Finding Huckleberries and Geocaches

1.2k · August 8, 2007

For the last 3 years in mid to late August we've enjoyed picking huckleberries while out geocaching. Our favorite spots have been just north of I-90 near Lake Keechelus and in the Smith Brook area near Stevens Pass. Two to three years ago we found lots of berries at these locations, but last year was not so good. I was up at Roaring Ridge near Snoqualmie Pass a couple of weeks ago and found a few green berries, but not a lot. Has anyone seen a good crop while geocaching recently? I live in Central WA and would be willing to travel to the following areas to geocache and pick berries: Packwood-Randle area south toward St. Helens, Chinook Pass to Mt. Rainier area, North Cascades, or other hot spots with a good crop (even the Olympic Peninsula if needed). Location name, geocache name and waypoint, or coordinates will do. Thanks

7.3k · August 8, 2007

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the waymark category, Berry Picking. It is for berry farms or for wild areas. You might find a few things there. You can find nearest caches from a link on the waymark page.

I have a huckleberry waymark near "Wildfire", and I'm going to make one for my first stage of "Ice Box" because I found some there when I was there last. But you've done both of those caches so that doesn't help you much. :rolleyes:

3.5k · August 8, 2007

Yes. I was recently doing the Nick Nolte cache http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...25-97a4ba0bbd29 at Nolte State park (Deep Lake) near Enumclaw and took a walk around the lake. Loads of red Huckleberries.

3.7k · August 8, 2007

Huckleberry Patch Geo Cache is a perennial favorite in the Snoqualmie Pass area (I-90). Mmmmmm. Check out our logs (and purple hands) from last year. We plan to go there again next week!

I've been snacking on berries for a couple weeks now along various hikes. Lucy and I found some great patches last weekend on our way to the Lake 22 Cache on the Mountain Loop Highway in the North Cascades.

One of the best huckleberry patches we ever found was during a through-hike two years ago in September NE of Mt Rainier. We started at Corral Pass near my Leg o' Mutton cache, visited Noble Knob, and found endless bushes of huge ripe berries between there and the Lost Lake Casche. The Mutton cache page describes the full hike if you're interested.

Edited August 8, 2007 by hydnsek

August 8, 2007

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the waymark category, Berry Picking. It is for berry farms or for wild areas. You might find a few things there. You can find nearest caches from a link on the waymark page.

I have a huckleberry waymark near "Wildfire", and I'm going to make one for my first stage of "Ice Box" because I found some there when I was there last. But you've done both of those caches so that doesn't help you much.

There are two in Washington state on that list.

They are for wild berries.

Jeremy has on at the bottom of the list.

August 8, 2007

We grazed our way on HB's as we hiked to "Mountain Meadow Majesty" and "Valhalla" when we hiked in from the top of Stevens Pass.

Edited August 8, 2007 by Patudles

3.7k · August 8, 2007

We grazed are way on HB's as we hiked to "Mountain Meadow Majesty" and "Valhalla" when we hiked in from the top of Stevens Pass.

Ooh, those are great caches! I can't believe MMM isn't hit more frequently, it's such a lovely hike, and not that long or strenuous.

7.4k · August 8, 2007

Camels Prairie is awash in mountain huckleberries right now.

1.2k · August 8, 2007

Wow, thanks for the response everyone. Sounds like a good crop of berries this year in those locations. Now to decide where to go.

August 8, 2007

I've heard about Huckleberries, but never tried them. Reason being, I'm so afraid I'd be picking and eating something poisionous, so I've just stuck with blackberries - something I recognize no problem. I have blueberry bushes at home, but I'm also afraid to try picking wild blueberries because I'm not so sure I would know what I'm picking. It might be a fun sort of event idea for the uninitiated to have a wild berry event or something like that around a good picking/caching area - or does that sound lame?

