Hunter + Gatherer = Huckleberry Fever.

The Hunter part has always been true of me and come summer very little can get between me and fishing... but for several weeks at the end of each summer one thing can very easily pull me away from chasing fish. Its then that I very much become Gatherer. And that thing, my friends is huckleberry picking. This is the most glorious time of the season. Seriously.


And what a season it has been. The huckleberry picking is beyond amazing with sweet, succulent berries the size of grape tomatos dangling by the thousands on the mountain slopes surrounding our beautiful Rocky Mountain hamlet here in Whitefish, Montana.
These days I am spending every spare minute picking huckleberries. I pick, therefore I am. Seriously. Aching back from stooping, sore quadraceps from climbing up to 6000 feet, carpel tunnel wrists and cramped fingers... all totally worth it to have galllons and gallons and gallons of these incredible jewels of the Mountain stored up for the winter.
There is one problem, however. The grizzly bears. They like huckleberrys too... Alot. And they can weigh 900 pounds... and I'm 160 LB soaking wet. So picking hucklberries right now means having one hand frantically picking and one hand hovering over the can of bear spray attached tightly to my hip. Still, the risk is totally worth it...