Hide Article Text (OCR)
t wilderness diary A year ago this month, Carl McCunn was suffering frostbite. He was depressed. And he was slowly starving as winter returned to the remote valley north of Fort Yukon. Judging from his diary entries, McCunn was losing the will to live. His tragic story was coming to an end. The 35-year-old man finally chose to end his suffering by taking his life, preferring that to the chills which racked his body every morning. When Troopers found McCann’s body in February, they disco vered a 100-page handwritten diary he had kept faithfully. In it, McCunn recorded his 844-month experience in the Bush. In hopes that others might learn a lesson from his son’s tragic end, Donovan McCunn of San Antonio, Texas, gave News-Miner reporter Kris Capps access to the diary and to two rolls of film taken by the younger McCunn. Today, in the last of five parts, Carl McCunn’s compelling story ends. By KRIS CAPPS Staff Writer Except for a few spices, Carl McCunn was out of food. It was windy, but remarkably warm for November at 25 degrees above zero. “Even so, my feet ached badly and were cold even though I wrapped them in rabbit skins instead of using the usual boot liners. “I feel very down, but not quite out. a-=== close, however.” He set out some rabbit heads on fish hooks, hoping to catch a fox or wolf unawares. “I’ve got nothing to be happy about except that I’m alive.” He prayed for moose, rabbits or a plane. McCann considered trying to reach Fort Yukon on foot, but de cided he would freeze to death before he made it. He wrote a letter to his father, explaining how to develop his exposed film and telling him he might enjoy some of the photographs he had taken there. “I’m frightened my end is near. That must seem obvious. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the Lord. Funny how that happens at a time like this. I’ve never prayed so much in my life. To be honest, I don’t believe my prayers deserve answering but I can’t stop hoping that they are. ‘Well, it’s said freezing is the best way to go! Hope I’m asleep (See DIARY, page 2) Carl McCunn spent hours motionless behind a duck blind photographing water fowl, including this duck, near his camp. CARL MCCUNN A tragic end
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Sat, Nov 13, 1982
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
CA 18 Jun 2026
Other Publications Near Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Daily News Miner
Fairbanks Weekly News Miner
Fairbanks Evening News
Fairbanks Daily Times
