Books by Helen Thayer

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Charlie - The Hero by my Side

Helen's photos throughout

Charlie came into Helen Thayer’s life when she set out to ski alone to the Magnetic North Pole. Helen was a 50-year-old explorer with a dangerous trek in mind. Charlie was a nameless Inuit sled dog who deserved a name and a better life. Helen Thayer gave him both. Together they traveled 364 miles to circumnavigate the Magnetic North Pole region. Charlie’s loyalty and courage never wavered as they crossed unstable dangerous Arctic sea ice, endured violent storms, and defended against polar bears who can hunt humans for food. Seven times Charlie confronted hungry bears, each time ready to give his own life to protect his companion. Helen contributes her survival on this arduous journey to the Pole to Charlie.
Later, Charlie joined Helen and her husband Bill to spend a year above the Arctic Circle to study three wild wolf packs. Being part wolf, Charlie proved to be an essential team member and was accepted as a trusted friend by the wolves. This led to acceptance and close interaction between the wolves and their human observers.
Charlie, once a nameless sled dog, earned a lifetime of love and devotion from his human companions, and secured a place in canine adventure history.

Available in two versions

Trade paperback - 6x9 black/white photos - $29

Collector Edition - 8.5x11 color photos - $55

Praise for Charlie - The Hero by my Side

USA Today
While her feat was a first, Thayer is prouder of the fact that the expedition was cheap and efficient; that it had near-zero environmental impact; and that it was worth something to somebody else.

The Oregonian
Polar Dream: The First Solo Expedition by a Woman and Her Dog to the Magnetic North Pole. Second Edition NewSage Press I was hooked on this book within the first few pages. I cheered for Charlie the dog when he warned the author of polar bear attacks, and held my breath when Charlie actually ran across the ice in pursuit of one. Thayer and Charlie face the elements as a true team. This book is a heart stopping adventure tale, an informative narrative of the world of the frozen north and a dog-human love story, all in one great package.

Publishers Weekly
A 50 year old New Zealand woman set out from Resolute Bay, Canada and became the first woman to walk alone, pulling her own sled full of supplies to the magnetic North Pole without dog teams, snowmobiles or other humans. A black Inuit husky dog she named Charlie walked at her side as protection against polar bears. He saved her life against at least one attack. It was a grueling journey: woman and dog confronted polar bears, barely escaped drowning, and survived violent storms. This is an exciting story of human endurance and of a remarkable dog.

La Joie -- Summer 2003
Thayer's life as an adventurer, mountain climber, and explorer immediately appealed to me. In 2001 at age 63 she trekked with her husband across the entire Mongolian Gobi Desert, 1,450 miles. She undertook 1,200 miles of kayaking through the Amazon, a 2,400 mile trek across the Sahara Desert and to celebrate her 60th birthday she trekked solo 400 miles in Antarctica. But it is the magnetic North Pole expedition, walking and skiing for 27 days, pulling a 160 pound sled for 364 miles with Charlie that gave me the greatest insight into a woman of unbeatable courage and stamina, despite encounters with often viscous polar bears, violent weather, and her loneliness and fear bordering too often on terror.
On day eleven she writes: "Charlie walked slightly in front of me, a position he automatically took when a bear was close. When he began a slow quiet growl I wondered with growing fear if the bear had stopped again. Ice cubes were sitting in the pit of my stomach and my heart was pounding. If I continued forward I might be ambushed and I couldn't depend on waiting her out. Bears are very patient animals. I needed a new plan."
In one of many passages that show the deep devotion Thayer and Charlie have for each other, she writes: "I went back to Charlie and sat on his sled. He leaned on me, laying his big black head on my knee. I stroked his silky black ears and talked to him about my thoughts and plans for the days ahead. After a few minutes I heard the gentlest of snores. Charlie had fallen asleep on my lap." In the epilogue, the author remarks, "To this day I am grateful for the close bond that developed so quickly and so permanently between Charlie and me. This had an impact on my life as much as the expedition itself. As we traveled day after day to the Pole I learned that humans have a lot to learn from our canine friends--unconditional trust, love, and a friendship that never ceases."
Included in the text are 30 outstanding photographs taken by the author during her expedition. Altogether, Polar Dream presents not only adventure of the finest kind, but in Helen Thayer, the best of humanity, qualities unsurpassed and definitely to be aspired to. Polar Dream is a gift to give yourself and everyone you know.

Outside Magazine
As she recounts in Polar Dream , at the age of 50, five feet two inch Helen Thayer skied alone with an Inuit husky she named Charlie to the magnetic North Pole to become the first woman to do so. Drawing on her experience among the fjords, crags and glaciers of New Zealand, and her experience as a mountain guide and ski racer she skied and walked for 365 miles having braved polar bears, ice floes, and violent storms. "This was a journey of credits and debits," she noted in her journal early on. "Every time I slipped into the debit column, I had to pull myself over into the credit column without delay." Her eloquent account of the trip is a pleasure to read.

