Funding made possible in part by Blind Institute of Technology.

Blind Institute of Technology supports companies that invest in people with disabilities.

Providing Salesforce employment training, staffing, services and accessibility consulting.

The talent is there.

More at blindit.org Funding also made possible in part by Choice Magazine Listening.

Choice Magazine Listening is a quarterly collection of magazine writing professionally recorded for the blind and print disabled, a nonprofit on the web at choicemagazinelistenening.org or 1-888-7CHOICE.

Funding for Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends made possible through Creative Saskatchewan's feature film and TV production grant.

Canadian film or video production tax credit Anthony J. Towstego Philip Doerksen, EWest International Distribution Film one.

RON: There's nothin' better than the great outdoors.

I'm a blind person that likes to get out.

I don't get stopped very easily.

I do what I can to work the way around the blindness.

I can participate just like anyone else.

Whether it's fishing, canoeing, cross-country skiing, backpacking all year round, I love it all.

People who are blind can do a lot more than they think.

The biggest thing is people hold themselves back.

Don't get in your own way.

My name is Ron Walsh.

I'm completely blind.

Get ready for Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and Friends.

RON: Having an adventure in the winter, in Saskatchewan, is trying.

We had freezing rain, and slush, and sleet.

It was brutal.

We weren't even sure if we were gonna be able to continue down the highway, but we drove slow and the road seemed to improve a little bit further on down the road, and uh, we made it.

So, let's let the adventure begin.

We got a crew here.

We got Doug Hooper.

I think we'll find a lot of interesting things and I find it quite fascinating with the wind, and the snow, and the cold.

RON: We got Ashlyn George.

Ron and his adventures are absolutely empowering people.

It is so incredible to see him coming out and not letting um, his lack of vision limit him from what he's capable of doing.

And it's such a pleasure and an honor to be able to adventure by his side.

RON: We got Gary Zacharias.

I have very, very little central vision left.

I'm mostly blind.

I just thought it would be uh, nice to come, do some hikin', and now I'm learnin' about tryin' to find a cabin that I didn't-- I wasn't sure about when we-- When I came, but I think just to get out of my comfort zone.

Today, we are down in the Reesor Ranch, Southern Saskatchewan, looking for a lost cabin.

Gabriel Dumont was involved uh, with the Battle of Batoche.

He came from there, down to here, and hid out, and they don't know exactly where he was for 11 days.

The theory is that he was hiding in his cousin's cabin, Henry Dumont, in Cypress Hills.

This is real cowboy country.

Cypress Hills is a completely unique place in the world.

The glaciers came through, and flattened a bunch of Saskatchewan and missed Cypress Hills.

So, this should be kinda interesting.

I'm pretty excited.

DOUG: Well let's go check out the barn house.

Okay.

Lodging.

ASHLYN: This is such an incredible heritage barn and it's got a nice, bright red roof.

I think it's a hip roof style barn.

RON: Right.

ASHLYN: And I can't believe we get to stay in here.

There's a farmhouse um, just on the other side of the yard.

And I think what's most beautiful is we're just kinda tucked in to the hills here, and it feels like a really private wonderful retreat.

Hello, Ron.

I'm Scott Reesor.

Oh, how do you do, sir?

-This is my wife Theresa.

-RON: How do you do?

-Pleased to meet you, Ron.

-RON: Hi, hi, hi.

We're really happy to have you here.

RON: Hi.

SCOTT: Jason will be doing your guiding.

THERESA: Our son Jason.

Thank you.

DOUG: What's your dog's name?

Cowboy.

RON: Cowboy.

(Laughing) SCOTT: And the lit-- and the little one is Charlie.

ASHLYN: Ron, your dog would fit right in.

They all match each other.

They're all black.

(Chuckle together) The barn is uh, made out of hand-hewen logs.

They were buildings that were elsewhere in the Cypress Hills, and they dismantled them, and then moved them in here.

First ranch in Saskatchewan actually to receive the uh, provincial heritage designation.

RON: Cool.

ASHLYN: And we get To Stay in it tonight?

-Yes, you do.

-That's great.

And we're stayin' in the barn?

-Yeah.

-Wow!

