The Amazing Dargie Family Easter Egg Hunt.

The most epic annual event to ever grace the hills and vales of Calgary

I come from a long line of humans doing silly things, and it’s funny how the Universe aligns. For example, yesterday was Easter Sunday and today is the last day of my 100 Days Project. Yesterday I remembered all the insane Easter Egg Hunts my parents would put my sister and me through. When I say “put us through,” I don’t mean that in a bad way. The Dargie Family Easter Egg Hunt was THE event of the year—I’m sure my parents spent months preparing.

A little backstory first. When my sister Cathy and I wanted to go to Disneyland, we strenuously petitioned our parents. I believe Cathy made a chart showing all the reasons why we should go and how it would benefit our character. We were little, and the chart might have been made of macaroni. The details are fuzzy.

In response to this impassioned request, my parents said “yes, but…” But, we would need to run the equivalent distance first. Maybe there was a formula that took into account our little legs, I don’t quite remember. I do remember the graph paper that would track our distance, though. It was about 2,500 miles, and at a daily average between the two of us of 4 miles, it would take us roughly two years.

Eventually, we would get to Disneyland, and it was great, and it was the first time I would taste Honeydew Melon, but this isn’t about that.

This is about THE DARGIE FAMILY EASTER EGG HUNT. I’ve often thought that this event should really be shared with the rest of the world. It is likely what inspired the Great Canadian Death Race (We’ve competed in this event as a team, “Guerillas in the Midst”), the Spartan Race, and the Amazing Race. Those races are for chumps.

Every Easter, my mom would make Cathy and me pancakes; Rain or shine, Dad would be long gone before we woke up. He’d don a pair of bunny ears and a fluffy tail (maybe I’m making this up, perhaps I’m not) and charge out into the woods. We grew up in Silver Springs, just beside what is now known as Bowmont Park. We spent an incredible amount of time exploring and running along the river valley from Bearspaw Dam to downtown Calgary, and this is where the Easter Egg hunt would play out. Literally. I don’t know how the two of them (mom and dad) managed all the intricacies of these events. Our parents are magical beings.

We had names for things that only a Dargie would know, like The Train Bridge (well some people would get that one), Mother’s Leap, Isle of Dad, Cathy’s Hill, The Old Yellow Car, and Beaver Pond. Each clue we found would reference a new place but involved a twist, like “High above the powerlines overlooking the Isle of Dad” might have us climbing a 200′ tree to find our next clue in an abandoned eagle’s nest. I’m not making this up. Well, maybe a little, but it’s not a huge exaggeration. Dad was always just out of sight, but close enough to pretend he was a “wise old tree” and shout clues if we got stuck.

“Don’t give a dam, or maybe you should” would lead us to an egg clue tied to a balloon that was carefully secured to a beaver lodge that was being guarded and patrolled by a family of beavers. But, again, maybe I’m making this up, maybe I’m not.

Every year we’d look forward to having to think, canoe, kayak, swim, run, climb, and spelunk our way through an increasingly long and challenging Easter Egg Hunt. The sheer magnitude of these events is staggering when I look back on them.

As I mentioned earlier, we’ve run the Great Canadian Death Race as a family (did I mention we ran this race twice?), and it wasn’t nearly as crazy as our family Easter tradition. There are so many stories to tell. One day I’ll share what it was like to run the Great Canadian Death Race, but not today. Today I’ve been thinking about our family Easter Egg Hunt and think it is high time to bring this tradition back for 2023. But this time, it will take place on Vancouver Island, or Maui, or Bali.

Adventures, oceans, wise old trees, and fluffy tails await.