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Polar Dream: The First Solo Expedition by a Woman and Her Dog to the Magnetic North Pole

National Best Seller Forward by Sir Edmund Hillary

At the age of 50, Helen Thayer was the first woman in the world to travel alone to any of the world's Poles when she skied to the Magnetic North Pole without the aid of a dog team or snowmobile in one of the world's most remote and dangerous regions. Her only companion was Charlie, her loyal husky, who was integral to her survival. Polar Dream is the story of their heroic trek and extraordinary relationship as they faced polar bears, unimaginable cold, and a storm that destroyed most of their supplies and food. A new epilogue, maps, and many previously unpublished expedition photographs are new to this second edition. Published by New Sage Press.
US$25 Paperback

"A page-turner.... Fully captures the drama of what was a remarkable achievement."
— The Washington Times

$25

Praise for Polar Dream...

USA Today
While her feat was a first, Thayer is prouder of the fact that the expedition was cheap and efficient; that it had near-zero environmental impact; and that it was worth something to somebody else.

The Oregonian
Polar Dream: The First Solo Expedition by a Woman and Her Dog to the Magnetic North Pole. Second Edition NewSage Press I was hooked on this book within the first few pages. I cheered for Charlie the dog when he warned the author of polar bear attacks, and held my breath when Charlie actually ran across the ice in pursuit of one. Thayer and Charlie face the elements as a true team. This book is a heart stopping adventure tale, an informative narrative of the world of the frozen north and a dog-human love story, all in one great package.

Publishers Weekly
A 50 year old New Zealand woman set out from Resolute Bay, Canada and became the first woman to walk alone, pulling her own sled full of supplies to the magnetic North Pole without dog teams, snowmobiles or other humans. A black Inuit husky dog she named Charlie walked at her side as protection against polar bears. He saved her life against at least one attack. It was a grueling journey: woman and dog confronted polar bears, barely escaped drowning, and survived violent storms. This is an exciting story of human endurance and of a remarkable dog.

La Joie -- Summer 2003
Thayer's life as an adventurer, mountain climber, and explorer immediately appealed to me. In 2001 at age 63 she trekked with her husband across the entire Mongolian Gobi Desert, 1,450 miles. She undertook 1,200 miles of kayaking through the Amazon, a 2,400 mile trek across the Sahara Desert and to celebrate her 60th birthday she trekked solo 400 miles in Antarctica. But it is the magnetic North Pole expedition, walking and skiing for 27 days, pulling a 160 pound sled for 364 miles with Charlie that gave me the greatest insight into a woman of unbeatable courage and stamina, despite encounters with often viscous polar bears, violent weather, and her loneliness and fear bordering too often on terror.
On day eleven she writes: "Charlie walked slightly in front of me, a position he automatically took when a bear was close. When he began a slow quiet growl I wondered with growing fear if the bear had stopped again. Ice cubes were sitting in the pit of my stomach and my heart was pounding. If I continued forward I might be ambushed and I couldn't depend on waiting her out. Bears are very patient animals. I needed a new plan."
In one of many passages that show the deep devotion Thayer and Charlie have for each other, she writes: "I went back to Charlie and sat on his sled. He leaned on me, laying his big black head on my knee. I stroked his silky black ears and talked to him about my thoughts and plans for the days ahead. After a few minutes I heard the gentlest of snores. Charlie had fallen asleep on my lap." In the epilogue, the author remarks, "To this day I am grateful for the close bond that developed so quickly and so permanently between Charlie and me. This had an impact on my life as much as the expedition itself. As we traveled day after day to the Pole I learned that humans have a lot to learn from our canine friends--unconditional trust, love, and a friendship that never ceases."
Included in the text are 30 outstanding photographs taken by the author during her expedition. Altogether, Polar Dream presents not only adventure of the finest kind, but in Helen Thayer, the best of humanity, qualities unsurpassed and definitely to be aspired to. Polar Dream is a gift to give yourself and everyone you know.

Outside Magazine
As she recounts in Polar Dream , at the age of 50, five feet two inch Helen Thayer skied alone with an Inuit husky she named Charlie to the magnetic North Pole to become the first woman to do so. Drawing on her experience among the fjords, crags and glaciers of New Zealand, and her experience as a mountain guide and ski racer she skied and walked for 365 miles having braved polar bears, ice floes, and violent storms. "This was a journey of credits and debits," she noted in her journal early on. "Every time I slipped into the debit column, I had to pull myself over into the credit column without delay." Her eloquent account of the trip is a pleasure to read.

