How is Chris McCandless prepared when he heads out in the wild?In Into the Wild, many wrote in about Chris's death saying that he was ignorant and...

Chris McCandless is emotionally prepared when he sets out
into the Alaskan Wild, but he is such a romantic when it comes to his beliefs about the
wild that he is not prepared in the domain of what he needs to
survive.

Chris goes into the wild bringing a rifle, some
ammunition, rice, a small cook stove, books, a book about plants, and a few other
items.  He leaves his map behind on the truck dashboard of the man who drops him
off. 

Chris was a highly intelligent young man who believed
that he could live off the wild.  This might have been true except he did not know that
the river would flood during the time he was there.  When he was ready to go back to
civilization the river was way too high and dangerous to cross.  Without a map he could
not know where he could safely cross.  He just made some stupid choices but I don't
think he was a kook.  He was a product of the anti-establishment era who felt that he
had a destiny to fullfill.