A Pause For Beauty


One ought every day at least to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture,
and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
- Goethe

. . .

Walking Alone To The North Pole,
And Learning To Trust Oneself

Mountaineers climb peaks for the great view, the cooperation and comradeship, the lively hardship -- but mostly because it puts you out there where the unknown happens, where you encounter surprise.
- Gary Snyder, The Practise of the Wild

Helen Thayer

I interviewed Helen Thayer in her home in rural Washington State in 2002.            Helen was the first woman to walk alone to the magnetic north pole, a 27-day trip that she did in 1988. In her teens Helen climbed McKinley and climbed in Soviet Union. She represented New Zealand in the 1962 in British Commonwealth Games as a runner and discus thrower. When she moved to Central America, she represented the Guatemalan track and field team. When they moved to the US she joined the American track and field team as a discus thrower. She later competed in luge, a one-person sled.

Here are a couple of excerpts from our interview.

            “I learned a lot of things walking to the magnetic north pole. I learned trust. And that trust has passed over into my personal relationships. I came back with a greater trust in Bill, my husband and best friend.

            “In preparation for the trip, I lived with the Inuit and learned how to live with polar bears. I went out on the ice to make sure I could handle the aloneness. I checked myself out. I did my research, talked with the right people. I was planning to live. I did have my will in order, but that is a part of planning. I wanted to leave feeling everything was done correctly.

            “I encountered polar bears seven times on the trip. There were times that I wondered if I would survive, but then I would think, ‘You know, I have learned all I can. I have done my best. I have survived so far. I have confidence in my ability to do what I have been taught to do. Why not keep it up?’ You want to always know that there will be another polar bear encounter, and that is fine. You will live through it and go to the next one.

“The Inuit taught me that you are never going to beat the polar bears, but you can learn to co-exist with them.  We approach them with the intent of co-existing, of not hurting them.   We approach them knowing that it is their living room we are in, and we respect them.  We just want to pass through peacefully.  They can sense where you are at.  If you want to shoot your way to the pole, you would last one or two polar bears and you would be done.  Wrong attitude.

    “At night, I would go into the tent and zip it up and say, "Lord, I don't know what is out there. But I have to get eight hours sleep." (laughs) So I learned trust. You can't sit up all night worrying about it. So you just get in the sleeping bag and go to sleep. And I always slept soundly.” 

For more of my interview of Helen, and links to books she’s written, visit here.