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Three Among the Wolves: A year of Friendship with Wolves in the Wild

Finalist at the Banff National Book Festival 2005.

Helen Thayer and her husband Bill, hiked above the Arctic Circle in the Canadian Yukon Territory to live for six months one hundred feet from a wolf den to observe and document their daily lives. They returned in the winter months to interact with and document the lives of wolves and polar bears on the frozen polar sea and the vast Mackenzie Delta in Canada's frozen north.
This book is both a natural history of wolves and adventure tale. Far from being the vicious killers of popular imagining, the Thayer's found that wolves form loving family bonds in a world that offers them neither safety nor understanding. Published by Sasquatch Books.
US$25 Paperback

"Thayer has the spirit of adventure that matches any of her predecessors. And all that is evident in this lively book. She is recognized by those that know her as one of the most important living explorers."
-- Statesman Journal

$25

Praise for Three Among the Wolves.

USA Today
While her feat was a first, Thayer is prouder of the fact that the expedition was cheap and efficient; that it had near-zero environmental impact; and that it was worth something to somebody else.

The Oregonian
Polar Dream: The First Solo Expedition by a Woman and Her Dog to the Magnetic North Pole. Second Edition NewSage Press I was hooked on this book within the first few pages. I cheered for Charlie the dog when he warned the author of polar bear attacks, and held my breath when Charlie actually ran across the ice in pursuit of one. Thayer and Charlie face the elements as a true team. This book is a heart stopping adventure tale, an informative narrative of the world of the frozen north and a dog-human love story, all in one great package.

Publishers Weekly
A 50 year old New Zealand woman set out from Resolute Bay, Canada and became the first woman to walk alone, pulling her own sled full of supplies to the magnetic North Pole without dog teams, snowmobiles or other humans. A black Inuit husky dog she named Charlie walked at her side as protection against polar bears. He saved her life against at least one attack. It was a grueling journey: woman and dog confronted polar bears, barely escaped drowning, and survived violent storms. This is an exciting story of human endurance and of a remarkable dog.

La Joie -- Summer 2003
Thayer's life as an adventurer, mountain climber, and explorer immediately appealed to me. In 2001 at age 63 she trekked with her husband across the entire Mongolian Gobi Desert, 1,450 miles. She undertook 1,200 miles of kayaking through the Amazon, a 2,400 mile trek across the Sahara Desert and to celebrate her 60th birthday she trekked solo 400 miles in Antarctica. But it is the magnetic North Pole expedition, walking and skiing for 27 days, pulling a 160 pound sled for 364 miles with Charlie that gave me the greatest insight into a woman of unbeatable courage and stamina, despite encounters with often viscous polar bears, violent weather, and her loneliness and fear bordering too often on terror.
On day eleven she writes: "Charlie walked slightly in front of me, a position he automatically took when a bear was close. When he began a slow quiet growl I wondered with growing fear if the bear had stopped again. Ice cubes were sitting in the pit of my stomach and my heart was pounding. If I continued forward I might be ambushed and I couldn't depend on waiting her out. Bears are very patient animals. I needed a new plan."
In one of many passages that show the deep devotion Thayer and Charlie have for each other, she writes: "I went back to Charlie and sat on his sled. He leaned on me, laying his big black head on my knee. I stroked his silky black ears and talked to him about my thoughts and plans for the days ahead. After a few minutes I heard the gentlest of snores. Charlie had fallen asleep on my lap." In the epilogue, the author remarks, "To this day I am grateful for the close bond that developed so quickly and so permanently between Charlie and me. This had an impact on my life as much as the expedition itself. As we traveled day after day to the Pole I learned that humans have a lot to learn from our canine friends--unconditional trust, love, and a friendship that never ceases."
Included in the text are 30 outstanding photographs taken by the author during her expedition. Altogether, Polar Dream presents not only adventure of the finest kind, but in Helen Thayer, the best of humanity, qualities unsurpassed and definitely to be aspired to. Polar Dream is a gift to give yourself and everyone you know.

Outside Magazine
As she recounts in Polar Dream , at the age of 50, five feet two inch Helen Thayer skied alone with an Inuit husky she named Charlie to the magnetic North Pole to become the first woman to do so. Drawing on her experience among the fjords, crags and glaciers of New Zealand, and her experience as a mountain guide and ski racer she skied and walked for 365 miles having braved polar bears, ice floes, and violent storms. "This was a journey of credits and debits," she noted in her journal early on. "Every time I slipped into the debit column, I had to pull myself over into the credit column without delay." Her eloquent account of the trip is a pleasure to read.