Wow!

Okay, well, come on over here, folks.

We'll uh, show you into the barn.

Alright!

Keep your head down, you tall people.

That uh, door was made for horses, not humans.

(Chuckles) So, come on in.

Watch your step.

There's a few of 'em, okay?

Yeah.

So, I'm looking forward tomorrow.

Are we goin' in and buy horseback?

Okay, so, I got a map here in front of us.

Um, I don't think we're gonna be able to make it in on horseback, so I'll kind of explain to you why here.

-Okay.

-Okay.

So, up at the-- the top of the map, we have historic Reesor Ranch.

To put the perspective of scale on this map for you, about an inch on this map is gonna be a mile.

Okay.

So, what we were originally hoping to do, I'll slide your hand probably about like 9 or 10 inches down here, and we are gonna get down to Fort Walsh.

Oh, little bit up here.

So, Fort Walsh is about down there and that's where we wanted to take the horses in.

RON: Yep.

And we wanted to take those horses in and about an inch further down the map, we're hoping to get to the cabin.

However, because the park has had so much snow recently, it's actually going to be pretty challenging for the horses, and I do not think it is actually going to be quite safe enough for them to do that.

Oh, that's too bad.

So, we do have an option with ATVs.

We're not allowed to take ATVs in the park and uh, but we can get you around a different route.

Sounds good.

I got lots of snowshoeing experience.

It sounds like fun to be on the snowshoes and it sounds like a plan that could work.

Well, I think tomorrow's going to be a good day.

Uh, it looked kinda bleak at the beginning conversation, but uh, I think uh, we're gonna be able to get in there tomorrow, but it might be a good idea to get everything ready tonight.

We gotta get our cold weather gear, get our snowshoes ready, and it'd be nice to get there bright and early, 'cause we might have a long day.

We're gonna hop in ATV hopefully tomorrow, bright and early, and uh, we're off.

Now, you've only seen cougars a couple times.

Do you see their tracks in the snow fairly frequently?

Yes, I've seen-- I-- I've seen lots of uh, cougar tracks and-- And uh, but cougars are a bit elusive.

Like you said, they'll be watchin' you and you won't have a clue that they're around.

-Yeah -Yeah.

Well, hopefully, we don't see any tomorrow.

Yeah.

There's a cougar in the living room there.

RON: Doug's first cougar sighting turns out to be the Reesors farm cat snuggled up by the fireplace.

Still soaking in the warmth of the fireplace.

It's not supposed to be inside.

(Laughs) ASHLYN: (Laughing) (Indistinct speech) -It's a cat?

-Yeah.

-Alright!

-It's a cougar.

-Right.

-(Laughs) RON: And we'll be right back with more Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends.

RON: Gabriel Dumont, when he left Canada, he headed for the States, and there he really made a name for himself ASHLYN: Finding our way to hide out in southern Saskatchewan is super interesting and exciting.

As we mentioned, as we researched further for this episode, we learned that Gabrielle Dumont had fled to the United States, where he actually toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, earning money and bringing attention to the Metis Cause before returning to Canada.

Gabriel and his wife fled to Montana, where he was arrested and held for a few days, but released on orders from American President Grover Cleveland.

Gabriel was recruited by Bill Cody, otherwise known as Buffalo Bill, for his Wild West show, and toured with the show for several months.

In July, 1886, the Canadian government announced an amnesty for Gabriel and the other insurgents.

The Metis are a distinct indigenous people in Canada.

Louis Riel was a visionary political and spiritual leader.

Gabriel Dumont was the pragmatic military strategist.

They were both central figures of the Metis resistance against the Canadian government in the late 19th century.

They were fighting for the preservation of their rights, land and culture.

Defeated at the battle of Batoche.

Riel was eventually imprisoned in Regina, where he was convicted at trial of high treason.

Despite protests, popular appeals, and the juries call for clemency, Riel was executed by hanging.

RON: Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends.

We woke up at daylight, in the rugged Cypress Hills, to smell of bacon and eggs, a hearty breakfast for a long day of adventure.

-RON: Mmhmm.

-DOUG: Looks good.

-Well, we'll have breakfast, and get everything packed up, and then we're off.

