<P> In 1960, Yutan Construction won a contract from the new state of Alaska to upgrade the trail as part of Alaska's Pioneer Road Program, building a road on which trucks would be able to haul ore from the mines year - round to the railroad at Lignite near the present day town of Healy . Construction was completed in 1961 after some 47.5 miles (76.4 km) of road was built but no bridges were ever constructed over the several rivers it crossed . Maintenance on the project was halted in 1963 and the route was shortly rendered impassable to large vehicles by soft permafrost and flooding . </P> <P> The trail has since been used by backcountry travelers on foot, bicycle, dog sleds, snowmachines, and all - terrain vehicles . The trail's main obstacle is the crossing of the Teklanika River . The river's fluctuating depth can hinder attempts to ford it . The Alaska State Troopers report several rescues are necessary every year at the river crossings, and in August 2010, high water resulted in the drowning death of Claire Ackermann, a hiker from Switzerland . Today, several hundred people per year still attempt to reach Bus 142 . </P> <P> Fairbanks City Transit System Bus 142 is an abandoned 1946 International Harvester K - 5 that is parked in a clearing along the Stampede Trail near Denali National Park . It was originally one of four buses used by the Yutan Construction Company to provide remote shelter for the construction crew from Fairbanks that worked on road upgrades in 1960 - 1961 . The bus engine was removed and it was instead towed by Caterpillar D8 bulldozers . It contained beds and a wood burning stove, which still remain today . When the Stampede Mine ceased operations in the 1970s, three of the four busses were hauled off the trail . Bus 142 broke an axle which caused the crew to leave it where it now serves as a backcountry shelter for hunters, trappers, and visitors . </P> <P> The bus gained notoriety in January 1993 when Outside magazine published an article written by Jon Krakauer titled "Death of an Innocent" describing the death of Christopher McCandless, an American hitchhiker who lived in the bus during the summer of 1992 while attempting to survive off the Alaskan wilderness only to die of starvation four months later . </P>

Where did the bus come from in into the wild