought food
* had a backup plan/ partner
* vitamins
* Used his (extensive) money for proper training, gear, food.

And left a note where he could be found

Well, you can get sick or hurt all sorts of ways. In reality, it doesn't matter what specifically happened. When you are on the edge of subsistence any little thing can be too much to overcome.

Being in the wilderness, alone with minimal supplies puts you in a risky position. It's the risk he took. *shrug*

-john

In addition, any raw food has risk of contamination as well. People die from lettuce from the supermarket.

-john

I think you are referring to bacterial contamination by other humans which would be unlikely in such a remote area.

Also, the seeds he was eating were not contaminated, they contained a toxic chemical. Cooking would not fix this.

A recent Alaska rebuttal. I think the lathyrism diagnosis has merit.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20...ng-death-alaska

Does any of this conjecture alter the basic narrative in any meaningful way? Once again we see that a series of not-so-good decisions leads to a bad place- this is not the first or the last time.

A little planning and fore thought usually wins out. There a few simple rules when painting a floor, such as planning to paint the floor next to the door at the very end!