1.5k · August 8, 2007

I've heard about Huckleberries, but never tried them. Reason being, I'm so afraid I'd be picking and eating something poisionous, so I've just stuck with blackberries - something I recognize no problem. I have blueberry bushes at home, but I'm also afraid to try picking wild blueberries because I'm not so sure I would know what I'm picking. It might be a fun sort of event idea for the uninitiated to have a wild berry event or something like that around a good picking/caching area - or does that sound lame?

It's really hard to get it wrong at Huckleberry Patch Geo Cache. Huckleberries are the only berry there, and if you have blueberries at home, you'll recognize them.

August 8, 2007

I've heard about Huckleberries, but never tried them. Reason being, I'm so afraid I'd be picking and eating something poisionous, so I've just stuck with blackberries - something I recognize no problem. I have blueberry bushes at home, but I'm also afraid to try picking wild blueberries because I'm not so sure I would know what I'm picking. It might be a fun sort of event idea for the uninitiated to have a wild berry event or something like that around a good picking/caching area - or does that sound lame?

It's really hard to get it wrong at Huckleberry Patch Geo Cache. Huckleberries are the only berry there, and if you have blueberries at home, you'll recognize them.

Thank you! I'll put that on my "to do" list - always wanted to try them!

2.8k · August 8, 2007

I've heard about Huckleberries, but never tried them. Reason being, I'm so afraid I'd be picking and eating something poisionous, so I've just stuck with blackberries - something I recognize no problem. I have blueberry bushes at home, but I'm also afraid to try picking wild blueberries because I'm not so sure I would know what I'm picking. It might be a fun sort of event idea for the uninitiated to have a wild berry event or something like that around a good picking/caching area - or does that sound lame?

It's really hard to get it wrong at Huckleberry Patch Geo Cache. Huckleberries are the only berry there, and if you have blueberries at home, you'll recognize them.

Thank you! I'll put that on my "to do" list - always wanted to try them!

You've never tried Huckleberries? They're all around your You've Got Mail cache...we feasted on them a few weeks ago when we did that cache.

August 8, 2007

I enjoyed some great views and was pleasantly surprised at having the chance to enjoy some huckleberries this last weekend heading up to Rachel Lake. I would recommend heading up there soon since the berries seemed to be in their prime.

August 8, 2007

I've heard about Huckleberries, but never tried them. Reason being, I'm so afraid I'd be picking and eating something poisionous, so I've just stuck with blackberries - something I recognize no problem. I have blueberry bushes at home, but I'm also afraid to try picking wild blueberries because I'm not so sure I would know what I'm picking. It might be a fun sort of event idea for the uninitiated to have a wild berry event or something like that around a good picking/caching area - or does that sound lame?

It's really hard to get it wrong at Huckleberry Patch Geo Cache. Huckleberries are the only berry there, and if you have blueberries at home, you'll recognize them.

Thank you! I'll put that on my "to do" list - always wanted to try them!

You've never tried Huckleberries? They're all around your You've Got Mail cache...we feasted on them a few weeks ago when we did that cache.

You're serious!!? OK, looks like me & my daughter have to make a berry run this afternoon. I'm not sure what I'm looking for though - maybe I'll check out a berry book at the library on the way.... and at least look at them if I'm not sure the picture's a match.

7.3k · August 8, 2007

I've heard about Huckleberries, but never tried them. Reason being, I'm so afraid I'd be picking and eating something poisionous, so I've just stuck with blackberries - something I recognize no problem. I have blueberry bushes at home, but I'm also afraid to try picking wild blueberries because I'm not so sure I would know what I'm picking. It might be a fun sort of event idea for the uninitiated to have a wild berry event or something like that around a good picking/caching area - or does that sound lame?

I know how you feel. My first time was at the cache I mentioned earlier, "Wildfire". The only reason we knew was because a previous hider had mentioned the huckleberries, and they were everywhere! I had always wanted to eat them but never knew what to look for. After that, I realized that I had seen them before without knowing it. Then, when I found them recently at my cache that I was maintaining, I was alone and eating these berries that I knew were huckleberries, but I still worried and told my husband later just in case I keeled over.

