Ah, September. You arrive right after the adventure-heavy month of August and promise a couple of good days in the mountains before the snows come. The bugs are mostly gone. The heat is toned down. And most importantly, nature provides snacks all along the trail. Of course, I'm referring to...
BERRIES!
Down low there are salmonberries. They're bitter unless you get them just right in which case they're divine. Mixed with the salmonberries are thimbleberries. Sickeningly sweet. Maybe mix them with salmonberries. Or red huckleberries. Easy to see on big bushes and bright reddish orange.
The real prize, though, are the mountain blueberries. Or maybe they're technically blue huckleberries. I can never remember and it doesn't really matter. The best ones aren't on the tall bushes that are easy to grab as you hike past. No. The best ones grow in small bushes no more than a few inches high. The very best ones taste vaguely like banana. Somehow, this makes them absolutely amazing.
The only problem is they're a pain to pick. Unless you have a nimble tongue like a bear (or Treen) or don't mind stooping for hours, you're only going to get a couple. Well, unless you have a sweet, sweet berry rake.
Check this thing out. (Amazon link) It's cheap, lightweight, durable, and doesn't hurt the bushes. It made picking a full liter of berries a trivial task. Even if I hadn't recruited the boy to do the picking, it wouldn't have been that hard for me to come home with more berries than I knew what to do with.
As good as they are in the wild, they're even better when they've been washed, patted dry, and frozen. It didn't take long before that liter of berries was reduced to a small handful.
The hardest part about the whole endeavor was getting to the berries. Our route followed unmaintained trails, required creek crossings, and a couple thousand feet of gain. Totally worth it.
📍On the lands of the Wenatchi people.
