🌏 Walking Slowly Into Yourself
Women building in the wilderness. A polar elder heading back to the ice. Eight hundred kilometres of island waiting to be walked. Three stories, one thread.
Join us live: Women in the trades
Women's History Month is almost over -- but we're not done yet. On March 31 we close out the month the right way: with a conversation about women who pick up hammers, chisels, and drawknives and build things that last.
Jenna Pollard is a professional timber framer, farmer, educator, and community builder. Women make up fewer than five percent of carpenters in the United States. Jenna has spent her career changing that statistic one joint at a time -- teaching women the ancient craft of timber framing, building cabins and structures from the ground up in the wilderness of northern Minnesota at the Steger Wilderness Center.
I met Jenna there during an advanced timber framing course -- one of those experiences that stays with you. Together, we built the trusses for the Shackleton's Hut replica being constructed at the Will Steger Center. There is something profound about that: women's hands shaping the skeleton of a building named for one of exploration history's most celebrated stories of endurance. It felt like exactly the right place to meet exactly the right person.
"We need women who are the professionals, who are the experts, who are then passing on that knowledge to other women. That's where I see this going."
-- Jenna Pollard | Source: Patagonia, 'Tough by Nature' (patagonia.com/stories/tough-by-nature)
Tuesday, March 31, 2026 | 2:00 PM EST / 11:00 AM PST LIVE EVENT --
FREE TO JOIN ON YOUTUBE Jenna Pollard on Pioneers of the Possible
Wrapping up Women's History Month with a focus on women in the trades -- timber framing, craft, courage, and building something that endures.
JOIN US LIVE ON YOUTUBE : youtube.com/watch?v=xkLutPH0RJE
Watch Jenna in the Patagonia film 'Reframed: Built by Women': youtube.com/watch?v=xkLutPH0RJE
Steger heads back to the ice
There are very few people in my life who truly walk the talk. Will Steger is one of them.
As I write this, Will is just days away from setting off on another unsupported solo expedition to the northernmost reaches of Canada. He is 81 years old. He has crossed Antarctica by dogsled. He has reached the North Pole. He has crossed the Arctic Ocean. And now, in 2026 -- the 40th anniversary of that first North Pole expedition - he is going back. Alone. Slowly. On purpose.
What strikes me most is not the physical feat. It is the intention behind it. Will is not doing this with a GoPro strapped to his forehead and a social media strategy. He is doing this the way explorers did it before the internet existed -- because the journey itself is the point. Because the wilderness is the teacher. Because silence is not something to be filled.
"You cannot do this without a quiet mind and that's what the wilderness is about."
-- Will Steger | Source: KARE 11
He will file daily audio dispatches by satellite phone. You can follow his exact location on a live map at the Steger Center. There is something almost countercultural about that combination -- minimal technology in service of real connection, rather than the other way around. You won't get a highlight reel. You will get the honest story of a man crossing thin ice one mile at a time.
This is not something that happened. This is something that is happening now. He is a teacher. He is an elder. He is one of the last living explorers of his kind. Do not miss this.
EXPEDITION DETAILS
Will Steger -- Unsupported Solo Arctic Expedition
Departure: March 31, 2026
Destination: Northernmost Canada, Arctic Circle
Daily updates: Audio dispatches by satellite phone + live GPS tracking
Follow live: stegercenter.org
Steger Centre, Ely Minnesota
On the shoulders of those who showed up
I have been thinking a lot about Jane Goodall since she passed away in October 2025. She spent over six decades showing up - not just talking about what matters, but actually going there. Sitting quietly in forests. Watching. Listening. She understood, perhaps better than anyone of her generation, that you cannot protect a place you have never truly entered. She was still getting on planes nearly 300 days a year right to the end. That is the standard she set. And it is the standard I want this next chapter of my work measured against.
I think about her as I think about home -- about Vancouver Island, about what is here, about what is worth the walk.
There are so many ways to do “something”, “anything”, just start somewhere. We are all needed.
I think about her as I think about home — about Vancouver Island, about what is here, about what is worth the walk. What deserves to be protected, revered and shared. Its alot…and its right here in my backyard.
Announcing: The Vancouver Island Trail Expedition
August 2027 - Oct 2027…JOIN US! for an hour (just for you KS) /a day/a week
At the end of August 2027 I will step onto a trail at Cape Scott and not stop ( I hope) until I reach the other end of Vancouver Island at Victoria, Vancouver Island British Columbia, Canada. Approximately 800 kilometres. 500 miles. Late August through early October, tip to tip.
This is not a solo performance. I will be co-leading a small, dedicated team -- connecting every community, ecosystem, watershed, and story along the length of this island. Every section of the trail will be linked. Every voice along the route will have a chance to be heard.
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Embrace the Planet Project presents: The Vancouver Island Trail Expedition -- Footsteps for Hope Late August -- Early October 2027 | ~800 km / 500 mi
Led by Sunniva Sorby and a small dedicated team. Fully filmed and shared across social media for North American audiences & Schools
Jane Goodall Institute connection -- more details coming soon.
What the expedition holds
This trail will carry a lot more than our boots. Here is what we are building into it.
School engagement
Students from kindergarten to high school along the route will be invited into the journey in real time. Classroom connections, live check-ins from the trail, curriculum-linked activities around biodiversity and conservation, and intergenerational storytelling sessions with local Elders and knowledge holders. The expedition will be designed to meet students where they are -- not just as an inspiration, but as a platform for their own voices and questions.
Indigenous collaboration
Vancouver Island sits on the unceded territories of dozens of First Nations communities. From the southern tip to the northern cape, we will walk through their territories with intention. Indigenous collaboration is central to this expedition -- not as a footnote, but as a foundation. We are building relationships with First Nations communities along the route to honour their knowledge of the land, share their stories with North American audiences, and ensure the expedition reflects the full, living culture of this island.
Storytelling
Every kilometre of this island has a story attached to it: a species that nearly disappeared and came back, a watershed restored, a community that chose to fight for its forest. The expedition will surface those stories -- through film, audio, written dispatches, and social media -- and connect them into a single narrative that runs the full length of the island. It will all be captured on film and shared across social platforms for our North American audiences throughout the walk.
Land and ocean citizen science
The trail runs from old-growth forests to coastal inlets to exposed ocean headlands. We will be collecting data throughout -- contributing to land-based and ocean-based citizen science projects in collaboration with researchers, monitoring organizations, and institutions including Ocean Networks Canada. Species observations, water quality data, shoreline health assessments -- every day of walking becomes a transect. Every camp becomes a field station.
THE THREAD CONNECTING ALL OF IT
Will Steger crossing the Arctic -- one mile at a time, no audience required.
Jenna Pollard placing a chisel and mallet in a woman's hands for the first time.
Jane Goodall, who showed up all the time for everything she loved. And She loved everything.
Eight hundred kilometres of island, walked in purpose and on purpose with the communities who call it home.
The earth does not need heroes. She needs caretakers. Witnesses. People willing to pay attention.
I’m in! you?
Hugs, Sunniva xx