2.8k · August 8, 2007

I've heard about Huckleberries, but never tried them. Reason being, I'm so afraid I'd be picking and eating something poisionous, so I've just stuck with blackberries - something I recognize no problem. I have blueberry bushes at home, but I'm also afraid to try picking wild blueberries because I'm not so sure I would know what I'm picking. It might be a fun sort of event idea for the uninitiated to have a wild berry event or something like that around a good picking/caching area - or does that sound lame?

It's really hard to get it wrong at Huckleberry Patch Geo Cache. Huckleberries are the only berry there, and if you have blueberries at home, you'll recognize them.

Thank you! I'll put that on my "to do" list - always wanted to try them!

You've never tried Huckleberries? They're all around your You've Got Mail cache...we feasted on them a few weeks ago when we did that cache.

You're serious!!? OK, looks like me & my daughter have to make a berry run this afternoon. I'm not sure what I'm looking for though - maybe I'll check out a berry book at the library on the way.... and at least look at them if I'm not sure the picture's a match.

They come in two colors...a 'salmon' color or blue...and they look like small blueberries.

Here's a link for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_parvifolium

Or, just look for bushes like this:

3.3k · August 8, 2007

That picture is of a Red Huckleberry. Take a look at the typical blue one here:

Blue Huckleberry

Edited August 8, 2007 by WRASTRO

3.5k · August 8, 2007

What NOT to eat.

Any white berry like snow berries.

Nightshade have little red berries along with "UW Husky" colored flowers.

7.3k · August 8, 2007

What NOT to eat.

Any white berry like snow berries.

Nightshade have little red berries along with "UW Husky" colored flowers.

I have both of those in my yard! :blink: I won't go down there and eat them, I promise. :blink:

2.8k · August 8, 2007

What NOT to eat.

Any white berry like snow berries.

Nightshade have little red berries along with "UW Husky" colored flowers.

I have both of those in my yard! I won't go down there and eat them, I promise.

Send some to me?

2.8k · August 8, 2007

That picture is of a Red Huckleberry. Take a look at the typical blue one here:

Blue Huckleberry

I was just showing her a picture of the ones at her cache. :blink:

3.3k · August 9, 2007

I haven't been to her cache so I just wanted to make sure folks knew what the "other" huckleberry looked like.

August 9, 2007

Lookout Lookout had all kinds of the low growing Huckleberries up near the top. (I like them alot better than the taller growing Huckleberries). Great views and a lookout that dosn't get a lot of visitors.

Edited August 9, 2007 by Square Bear

7.3k · August 9, 2007

What NOT to eat.

Any white berry like snow berries.

Nightshade have little red berries along with "UW Husky" colored flowers.

I have both of those in my yard! I won't go down there and eat them, I promise.

Send some to me?

You want some snow berries and nightshade berries? :blink: :blink:

3.5k · August 9, 2007

Looks like we have the "climbing nightshade" around here.

http://montana.plant-life.org/species/sola_dulca.htm

Looks like Snowberries have a similar kind of poison.

Edited August 9, 2007 by EraSeek

August 9, 2007

Thanks for posting the pictures/links. Now I know what to look for. Funny thing is, I was at my friend's house the other day & we were discussing a particular plant in her yard that she didn't recognize. It's a huckleberry bush!!

I didn't get to the place yesterday...house fix-it stuff got in the way, but I'm going before the weekend is out.

Next July - you all have an open invite to my place to pick all the raspberries you can stand :blink: !

Edited August 9, 2007 by Lizzy

August 9, 2007

The berry eating rule that I was raised by:

Blue and purple berries - SAFE to eat

Red berries - CAUTION - be sure and know your berries

White berries - POISION - stay away from

Edited August 9, 2007 by Patudles

August 10, 2007

Unless I missed it, nobody has mentioned the huckeberry fields on the south side of Mt. Adams down around Troutlake. Maybe that's too far for your parameters but these are GREAT huckeberry fields.

