You want to pimp your obit?

You have to go out with style points – get eaten alive by a Great White; have your organs harvested by the Russian mob; get assassinated by the CIA. Hell, even that scuba diving sap who was accidentally scooped up by a helicopter and dumped on a raging forest fire has to have one of the best epitaphs ever.

But what about “death by seeds” -- seems a little pussyish, right? Not if your name was Christopher J. McCandless. He OD’d on potato seeds, the only thing he had to eat while living alone in the wilderness of Alaska’s Denali National Park for some 113 days. His home? An abandoned bus. His bed? A raggedy old sleeping bag turned body bag once the poisonous seeds caused McCandless to starve to death. His body was discovered by moose hunters in September, 1992 – two weeks after he’d croaked. That’s as hardcore as it gets, folks.

Want more? Check out Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild” from your local library. Or, more realistically, watch the big-screen adaptation of the same name, a Sean Penn Wadby, in theaters now (what a coinkydink).

To truly live the McCandless experience, however, you need to take on our 49th state in the flesh. Of course, death tourism isn’t for everyone. Luckily, there are many, many ways to get your mountain man jollies in the wilds of Alaska while living to Flickr it another day. Here are 5 we can endorse:

 
(1) SHUYAK SAFARI

Is it a boat? Is it a plane? No, it’s a floatplane -- maybe the sweetest form of transport this side of an Area 51 hangar. The trouble is finding and excuse to use one. Shuyak Island, a 47,000-acre state park teeming with seabirds, brown bears, and black-tailed deer lying some 54 miles north of Kodiak, provides such an excuse. Chartered floatplane service is available from Kodiak to the four public-use cabins. Just know there isn’t anything close to a Kwik-E-Mart on the 12-by-11 mile island, so pack, like, everything you think you’ll need (or else: see above!). Besides the land denizen you’ll come across, the surrounding water is home to whales, sea lions, porpoises, harbor seals and otters – so bring the digi-cam. Hiking and kayaking ops, too (cabins, sleeping up to 8, start at $60/night, www.dnr.state.ak.us).

(2) LARGEST THIS, LARGEST THAT

  Inside the 13.2-million-acre, Costa Rica-sized chunk of UNESCO World Heritage goodness known as Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (the largest national park in the U.S.) you’ll find our country’s second highest peak, Mount Saint Elias, and more than 150 glaciers – including the largest on earth outside the polar ice caps. The park, also recognized as a biosphere reserve, is a six-hour drive east from Anchorage, and borders on Canada’s Kluane Nat’l Park. Hiking and glacier trekking are all the rage here – arrange a tour with St. Elias Alpine Guides (steliasguides.com). Stay at Ma Johnson's Historic Hotel, smack dab in the center of the park (doubles from $159/night; mccarthylodge.com).

(3) LIFE IMITATING SUNDAY

Want to catch the eagles and bears live? No need to go on StubHub. The Stan Price State Wildlife Sanctuary, sitting on the eastern shore of Admiralty Island 30 miles south of Juneau, has the highest density of brown bears in North America, and the highest concentration of nesting bald eagles in the world. Above & Beyond Alaska offers kayaking and camping tours of the sanctuary out of Juneau (prices vary; beyondak.com).

(4) A LITTLE ALONE TIME

Face it. You don’t so much seek out Alaska as you do flee from the rest of the world -- Alaska just happens to make for a great safe house. There’s a little misanthrope in all of us, and here’s where he can finally smile again. So it defeats the purpose to wind up in Juneau or another “big” city (~31,000 strong). Remoteness is what you’re truly after, and you get it in spades at the 11-million-acre Gates of the Arctic National Park, where less than 5,000 people visit per year. The side-effect of little to no human contact? Clear rivers, a zero air pollution index, undisturbed wildlife – you know, those things our myths of the future will be made of. You can only get here by air from the small communities of Bettles, Coldfoot and Anaktuvuk Pass. Arctic Wild leads basecamp tours into the park, providing meals and boating equipment (from $3,600/pp in Aug., arcticwild.com).

5) QUIET ON THE SET

The main course for all you McCandless heads: Denali National Park is home of Mount McKinley, the continent’s tallest. From Anchorage or Fairbanks, you’re able to fly over the terrain that makes a cameo in the film en route to the backcountry — keep your eyes out for McCandless’ shelter-bus (sans corpse) down below. Grizzlies, gray wolves and wolverines call the place home today, prehistoric birds and the carnivorous dinosaurs that loved them called it home 100 million years ago (as evidenced by recent fossil discoveries). Three lodges and three lodges only — Camp Denali, North Face Lodge and Hawk’s Nest — are allowed to operate within Denali, each located at the end of the sole road that cuts 100 miles through the park. They’ve all closed for the year, however, so you’ll have to wait until next year to try ‘em out (from prices vary; nps.gov/dena).