Distinctly Montana Magazine

BY BILL MUHLENFELD Every August brings a fresh rush of huckleberry prospectors to Montana’s prime picking ground in the northern Rockies. The season is short, the competition can be fierce (it’s the griz’ favorite food), and the berry bounty cascades into every- thing from jams and jellies to wine and barbecue sauce. Huckleberry aficiona- dos (yes, there are experts) will tell you that the best of the bunch are plump, purple and sweet-tart, reminiscent of blueberries, but with a richer, more fla- vorful taste. A mouthful will leave you with puckered cheeks, a bluish tongue, and a silly, satisfied grin. Your limit by state law? Ten gallons. Yum! BEST TIME TO GO: This varies from summer to summer but, generally, late July to mid-August is prime-time pickin’ at above 3500’ elevation, into September the higher up you go. BEST TECHNIQUE: PICK AND EAT Huckleberry hounds will regale you with scientific mumbo-jumbo about esters and ketones, rhizomatous plants and V. membranaceum, but all you need to know on your day hike is that the berries grow on ground-hugging, tangled bushes with green or reddish- green oval leaves. The berries droop low, under the leaves, so you might have to sit for a few minutes for a good pick. BEST PLACES TO GO FOR A HUCKLEBERRY “FIX” Huckleberries can be found on east- facing slopes throughout the Crown of the Continent (See Distinctly Montana Winter 2011 issue). The Swan Valley, the North Fork, Big Mountain, and BC’s Elk Valley are popular picking areas. BEST BE CAREFUL! DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL For these huckleberry recipes Go to www.distinctlymontana.com/huckleberry113 Huckleberries are a favorite food of Montana’s grizzly bears, so try singing Toby Keith’s “Huckleberry” while you are picking: “Baby I’ll be your huckleber- ry; you don’t have to double-dare me...” 60 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SUMMER 2011 s o t M H o H G l o e d r o ua c : k r p r na l l ee u r b P n f t ei ’s

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