CARLYLE - Since 2001, it has been an annual tradition for the Gordon F. Kells High School to take its Grade 10 class on a three-day camping trip to the Big Muddy Valley.
Darcy Howe is the vice-principal of the school and has been the tour’s organizer since its inception.
Howe was born and raised near Glentworth, a small town in southwest Saskatchewan in the heart of cattle country. It is located near the Grasslands National Park. He moved to Carlyle in 1998.
A Glentworth rancher by the name of Boyd Anderson purchased the old Noble Ranch in the Big Muddy Valley in the 1990s. It is now operated by his grandson Ryan Froshaug, his wife Carla, along with their children Shyla, Tanner, Shana and Colter. Howe is a distant relative to Anderson and Froshaug.
Since the Big Muddy trip has been so well-received, Howe and several of his peers came up with the novel idea to have every high school class attend annual trips during the school year. In recent years this has come to fruition. The Grade 7 and 8s go on camping trips to Kenosee Lake in the spring one year and attend Agribition in the fall the next year.
The Grade 9s partake in an annual trip to the Asessippi Ski Resort near Inglis, Man. The Grade 11 and 12s visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg every second year.
Howe has always overseen the Grade 10 camping trip to the Big Muddy Valley. The one or two vans leave on a Wednesday and return home Friday afternoon. For two nights, they cook with camp stoves and sleep in tents.
The fire pit at their campsite was once a cauldron from an old still. It was dug into the ground the first year camping began and has been used ever since.
On Day 2, they visit the Marshall Cemetery, in which many members of the Marshall family are buried. The family came into the area as North West Mounted Police to provide law and order. Nearby, they also tour the site of an old police barracks and jail. It is also an annual tradition that the team purchase supplies and souvenirs from Aust’s General Store in Big Beaver, population 15. Their slogan reads, “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.”
Later that day, they travel to Castle Butte and view the spectacular scenery. Situated in the Big Muddy Badlands, it is a free-standing structure with a circumference of half a kilometre and an elevation of 60 metres. A relic from the ice age, it is a striking formation that served as a landmark for Indigenous people, the North West Mounted Police and early Canadian settlers.
Before heading home, on the final morning, they visit a buffalo jump. These had been used for centuries by the Indigenous peoples of the Prairies. Herded buffalo were chased off the cliff. Members of the group would process and cure the meat at the bottom of the hill. Much of the food supply for the entire year could be garnered in this one event.
Every year, the Grade 10 class is chaperoned by parents. Guiding the 27 students this year were Jared and Tammie Riddell, Scott and Tanya Robertson, and Steve Schultz. Teacher Colin Wilson also accompanied Howe and the group. Due to the pandemic, those Grade 10 groups could not make the trip in 2020 and 2021.
Thirty-four Grade 11 and 12 students also made the trip earlier in June. Chaperones were Robin Brown, Autumn Barta, Garth Newell and Romeo Tinio. The teachers were Howe and Sarah Campbell.
Howe loves reminiscing about past trips and has many fond memories.
“We have lived through every type of weather imaginable. Hail. wind, rain, drought and scorching heat,” said Howe. We have looked like drowned rats and have been bitten by mosquitoes the size of fighter jets. Bull snakes, which are harmless, are plentiful as are wood ticks.
“There are regular sightings of birds and wildlife. Ten years ago, we were finally able to secure and use an actual outhouse. And, of course, many of these groups have been treated to the incredible local delicacy of prairie oysters.”
Every year, the annual trip to the Big Muddy Valley is eagerly anticipated by the Grade 10 class. It provides a great out of classroom experience.
“We are very appreciative of the financial support from the Gordon F. Kells community calendar, which helps funds these trips,” said Howe. “We also received funding from the Carlyle District Lions Club and some other community members. We thank you very much as these trips would not be possible without community support.”
