Before moving to the Inland Northwest, I had never heard of Huckleberries.  In fact, if you

Photograph courtesy of rantfarm.com

would have shown them to me before I knew what they were, I would have sworn they were small blueberries.  My first recall of this wonderful fruit was my first opportunity to go Huckleberry picking.  I didn’t have anything else to do on a hot August weekend afternoon.  After a long trek by car into the mountains, followed by a long walk further up that mountain (each of us carrying a bucket), we had finally found our prize.  Well, at first, I wasn’t aware we had found anything.  It wasn’t until I was shown what the plant looked like and folded up the leaves, did I realize what we were looking for.  This particular patch was abundant.  By abundant, I don’t mean that the buckets were filled instantly.  It definitely took the better part of the day to get a few gallons of berries.  We probably could have had a gallon or two more if we weren’t eating along the way.  They were sweet and delicious.

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