Well, Mike talked me into going huckleberry picking again. I didn't really love it the last two times I went. If I didn't go Mike would go by himself. Knowing how far in the woods we went a couple of years ago I didn't want Mike to go alone. That is not a good idea. Bears like huckleberries too. I also didn't want to drive two cars to Steve and Michel's place. Well, Mike was told of a place that was right off the road and we didn't have to drive into eternity to get there. I went. We still had our bear spray but I felt way more safe.
Not a great haul for the first few minutes. We think the bears got to the berries over the weekend. A person got 7 gallons at this spot a few days before. We were determined to at least get enough to make the huckleberry pancakes that Steve requested for dinner for the gang at his place.
Do not get separated is a rule! It was a bit hard to keep up with Mike.
Road block!
And here you go! Bears! There was a lot of evidence of bears.
This is what we were after. It takes a lot of time to accumulate a bunch of these!
A whole bunch of orange feathers in one spot is not a good sign. Something got eaten. We were trying to figure out what kind of bird it was.
As we were leaving we stumbled on a patch that had more berries. Mike had a bucket too. We were going to go back to the spot we found but when we checked the time it was getting time to head to the Gleasons. I actually enjoyed the picking this time. We went right to the spot, no searching. That helped. We also didn't move from spot to spot. I will go again with Mike and this time we will be going to the scarier place.
Lunch time in the woods with my bucket, bear spray, and my stool.
Out of the woods and on to the river! They rented a pontoon boat for three days! We cruised around for a few hours.
Kenny was at the helm!
Kyle and Steve!
Gas stop!!!
Fishing off the boat wasn't very successful! They tried though!
Rivers and his river! Click to read Steve's writing about Rivers!
Why I Love Rivers by Steve Gleason
And then there was the rock jumping. Right away I said I would totally be too scared to jump off that huge rock. Not to mention I am still trying to regain strength after knee surgery. Even if my leg was at full strength I would not have jumped off that rock!
Zak, Kyle, and Michel climbed to the top. They said the climb was the hardest part.
Here goes Michel. Boy did I wish I had my other lens for all this. It was in the cabin.
Splash down Michel.
A swim for Rivers and Michel!
Flips? Really? Kyle and Zak!
Next up the conversation about Mike doing the same thing. He finally decided to give it a go. AHHH! Be careful Mike. Rivers was in charge of Mike's hat.
Here he goes up and up! Again the climb is the hard part.
He made it. He stood up on top and inched toward the edge. The guys on the boat were saying just jump! Don't fall. He didn't!
And here he goes!
He didn't hear it but we all clapped and cheered when he surfaced! Whew! His first words out of the water were, "Jackie did you get it?" He said that over and over. This picture is a cell phone picture someone else too. It captures a wider view of the event!
More fishing but no fish. Lots of seaweed was caught.
Beautiful! I have said this before but how can people not believe in God when seeing this! This is a picture perfect window into our mighty God!
Lawn chairs and relaxing!
Time to head back to the house for our huckleberry pancakes!
This eagle spends a lot of time in this tree. It is right across the bay from the house. The eagle was hiding but I ran in the house to change the lens on my camera hoping to get a closer shot.
I did but the eagle was still hiding from my view.
OK, time for cooking. Mike did it all. Agnes and I helped with the some of the chopping and cleaning. Mike is making sure things are done just right. He does the same thing at home!!!! Irritating!
The master at work. Mike loves to cook for people (thankfully). He always does a great job and makes sure everyone is taken care of. We picked more than enough huckleberries for the pancakes. We love it when Steve and Michel are so close. It is great to spend family time all together. I wonder what our next adventure will be???
