2014 Berry Thread

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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romann
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by romann » August 18th, 2014, 10:19 pm

Fair amount of berries around Placid Lake (Indian Heaven), TONS around Chenamus Lake.

Higher up, very few "forest type" huckleberries (ones that grow on 2-3 foot high brush, i know there's several kinds but can't tell them apart). However, on the open meadows around abandoned CCT trail there were lots of blueberry and alpine dwarf huckleberries with big ripe fruit (which is my #1). Mosquitoes were spotty, many around Chenamus and especially Acker Lake, none on Placid, few to none on Bear and Deer Lake.

joerunner
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by joerunner » August 31st, 2014, 4:00 pm

Had some pretty good luck up by nesmith pt. last week. I'm really enjoying these babies. I used a new berry rake I got from amazon and it worked well.
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VanMarmot
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by VanMarmot » September 1st, 2014, 6:29 am

The old CCT track from Rock Lake to Bear Lake in the Indian Heaven Wilderness is thick with berries.

mcds
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by mcds » September 4th, 2014, 11:05 am

Enjoyed a small handful of deliciously ripe thimble berries a few days ago, on a north facing slope at about 4000' elevation.

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kepPNW
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by kepPNW » September 4th, 2014, 11:14 am

The Mount Margaret Backcountry is exploding in huckleberries right now!
  • Image
    We were mystified to have only found one honkin' purple scat all day!
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

mcds
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by mcds » September 4th, 2014, 11:18 am

kepPNW wrote: We were mystified to have only found one honkin' purple scat all day!
Enjoyed some red and dark blue huckleberries too, but they were few and far between, which made the sole honkin' purple scat a mystery for the opposite reason.

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Double Tree
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by Double Tree » September 8th, 2014, 7:27 pm

KenPNW those are some nice sized berries.

Joerunner, how does your rake work? I'd never seriously considered one, as I've heard they can damage the plant. Had a chance to use it yet? Native Americans used a version of a rake.

Kelly

Elsie
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by Elsie » September 9th, 2014, 8:40 am

Cairn Basin, Eden Park, and Wy'east Basin bursting with huckleberries. Didn't make it as far as Elk Cove, but I imagine its similar. No berries west of there, though, from Top Spur to Mcneil.

joerunner
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by joerunner » September 9th, 2014, 1:44 pm

Double Tree wrote:KenPNW those are some nice sized berries.

Joerunner, how does your rake work? I'd never seriously considered one, as I've heard they can damage the plant. Had a chance to use it yet? Native Americans used a version of a rake.

Kelly
http://www.huckleberryrake.com/

You just hold the branch below the berrys and run the rake through and the berrys pop off into the containment. I used it a a few weeks ago and gather 6-7 lbs. of berries in about 1.5 hours. It didn't seem like it was damaging the plant any. Every once in a while I'd snag a stem but that was usually avoidable. I'd pick up a few leaves with the berries that was easy to clean out. I guess if somebody got stupid and indiscriminately ran the rake through the bushes then a lot of damage could be done but you would end up with a big mess in your bucket. I didn't get a chance but I'd like to try that rake out on blackberrys.

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Double Tree
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Re: 2014 Berry Thread

Post by Double Tree » September 10th, 2014, 2:09 am

joerunner wrote: gather 6-7 lbs. of berries in about 1.5 hours.
Nice! I'm glad to hear it doesn't hurt the plant. I'll have to get one of those. I've never weighed my berries but it usually takes me, hmm, 6 hours to hand-pick 1 1/2 gallons? Something like that. That would be around 10-11ish lbs. I could limit out (3 gallon permit) in a morning with a rake, sounds like.
Kelly

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