How Far to the South Pole?

That's not a question I normally think about.  It just came to me the other day when I saw this 24-hour photo of star trails taken directly overhead from the South Pole.  Thinking about it sort of blew my mind.  I experience that phenomenon rather frequently, hence my reason for naming this blog "Mind Wide Open."

With Sacramento at latitude 38.52° north and the South Pole at 90° south, these two earth locations are approximately 128.5 degrees apart.  Since a degree of latitude is roughly 69.2 miles, the South Pole is almost 9000 miles away from where I live.

But, of course, there is 9000 miles and there is 9000 miles!  You know what I mean.  It all depends upon where you are going and how difficult it is to get there.   Sacramento to Los Angeles is slightly under 400 miles, a very long day's drive in a car.  On a plane you can fly down in the morning, attend a business meeting, and fly home in time for a late dinner.

The 1700-1800 miles between Kansas City and Sacramento can be covered by several days of intense driving or by a few hours in a plane.  How can we even compare this to the life-changing, and for many, life-ending, journey it took for the pioneer families to come in their covered wagons?

I just finished reading Polar Wives, a recent book by Kari Herbert.  She writes about the early attempts to explore the unknown world of the north and south poles, basically in the decades on either side of 1900.  Her viewpoint, though, centers on the wives.  Yes, they spent years left behind wondering and worrying, usually with no reliable communication.  But, in many instances, they were enthusiastic partners, integral to the whole work of procuring funds to outfit the expeditions, and sometimes persuading governments to rescue their stranded husbands and crew.

How far was the South Pole for those early European explorers?  It was years away.  After years spent obtaining funds, the ocean voyage was the least time-consuming part of their quest.  But the hard, often impossible, task was the overland trek with sleds, skis, dogs, ponies--and a way to provide the food needed for many months.  

The early 1900s saw a huge challenge in trying to be the first to reach the geographical South Pole, even though there would be nothing there, of course, but more snow.  Robert Scott had spent years preparing, and by 1910 he was ready, sure that he would win the honor for England.  Almost at the last minute, Norwegian Roald Amundsen decided that he, too, would undertake the quest to reach the South Pole from a different starting point on the Antarctic continent.  Things didn't go well for Scott along the way, but, with four chosen men, he finally reached the coveted spot on Jan. 17, 1912, only to find that Amundsen had planted the Norwegian flag there five weeks previously.  We have all heard the tragedy--that, on the attempted return to base camp, all five members of that final expedition died of exhaustion and starvation.  They were only eleven miles from a food cache, but the extreme weather kept them from reaching it.

How far away is the South Pole now?  Not nearly as far as it used to be.  In 1956 the United States built the Amundsen-Scott Station for scientific research, and it has been continually occupied ever since.

And, yes, you can go there! Here is some information on how to travel to the South Pole.
Modern flight makes it possible for almost anyone--of any age--to have this experience.  All that is necessary is that you can climb the few steps into and out of the airplane and can walk on some uneven ice.  Be a polar explorer!  Oh yes, you will also have to fit it into your budget--about $45,000.  Put it on your bucket list!  The South Pole isn't so far away, after all!