Antarctic Explorer, 88, Ends Trek Without Meeting Goals
Explorer Norman Vaughan is ending his problem-plagued Antarctica expedition without climbing the mountain that bears his name or becoming the last person to tour the continent by sled dog.
Vaughan, 88, and his support team decided Wednesday to abort the trip they began in November and return to Anchorage, probably in the next week or two.
Jennifer Johnston, an organizer in Anchorage, said she spoke with Vaughan on Wednesday from a camp where the group had been holed up for 15 days because of heavy snow and strong wind.
Time was running out before the Antarctic winter set in, she said.
“We knew everything was getting crunched,” Johnston said Thursday. “If there is any good weather left, it needs to be used to get people off the ice.”
A 10,302-peak was named in Vaughan’s honor by Adm. Richard E. Byrd, with whom Vaughan traveled to Antarctica in 1928-1930.
Sixty-six years ago, Vaughan was the first American to drive a dog team in Antarctica. He wanted to be the last person on the continent to tour with sled dogs before the April 1 start of an international treaty banning dogs to protect indigenous wildlife from canine distemper.
Vaughan has completed the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race six times, including the 1990 race when he was 84.
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