I have never been huckleberry picking. I am not sure I understand the fascination with them. They are berries that don't taste great unless you mix them with something sugary. Mike had asked me to go many times. Hmmm, average tasting berries that bears like. Not going! I finally decided to go to support Mike. Who knows it could be fun. With my sister here I thought why not. We can both go and how bad can it be? You just pick berries. Little did I know that the quest to find the berries was so long and difficult! Here we go, bell, bear spray, buckets and hiking boots!
Mike is on a mission! Let's get out of here! All smiles we hopped in the car.
Priest Lake on the way to Gleason Mountain. Volunteer Ambulance. Hmmmm. What if they are out of town or busy doing something else? I guess you are out of luck.
Oh where, oh where have the huckleberries gone. Oh where, oh where can they be!
First stop to check for berries was up this hill. We waited in the car and took pictures while Mike climbed.
No berries so off we go.
Another stop so Mike could show us what huckleberry bushes looked like. No berries yet but bushes.
Are there any berries in there?
Finally success. We have to get instructions on how to do this picking and avoid wild animals. First lesson is the bell. Ring it and ring it loud and often.
Next lesson is how to use bear spray. Click the link to hear Mike's instructions.
Bear Spray Instructions
Here we go! Goin' for the berries, one by one, by one! This was a pretty good patch.
Patti and I thought it was lunch time but Mike wanted to find one more patch. AHHH! Luckily, some people were coming down the mountain. They asked how we did and I said good, but my husband wants to find one more patch. They pointed to the other side of the road and said there was a big one right there. Whew. No more driving.
We picked some more on the other side of the road.
Then we went to lunch at Hill's Resort. Beautiful! We were a bit tired of driving around on bumpy roads and looking for tiny berries but off we went again after lunch.
One highlight of the quest to find berries was this moose.
Mike got directions to the huckleberries from a local person. You turn right on this road, left on the next and then left on road 10. Is road 10 marked Mike asked. I think it is painted on the tree she said. Yep, painted on the tree. I said welcome to the Pacific Northwest Patti!
Baby coyote! We never did find any berries on road 10. The ride got quieter and quieter. Patti and Jackie were not talking. We just wanted to pick or go home. So tired of driving. Picking is fine but driving not so much. We ended this outing with a gallon and a half of the priceless berries. I now know why they are so expensive. The process takes forever!
Another day! Tuesday we left about 2:00 PM on another quest. This time to Chewelah Peak. Closer and not as much driving but still on narrow bumpy roads. Mike found a pretty good patch and it turns out he had picked there before. At first we didn't think there were many berries but the patch kept going on and on. We got about a half a gallon.
It's a bear! Or Patti!
There is our truck. We weren't far off the road.
After about 90 minutes we were done and cleaned out the patch. We headed home. What a beautiful view and then...
We heard a hissing sound. Flat tire in the middle of nowhere. Mike didn't think he had a spare or tools to fix a flat. WHAT! He did. No walking back to civilization. Just a repair job.
Yes, I was taking pictures as Patti and Mike worked. Couldn't help myself.
Mike got it done with Patti's help. Whew. On the road again and I think Patti and I are retiring from huckleberry picking unless we know where the berries are. The driving for 2 hours did not make us happy. Family time and the picking did make us happy. Being in God's beautiful creation is peaceful and calming even with a flat time.
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