Bridges of Stone is near the Peterson Prairie USFS campground and showcases a partially collapsed lava tube. Some ice caves to see in the area as well. Fun area. Just a few caches though.

1.5k · August 10, 2007

What NOT to eat.

Any white berry like snow berries.

Nightshade have little red berries along with "UW Husky" colored flowers.

I have both of those in my yard! I won't go down there and eat them, I promise.

Send some to me?

Who are you wanting to do in, Allanon? :huh: :laughing:

7.3k · August 10, 2007

What NOT to eat.

Any white berry like snow berries.

Nightshade have little red berries along with "UW Husky" colored flowers.

I have both of those in my yard! I won't go down there and eat them, I promise.

Send some to me?

Who are you wanting to do in, Allanon?

He seems to be avoiding the question. :huh:

1.2k · August 10, 2007

The berry eating rule that I was raised by:

Blue and purple berries - SAFE to eat

Red berries - CAUTION - be sure and know your berries

White berries - POISION - stay away from

I was taught not to eat the berries and other fruit from the center piece bowl on the dining table. Turns out they were plastic. Not much flavor, but real chewy.

August 10, 2007

The berry eating rule that I was raised by:

Blue and purple berries - SAFE to eat

Red berries - CAUTION - be sure and know your berries

White berries - POISION - stay away from

I was taught not to eat the berries and other fruit from the center piece bowl on the dining table. Turns out they were plastic. Not much flavor, but real chewy.

2.8k · August 10, 2007

What NOT to eat.

Any white berry like snow berries.

Nightshade have little red berries along with "UW Husky" colored flowers.

I have both of those in my yard! I won't go down there and eat them, I promise.

Send some to me?

Who are you wanting to do in, Allanon?

He seems to be avoiding the question.

:huh:

7.3k · August 10, 2007

What NOT to eat.

Any white berry like snow berries.

Nightshade have little red berries along with "UW Husky" colored flowers.

I have both of those in my yard! I won't go down there and eat them, I promise.

Send some to me?

Who are you wanting to do in, Allanon?

He seems to be avoiding the question.

Come and visit me and you can pick berries to your heart's content. :blink: But I'd recomend sticking to the blackberries only.

August 12, 2007

If you do my Skyline caches above Stevens Pass ski area I guarantee you will come across blue huckleberries and blueberries that will fill your freezer. This area is picked commercially and is well known for lots of berries. Check it out and let me know what you think. If you have to go move than 10 ft. you are working too hard.

August 12, 2007

The berry eating rule that I was raised by:

Blue and purple berries - SAFE to eat

Red berries - CAUTION - be sure and know your berries

White berries - POISION - stay away from

I wouldn't eat any blue, berry like, fruit on trees though!!

You might just eat some Cascara berries.

August 13, 2007

Blueberry Stroll Cache

You can also find berries at my Jefferson Pass Cache and my Lower Ellinor Cache but hurry, they might be getting past their prime now

Edited August 13, 2007 by luckykoi

1.1k · August 13, 2007

I call them red huckleberries and blue huckleberries. Some folks call them blueberries. I usually find the blue ones at higher altitudes.

Whatever you call them there were plenty of both red, and blue, on the way up to Col Bob this weekend.

3.3k · August 14, 2007

I like calling them fabulous treats! Elroy and I enjoyed lots of red Huckleberries Saturday on the TMT. For blue Huckleberries we have always gone to White Pass. We have four Blueberry bushes in our yard so we get all we can eat from those. Huckleberry pies, fresh Blueberry pancakes and homemade Blueberry ice cream are our favorites. We had one red Huckleberry bush at our last house but only the kids ate those. I wasn't yet smart enough to enjoy them.

Does anyone have any cool recipes to share for using Huckleberries or Blueberries? I will be happy to share our favorite ice cream recipes if anyone is interested.

