Rise -Ed Vedder

Each generation has a young talented man of its own

that wanders off into the wilderness and vanishes.

Christopher McCandless belonged to mine.

After graduating from Emory University in 1990,

Christopher abandoned his possessions, gave his

entire $24,000 savings account to charity and

hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness.

Along the way, Christopher encountered generosity,

danger and a series of experiences that shaped his life...

I first heard about Christopher's story in

Jon Krakauer's article "Death of an Innocent",

which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside Magazine.

I read Christopher's story while on the road

and it hit home.Here was this young guy,

a few years older than myself, turning his back

on a modern existence in an attempt

to live a life unencumbered by material things.

I felt a spiritual connection to Christopher's search

for liberty, to his story.

I had just graduated high school,the year before,

when I decided I would hitch hike across Canada.

I was also seeking a purer and simpler place to think

and feel in; just like Kerouac, Thompson

and all of my heroes that took to the road in search

of a natural experience, a new frontier, a fool hearty ramble,

a notion of possibility and to better understand who they were...

Christopher McCandless made it to Alaska

in the Spring of 1992, where the last person to see

him alive was an electrician that gave him a ride in his truck.

After four months, which he documented in a series of

journal entries and photographic self-portraits,

he was found dead in the broken-down Fairbanks

city bus that had become his home.

After having survived for two years by his wits,

by his spirit, by his sense of adventure, he had been

defeated by the dangerous torrents of an unforeseen

spring run-off and had starved to death.

Christopher's story isn't one about death, reckless behaviour

or bad choices. It's about how to live...

The principle of individuality and liberty.

Rise

Eddie Vedder

Such is the way of the world
You can never know
Just where to put all your faith
And how will it grow

Gonna rise up
Burning back holes in dark memories
Gonna rise up
Turning mistakes into gold

Such is the passage of time
Too fast to fold
And suddenly swallowed by signs
Low and behold

Gonna rise up
Find my direction magnetically
Gonna rise up
Throw down my ace in the hole