It's gonna be a journey to get in there And I'm not sure exactly what's gonna be in there when we get there, so it might take a lot of lookin'.

How did you come up with the idea for this adventure, Ron?

well, uh, it all started kinda in Batoche, uh, with the Battle of Batoche.

Uh, Gabriel Dumont left from there, down to here, and there was 11 days where he-- they don't know where he was.

So, the idea is we think he hid out at his cousin's place, Henry Dumont, which is that's the cabin we're gonna go look for.

So, that's where I kinda got the idea like where did he go.

And then find out about those 11 days of him being missing.

Then when I heard that, I thought, "Okay, let's go find where he was".

And then I hear about Henry's cabin, "And let's go take a look."

Yeah, I guess that was Canada's Civil War.

So, after the uh, he escaped, he made it down to the States and there they, I don't know, sorta pardoned him or didn't charge him, let them go, and after that he got a job with uh, Wild Bill Cody's uh, Wild West Show.

-Oh, did he?

-He was a trick shooter.

-Hmm.

And he was just I guess amazing shot.

He was like legendary shot.

And he also was with um, uh, Annie Oakley.

-Oh!

-Oh, yeah!

-Who was also in the show.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

-Oh, my God!

-(Overlapping speech) (Laugh together) Cool, okay?

we're off.

-JASON: Hello, everybody.

-Mornin'!

-Hello.

-Ron, I'm-- -Good morning.

-How you doin'?

-Good.

-Jason Reesor.

good morning.

I think we got everything ready to go.

We got our water, we got our gear.

-Okay.

-We're ready.

-Okay, let's go and load up.

-Okay, that sounds great.

-Alright.

-Ready?

-Got a hold of me?

-I do.

Got snowshoes just outside?

I'll grab your snowshoes, Ron.

RON: Awesome, thank you.

JASON: Okay, you guys got the snowshoes?

RON: I do.

-And we got our-- -It's slippery today.

Side-by-side right in front of us here.

I can get you into a point where you'll have to put on snowshoes and hike in on your own.

RON: This side-by-side has snowmobile tracks on each wheel.

It's enclosed, it seats six people, and this thing's got a ton of power.

this can be perfect for the National Federation for the Blind Driving Challenge, a movement to get people, blind and visually-impaired, all over the world the opportunity to actually drive.

Jason Reesor has agreed to give me some lessons on driving.

Doug Hooper, Ashlyn George and Gary Zacharias they've agreed to come along for the ride.

JASON: Yeah.

RON: Oh, we're going right from here.

Okay.

(Overlapping conversation) JASON: Oh, yeah.

Yeah, there's a valley bottom over to the right with a bunch of pine trees, and spruce trees, and the hills are quite unique here.

Like they're just big rounded cones.

And down off to the distance, like where the prairie goes out here, it's-- it's Montana out there.

-Oh, wow!

-ASHLYN: Yeah.

(Vehicle whirs) -RON: When do I get to drive?

-JASON: Right now.

Okay.

(Chuckles) JASON: Yeah, but safety first.

-(Ron chuckling) -(Indistinct speech) This is quite the unit's drive, too.

Okay.

DOUG: Stop driving people crazy.

(Ashlyn laughing) Yeah, I'll hop in beside you here and I'll give you the rundown.

-DOUG: Woo-hoo!

-ASHLYN: Yeah.

Yeah.

ASHLYN: Where are you gonna take us?

-DOUG: Seatbelt.

-RON: Seatbelt?

JASON: Yeah, get our seat belts on.

Oh, now the adventure begins.

(Chuckle together) JASON: So, we got a wide open plateau in front of us.

RON: Okay.

To the right, we do have a quite a drop here, so we're just gonna kinda go straight ahead.

Okay, no jumps or anything?

-JASON: No jumps.

So, yeah, just right in front of you, here is the key.

So, you're gonna have to put your foot on the brake.

RON: Oh, there?

JASON: Yeah, in the middle there.

So, you have a brake pedal and the gas.

-Okay.

-JASON: Okay, uh-- Brakes-- like gas, just like a ve-- regular vehicle.

