As a prelude to her later escapades, Thayer became the first American and woman to circumnavigate the magnetic North Pole at age 50.

Later, she lived among wolves in the Canadian Yukon Territory at 56, trekked 500 miles in Antarctica at age 60, walked 1,500 miles across the Gobi Desert at 63 and kayaked 1,200 miles on the Amazon River at 70.

In her upcoming presentation, devoted to inspiring tales of intrigue and beautiful photography, Thayer will detail her most recent 1,000-mile walk across Africa’s Sahara Desert, Atlas Mountains and Serengeti Plain. “My journeys are like life itself,” Thayer commented. “We all have our North Poles and our Gobi Deserts, but we can all reach our goals, just as I did.”

Global trekker Helen Thayer @ Utah Museum of Natural History, 1390 E. Presidents Circle, University of Utah, 801- 581-6927, Aug. 2, 7-8 p.m., free. UMNH. utah.edu