2.7k · August 14, 2007

Mt. Higgins had a bunch of blueberries last year when I did it. It's a tough climb up though!

Speaking of blueberries, we've got some bushes on our property...quite a yield so far!!! It looks like we have at least two varieties of them so we'll have ripe berries going into the fall. Anyhow, Inmywoods has been making some delicious blueberry muffins, bread, and pies.

7.3k · August 14, 2007

I like calling them fabulous treats! Elroy and I enjoyed lots of red Huckleberries Saturday on the TMT. For blue Huckleberries we have always gone to White Pass. We have four Blueberry bushes in our yard so we get all we can eat from those. Huckleberry pies, fresh Blueberry pancakes and homemade Blueberry ice cream are our favorites. We had one red Huckleberry bush at our last house but only the kids ate those. I wasn't yet smart enough to enjoy them.

Does anyone have any cool recipes to share for using Huckleberries or Blueberries? I will be happy to share our favorite ice cream recipes if anyone is interested.

Mmmm.....blueberry trifle....

I've got a very good recipe for that, the best I've ever tasted. It's somewhere around here. It's really for strawberries, but it's just as good for blueberries.

1.2k · August 14, 2007

Here is a good article with photos of the various types of huckleberries. Looks like the ones we typically pick are the Cascade Huckleberry and the Mountain Huckleberry. I also didn't realize the the Mountain Huckleberry is Idaho's State fruit.

Article - Small Fruit Research at Sandpoint

Edited August 14, 2007 by The Navigatorz

7.3k · August 14, 2007

Cool article, Nav.

This is a nice thread. I encourage people to post these huckleberry (and other berry) spots to Waymarking so they can be shared with others as well.

August 16, 2007

Went up today to Huckleberry Patch Geocache and had a great time!! Now I know what I've been missing. It was amazing to look out over acres & acres of huckleberry bushes. I've got my batch in the freezer to save for just the right recipe & I hope to get back out that way before the season ends. There were lots ripe & lot of green ones, so I imagine this is prime time for picking & will be for a while. Thanks for this - one more fun experience this summer!! And the company was great too :surprise: !!

3.7k · August 16, 2007

Went up today to Huckleberry Patch Geocache and had a great time!! Now I know what I've been missing. It was amazing to look out over acres & acres of huckleberry bushes. I've got my batch in the freezer to save for just the right recipe & I hope to get back out that way before the season ends. There were lots ripe & lot of green ones, so I imagine this is prime time for picking & will be for a while. Thanks for this - one more fun experience this summer!! And the company was great too !!

Yes, the company was great! Thanks to Lucy for organizing!

1.5k · August 16, 2007

We had to work harder for them than last year, but I still got a big bowl full of berries.

1.2k · August 22, 2007

Thanks for the great report. Looks like Friday is my day to go out huckleberry picking. Going to try Huckleberry Patch Geocache. I hope my collection rate is better than previous outings (keep one, eat one, keep one, eat one, keep one, eat two, etc).

August 22, 2007

There are a lot of red and blue huckleberries on the Putvin trail for those was are up to the challenge. Both high and low bush blueberries up there. Blueberry and huckleberry are pretty much interchangable. I saw what I think are currents (or are those little black gooseberries.. ) on the Putvin trail as well. I ate two of them and they were yummy. There is also an evergreen bush that folks round here call a blue huckleberry and they are coming on now as well.

The best high bush blue huckleberries or blueberries I've seen are on the Jefferson Pass trail. Bushes loaded with big juicy berries all around my trailhead cache.

I have two caches named after berries one is Huckleberry Stroll

What I want to see is a red blueberry.

Edited August 22, 2007 by luckykoi

August 23, 2007

I stayed at the campground near Falls View Canyon (GC10QPF) a few years ago. The entire campground was packed with monster red huckleberries. Just thought I'd add that location in for folks traveling in that neck of the woods.

Finding Huckleberries and Geocaches

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