Yeah, and I'm gona show you over here... RON: Bein' blind and drivin' a tracked vehicle isn't exactly the safest thing to do.

I don't want anybody just goin' out there, and driving anywhere, and thinkin', "I can do it!"

We were on private land, everything was safe.

It was uh, its-- it was really good.

JASON: So, I'm just gonna get my door shut here and-- So, I don't do the shifting or anything?

I just (Overlapping speech) JASON: No, it's just press the-- press the go button.

Okay.

JASON: You can give her lots of gas, because it's wide open.

(Laughing together) (Cheers) (Indistinct speech) (Laughter) (Indistinct conversation) JASON: Uh, we're actually above the plateau.

There is a cliff kind of to our front left now.

It was on our right when we started.

And to the right, there is bush cliff.

(Ron laughing) -Okay, I like a challenge.

-JASON: Yeah?

So, now we're coming back onto the trail, so we're gonna do a little bit of a right turn here.

Let's see if we can get you on the road.

Yeah?

And we got some obstacles comin' up in front of us, so we'll slow down a little bit.

Just the uh, we're coming back to where the plateau skinnies up and uh, with a bit of a drop off on both sides.

So, we will just take it nice and easy.

How far drop?

JASON: Uh, like I was saying about 100 feet down.

RON: Far enough, far enough.

JASON: Yeah, that's really good and straighten out.

And that's pretty good, Ron.

We're right at the trailhead again.

You can stop.

-DOUG: Alright.

-Alright.

JASON: Shake Hands RON: Thank you.

(Overlapping conversation) -JASON: You're pro.

-Alright.

(Laughs) JASON: You can give your helmet, I'll throw it back in.

That was good, Ron.

Yeah, nice.

Thank you.

That was-- that was great.

JASON: It was great bein' a passenger with you.

(Laugh together) So, we're snowshoein' from here?

JASON: We're just gettin' everybody else's snowshoes on.

DOUG: So, you're gonna lead us to the next spot now or what?

Sounds good.

(Laughs) We're goin' in this general direction here.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

(Laugh together) -Maybe.

Maybe.

-(Doug chuckling) Hey, Ron, I'm right beside you on your-- on your left here.

If you want to put your hand on my shoulder that's fine.

-RON: Okay.

-JASON: Yeah.

JASON: And lift your foot up again.

Here we go.

Actually, what are these snowshoes made out of?

So, they're plastic on the middles and then it's steel on the sides or aluminum I guess.

RON: Yeah.

And then it has plastic straps that your feet are in.

RON: Yeah.

Do you wanna bend down and feel them maybe?

RON: Yeah.

That's the straps and-- oh, there's the toe hole.

-JASON: Yeah.

-RON: For your toe to go in.

Oh, yeah!

Oh, these are amazing!

DOUG: Well, everyone, we're at the beginning of the trailhead here and we're all geared up, ready to go.

So, uh, basically what's gonna happen is the trail, there's rocks at the top, and then we're gonna start going down and-- And the-- the trail's gonna curve to the right and then we'll gonna start getting into the snow and I think it's gonna get deeper, so... There's lots of bush in there?

DOUG: Yeah, we're gonna be uh, bush on both sides.

I'll go first, uh, you two guys in the middle, and Ashlyn in the back.

Is that our plan?

I'm gonna-- it's gonna be you, Ron, Ashlyn, me.

-Okay.

Yeah.

-Yep.

Yep.

And I can follow the noise and the sounds and-- He'll be able to hear the sound of my-- -Sounds good.

-The sound-- so, she's okay.

-Are you ready?

-I'm ready.

-Well, let's go.

-Go.

(Laugh together) DOUG: Okay, well, we're still in the rocks right now.

It's pretty steep.

Careful, you don't slip.

Okay, I'm startin' to get into the snow right now.

RON: Okay, gettin' a little deeper?

DOUG: Yeah, and um, can you hear me well?

RON: Yes.

DOUG: There are some tracks here.

I don't know what they are.

-RON: Oh?

-DOUG: Yeah, stop.

DOUG: Hold it.

Let's see-- tryin' to see what these tracks are.

RON: Cougar tracks?

DOUG: I don't know.