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Note: older edition may be ordered on line from Amazon or Barnes&Noble - Links below

Walking the Gobi: A 1600-Mile Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair

Helen Thayer and Bill Thayer, a two person husband and wife team, became the first man and woman to walk the entire length of 1,600 miles, west to east of the Mongolian Gobi Desert. Violent sand storms swept across the desert creating a wall of choking, black dust and yellow sand that blocked out the sun, stopping all in their path. For seven life threatening days the two were down to quarter rations while they desperately searched for water in heat up to 126 degrees. At one point they were arrested and interrogated by border guards; scorpions were their daily companions.
This is a story of courage, perseverance and the ability to rise above adversity. It is also a story of the Thayers' close interaction with the Gobi Desert Nomads who still live the centuries old lifestyle of their ancestors. The Thayers shared family gers, ate Nomad food and helped herd animals. They milked camels, goats and horses and learned first hand desert shamanism medicine.
Helen says, "I first heard of the Gobi as a 13 year old growing up in New Zealand. Then the Gobi was as far away as the moon; now at 63 the dream has come full circle." Published by The Mountaineers Books
US$25 Paperback

$25

Praise for Walking the Gobi

USA Today
While her feat was a first, Thayer is prouder of the fact that the expedition was cheap and efficient; that it had near-zero environmental impact; and that it was worth something to somebody else.

The Oregonian
Polar Dream: The First Solo Expedition by a Woman and Her Dog to the Magnetic North Pole. Second Edition NewSage Press I was hooked on this book within the first few pages. I cheered for Charlie the dog when he warned the author of polar bear attacks, and held my breath when Charlie actually ran across the ice in pursuit of one. Thayer and Charlie face the elements as a true team. This book is a heart stopping adventure tale, an informative narrative of the world of the frozen north and a dog-human love story, all in one great package.

Publishers Weekly
A 50 year old New Zealand woman set out from Resolute Bay, Canada and became the first woman to walk alone, pulling her own sled full of supplies to the magnetic North Pole without dog teams, snowmobiles or other humans. A black Inuit husky dog she named Charlie walked at her side as protection against polar bears. He saved her life against at least one attack. It was a grueling journey: woman and dog confronted polar bears, barely escaped drowning, and survived violent storms. This is an exciting story of human endurance and of a remarkable dog.

La Joie -- Summer 2003
Thayer's life as an adventurer, mountain climber, and explorer immediately appealed to me. In 2001 at age 63 she trekked with her husband across the entire Mongolian Gobi Desert, 1,450 miles. She undertook 1,200 miles of kayaking through the Amazon, a 2,400 mile trek across the Sahara Desert and to celebrate her 60th birthday she trekked solo 400 miles in Antarctica. But it is the magnetic North Pole expedition, walking and skiing for 27 days, pulling a 160 pound sled for 364 miles with Charlie that gave me the greatest insight into a woman of unbeatable courage and stamina, despite encounters with often viscous polar bears, violent weather, and her loneliness and fear bordering too often on terror.
On day eleven she writes: "Charlie walked slightly in front of me, a position he automatically took when a bear was close. When he began a slow quiet growl I wondered with growing fear if the bear had stopped again. Ice cubes were sitting in the pit of my stomach and my heart was pounding. If I continued forward I might be ambushed and I couldn't depend on waiting her out. Bears are very patient animals. I needed a new plan."
In one of many passages that show the deep devotion Thayer and Charlie have for each other, she writes: "I went back to Charlie and sat on his sled. He leaned on me, laying his big black head on my knee. I stroked his silky black ears and talked to him about my thoughts and plans for the days ahead. After a few minutes I heard the gentlest of snores. Charlie had fallen asleep on my lap." In the epilogue, the author remarks, "To this day I am grateful for the close bond that developed so quickly and so permanently between Charlie and me. This had an impact on my life as much as the expedition itself. As we traveled day after day to the Pole I learned that humans have a lot to learn from our canine friends--unconditional trust, love, and a friendship that never ceases."
Included in the text are 30 outstanding photographs taken by the author during her expedition. Altogether, Polar Dream presents not only adventure of the finest kind, but in Helen Thayer, the best of humanity, qualities unsurpassed and definitely to be aspired to. Polar Dream is a gift to give yourself and everyone you know.

Outside Magazine
As she recounts in Polar Dream , at the age of 50, five feet two inch Helen Thayer skied alone with an Inuit husky she named Charlie to the magnetic North Pole to become the first woman to do so. Drawing on her experience among the fjords, crags and glaciers of New Zealand, and her experience as a mountain guide and ski racer she skied and walked for 365 miles having braved polar bears, ice floes, and violent storms. "This was a journey of credits and debits," she noted in her journal early on. "Every time I slipped into the debit column, I had to pull myself over into the credit column without delay." Her eloquent account of the trip is a pleasure to read.

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