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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 1, 2006 For Vaughan, the adventure came first By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune The Los Angeles Times reports that Norman Vaughan died of natural causes on Dec. 23 just four days past his 100th birthday. Horse feathers. The Norman Vaughan I met would never have accepted dying of natural causes. The lifelong adventurer likely concluded he had explored this life to its fullest. I suspect he willed himself to check out what waits beyond the veil. Advertisement The last surviving member of the 1928-30 Admiral Richard Byrd expedition was just a month shy of 80 when I first met him in Alaska in late November 1984. At the time, he was training to run the 1985 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome, a distance of 1,100-plus miles. It was no big deal to him: He completed the grueling race six times after turning 70. But, as a still- green reporter, I wrongly figured age was the issue. With all the finesse of a pig on roller-skates, I blundered in with the suggestion he was getting a bit long of tooth for such an excursion. Fortunately, Vaughan, robust even as an octogenarian, had a keen sense of humor. "I’ve had all kinds of surgeons and doctors and nurses try to cure me and I’m getting worse," he said with a hearty laugh. With so many corporate executives, politicians and journalists acting badly in 2005, I figured we ought to end the year by focusing on someone who made an interesting difference. Vaughan definitely made life interesting for those he met along the way. I was fortunate to have met him on several other occasions, the last being when he unsuccessfully ran the Iditarod in 1986. After leaving Alaska, I continued to read about his exploits over the years. Consider his participation in the 1989 expedition to the Greenland ice cap in search of some World War II planes buried under the ice. He knew the site well, having rescued the crew members by dog sled after they crashed in 1942. He also retrieved a top-secret bombsight from one of the planes. Or his venture in summer 1993 into the Antarctic, where he planned to lead a journey by dogsled. The expedition was canceled after the plane crashed just short of a remote airstrip, killing four of the 20 dogs. The crew and remaining dogs were rescued. Finally, just as he was nudging 90, he climbed to the top of Mount Vaughan in the Antarctic on Dec. 14, 1994. Byrd had named the 10,300-foot-high mountain some 250 miles from the South Pole in his honor. But it was that first meeting that is frozen in my mind. It was at a cabin he shared with a fellow musher called "Mountain Bill" on Sheep Creek. Mount Denali loomed in the distance. The mercury was hovering around 20 below zero outside. Inside, a pot of spiced tea was steaming on the woodstove. And Colonel Vaughan — he had retired as a colonel from the Air Force — was in fine form. " . . . The adventure — that’s number one," he stressed. Vaughan had moved to Alaska about a decade before I met him. He survived by shoveling snow and washing dishes at first, then became a theater manager. Although Vaughan continued to travel the globe, the Far North offered enough adventure to keep him interested. He talked about his native Salem, Mass., about attending the very private Milton Academy, followed by Harvard. But he never quite achieved an Ivy League degree: He left Harvard in his third year after convincing Byrd that he would be a dog-driving asset on the expedition. Vaughan wasn’t quite the experienced dog handler he had led Byrd to believe. In fact, he would spend that winter learning how to handle sled dogs in New England before heading to the Antarctic. To paraphrase Robert Service, he considered a promise made a debt unpaid. He became Byrd’s top sled dog driver, mushing across 1,000 miles of ice to collect geological and other scientific data. He had planned a last adventure — summiting Mount Vaughan on his 100th birthday. The lifelong teetotaler intended to sip champagne at the top to celebrate. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to raise enough funding for his final adventure. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at For Vaughan, the adventure came first ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Online Casino Fundraisers Advertisement s