They might be.

RON: And we'll be right back with more Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends.

RON: I am wearing a buffalo coat An original RCMP buffalo coat.

This jacket was from the 30s.

It was built, made in Prince Albert.

And it was, Ex-RCMP jacket.

And I am thrilled to be wearing a real buffalo coat.

Finding the cabin is going to be daunting.

we don't really know where it is.

We've got some idea where it is, but the amount of snow in there and hills and and who knows, could be overgrown.

I sure hope we find it.

But, you know, I'm not gonna be disappointed if we don't, but we're definitely going to try very, very hard.

We will find it.

But if we don't, it's all part of the adventure as well.

The only way I'm able to do these adventures is having good people around me.

I need complement capable people that will go out and give us a chance.

People that are blind can do a lot more than they think.

biggest thing is people hold themselves back.

Don't get in your own way.

You can do it.

RON: Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends.

Still headin' down.

Makin' good progress, yeah.

Everything's smooth.

And so, this is actually where we are right now.

So, we're probably maybe a quarter of the way down and we're actually quite enclosed.

There's, I don't know, probably 60-foot spruce trees around us and they're both on the left and the right.

Um, there's some pine trees as well and we're actually quite enclosed.

It's really lovely.

RON: These snow shoes are just not a problem at all.

They uh, they're very comfortable.

DOUG: Yeah?

RON: I've never used them before.

DOUG: Yeah, mine are fine, too.

RON: I use the old school ones.

DOUG: Yeah, those big round wooden ones.

RON: Yeah.

DOUG: Well, it's kinda opening here.

It's open, but then the bush is not very far.

100-- 100 yards back, it's all bush.

And so, we're gonna hike down and there's a bit of a trail we're gonna pick up, and then head left into more trees, and kind of around, and we are hoping the cabin is not to far.

DOUG: So, there's a bit of a pine tree bough.

They're not huge trees, but we are gonna have to go overtop of them.

-I'm gonna go over top right now -I'm gonna step over.

Okay.

(Overlapping speech) Okay, Ron, here give me your uh, pole.

Do you want me to step it down a bit?

DOUG: There you go.

ASHLYN: Um, so there is probably three branches.

Do you want me to step over and then grab your pole?

Why don't you step over and I'll follow you.

-Kinda what you're doing.

-Okay, okay So, I'm lifting my leg, taking probably a step that's two to three feet wider and then... DOUG: There you go.

Yep, that's the other side of it, so you can step over there.

DOUG: You're good now.

-RON: Yeah.

-I can step right on it?

Oh, that was perfect.

Easier than a cross country ski.

-Oh, gosh, yeah.

-The way I did it.

-(Both laugh) -You nailed it.

DOUG: We're kinda headin' up a hill here.

ASHLYN: Doin'-- are we-- do we know where we're going?

-DOUG: No, we don't.

-ASHLYN: Okay.

DOUG: I just want to go to the top of this hill and take a look and see what's over the other side.

RON: We approached a huge sprawling valley.

We ran into some real thick bush on the trail.

This was just impassable.

At that point, you just had to find a different way around.

DOUG: We can go back down there, and then sort of curve around, and then maybe we'll see it down there.

That's a good idea.

Yeah.

Alright, we're gonna kind of go back a little bit.

We're gonna go back down and then to the left a bit.

-RON: Okay.

-GARY: To the left?

Oh, okay.

DOUG: To the left.

ASHLYN: Yeah, just kind of curve around... RON: It's a little eerie being out in the wilderness surrounded by cougar tracks, riding through the highest population of cougars in the world.

There's one cougar for every 4.6 square miles.

Hopefully, these tracks lead to Henry Dumont's cabin.

we're comin' out into this clearing here.

Yeah, so, there's all these trees and then it goes back up into a hill, and-- Doug, oh, man!

Doug, what's behind the-- Do you see that behind the trees there?

Oh, yeah!

At about-- our 10 o'clock.

Really?

Yeah, I think-- I think that's the cabin.

what is it?

(Laughs) I was pretty excited when we came around the corner.

It was this epic reveal where you come around the bush, and you look to your left, and there's the cabin.

