Welcome to the Pembina Walsh Historic Trail (PWHT). Earn and log a commemorative coin after finding five caches in each county! Fill out the PWHT Passport at https://rendezvousregion.com/download/passport.pdf and submit it to receive your coin(s)! Our caches are located at the most interesting historical sites in Pembina and Walsh County in northeast North Dakota. This trail includes a number of gadget caches designed by Trycacheus.
Norval Baptie was a world-famous speed skater – and later developer of the ice skating shows. He was born in Ontario but moved to Bathgate with his parents at the age of one. He learned to skate on the Tongue River as a kid. He would “race” the Great Northern trains when they came through town! He was the fastest man in the world on skates for many years – and he could skate faster backward than most people could forward. He also held (might still hold – need to check sources) the record for barrel jumping. In later years, he teamed up with a lady skater and they eventually married. He would return to Bathgate each summer in his younger days and do painting and carpenter work. Before he died, he lost his legs to diabetes but still coached skaters from his wheel chair. He died on the east coast.
He died in 1966 and a monument to him was erected on the grounds of the School for the Blind – which is now privately owned, and his stone has been moved to the city park near the fire hall in Bathgate. He is not buried in Bathgate – his ashes were scattered by airplane over the city.
T=Terain - 1.5; D=Difficulty - 1.5; S=Size -Small; ATTRIBUTES ARE NOT WINTER FRIENDLY.