The answer to this question can be found in the first chapter of this excellent book. Gallien, as the last person to see Chris McCandless alive, and also as an experienced hunter in Alaska himself, is able to talk to the author about the strange fascination that Alaska exerts on people and the kind of reality that they face if they do choose to go there. Note what he says in the following quote:

"People from Outside," reports Gallien in a slow sonorous drawl, "they'll pick up a copy of Alaska magazine, thumb through it, get to thinkin' 'Hey, I'm going' to get on up there, live off the land, go claim me a piece of the good life.'"

However, as he goes on to say, the reality is very different from the glossy-paged beauty that they will see in such brochures. Life is harsh, savage and dangerous with many natural predators and immense hardships. It would be easy to look at the pictures alone and be seduced by their majestical beauty, but the actual day-to-day experience of living such a life would be very different.