We didn't know how easy it would be to find in the snow, and I mean you turned the corner, and it was right there, and it-- It felt like a pretty great accomplishment.

There's no roof on it.

There's what?

Maybe six, seven, eight beams going up.

RON: Oh, let's go over there.

Wow.

How far away?

-DOUG: Alright.

-Uh, yeah, I think-- Well, let's head over there then.

-We're probably 100-- 100 meters.

-Oh, wow!

-Yeah, it's not that far.

(Laughs) I feel like that was such an epic way to come out of the forest.

-DOUG: Yeah, really.

-Or is it a meadow?

RON: Wow!

Wow!

Wow!

We're gonna go check this cabin out to see where Henry lived.

This is like we're goin' into his yard.

It's in the middle of nowhere.

It's not uh, like in a museum where you're behind the velvet rope, so yeah, this should be pretty exciting.

It's a perfect day to do this kind of snowshoeing to find what we want.

DOUG: Yeah.

I thought it was a super experience.

I thought it was phenomenal that we'd find this old cabin you know, not a lot of people seem to know about.

And gettin' on snowshoes to get down all these hills and around the valleys is I think uh, spectacular, and just to find it, and to touch this old cabin was just phenomenal.

We're gonna go right to the front door.

It looks like there's a old bed frame or something on the left here of us.

RON: Oh.

DOUG: And then here's the door right here.

It looks like-- looks like some animals been in there.

-I don't know.

-In the door?

It's all collapsed at this end, but the back end, the back wall is still up.

RON: Where's a corner?

DOUG: The corner is right there.

Oh!

Yeah, that's the corner.

So, it's... -Oh, wow!

-Yeah, you can lift there.

-You can lift this-- -Wow!

Boards right up.

They're just sitting there.

DOUG: Yeah, they're just sitting-- No, they're not even-- They're sittin' on top and there's the notch.

DOUG: There's the wagon wheel.

That's-- that's the metal frame tip Okay!

And just to your left, right there, there is the wheel.

Can you feel the spoke as well?

The wood, yes.

ASHLYN: That's the spoke going down into the wheel.

And so, there's-- there's three of them still left here.

This is probably-- this one and the other rear one are probably in the best condition with the most amount of spokes.

The front two have deteriorated a little bit.

What a place to live, you know?

This-- this isn't where he goes on the weekends.

This is where he lives every day.

-DOUG: In is cabin.

-Yeah.

Kind of impossible that you could live off the land and just you know, get animals, and forage, and-- but that's what they did.

Now that we're here, we've finally found this place, you can't just wander around on somebody else's land, and uh, do what you want.

Yeah, definitely permission from the park, from the landowner, from whoever.

But when you're here, give it the respect it deserves.

Leave only snowshoe prints.

(Laughs) Yes.

Yes.

That-- that's it.

Thank you very much for everybody for helpin' me out with this and comin' in here.

-Thanks, Gary.

-You're welcome.

-Yeah.

-It was fun.

Thanks for invitin' us.

I know.

I really love your-- I love your adventures, Ron.

-No problem.

-It's a good adventure.

Well, you know what?

Maybe we should get the packs off, and have a little snack, and drink of water, and head back, because we got more adventures.

What is going to be the next adventure?

How about dog team.

Oh, man, yeah.

It's gonna be so much fun.

How about extremely long cross-country ski races?

(Both chuckle) Oh, we get a little everything plan comin' up.

It's gonna be fun.

It's gonna be uh, adventurous.

(Laughs) Funding made possible in part by Blind Institute of Technology.

Blind Institute of Technology supports companies that invest in people with disabilities.

Providing Salesforce employment training, staffing, services and accessibility consulting.

The talent is there.

More at blindit.org Funding also made possible in part by Choice Magazine Listening.

Choice Magazine Listening is a quarterly collection of magazine writing professionally recorded for the blind and print disabled, a nonprofit on the web at choicemagazinelistenening.org or 1-888-7CHOICE.

Funding for Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends made possible through Creative Saskatchewan's feature film and TV production grant.

Canadian film or video production tax credit Anthony J. Towstego Philip Doerksen, EWest International Distribution Film one.