I try not to rub it in, but my motto for Idaho is “another day, another postcard.” The beauty of God’s creation never seems to wear off.
Archive for August, 2009
Moonset
Thursday, August 27th, 2009Huckleberries 101
Thursday, August 27th, 2009Everyone’s heard of Huckleberry Hound but unless you’re from around here, you’ve not see the Idaho state fruit. I did a search of this blog and found that I’d mentioned huckleberries a few times but never showed any pictures of them. So here you go,
When we first arrived here in Idaho, we’d hear all kinds of stories about huckleberries. How they were hard to find and how nobody would tell you where the best patches are. That when you go picking, bring a shotgun just in case you meet up with a bear trying to protect his favorite fruit. For some time I figured the huckleberries had a lot in common with “snipes” (if you haven’t gone snipe hunting, ask anyone who’s been to camp). It took months before I actually found these mythical berries for myself.
These sweet-tart berries are typically a little smaller than blueberries. You’re not likely to find them in stores (outside of the inland northwest) because nobody has figured out how to grow them on farms. So, if you want some, you have to head up a mountain beyond 2900+ feet and head into the woods to find them. If you want a part time summer job, you can sell these locally for $35 to $75 per gallon. In fact, when you head up some of the logging trails you’ll find cars parked along the way and even some campers for the serious pickers. If you find a good patch, you’re not supposed to tell anyone. Some folks really covet the locations of their favorite patches. From what I’ve seen though, if you have an ATV (note to my friends who need a reason to buy and ATV), you can pretty much find as many huckleberries as you simply by taking a little ride.
If there’s a regional food here, it’s not potatoes. It’s a variety of foods with huckleberries mixed in such as shakes, cakes, ice tea, pancake syrup, etc.
Bears love them and would not be inclined to share. It occurs to me that maybe bears are very much like brothers. I’m just sayin.
Bloody Bears
Thursday, August 27th, 2009From time to time when walking in the woods you may come across an old log that has been torn to shreds. Below is an example:
It was pointed out to me by a friend (who most likely wasn’t pulling my leg) that bears like to eat the bugs in old logs. So, the rip them open like we would a banana and munch away. I thought to myself, “If they can do this to a log,” as I stood there looking at this log, “I can only imagine what they can do to people.” This thought was followed by take the shot and get out of there just in case someone comes back for desert.
My friend further surmised that there was some red residue on it in spots on the wood. If you look closely you can see it in the above image but here’s a better shot:
That would be blood. Bear blood to be exact. I guess a bears pain threshold is higher than his desire to eat. Now if you’re standing over a bloody log knowing this it’s quite unnerving. And that’s how the story ends because I didn’t stick around much longer.
Mother Moose and Papmoose
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009Our neighbors didn’t realize it when they were walking in the woods below our house, but they gave us a nice gift. Jenny said this was the best view of mooses that she’s seen. Here’s the mother moose and a papmoose (Jenny’s play on the word papoose).
Sunsets are not so common
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009When you live on the East side of a mountain, sunsets are quite a treasure. Some friends and I made it a point to ride up a mountain in the evening where we knew we’d get a shot of a sunset. We then got to ride down a mountain and back to our trailers in the dark but it was worth the view.
Red Sun Rising
Monday, August 3rd, 2009Where there’s fire, there’s smoke. And as a result of some wild fires in British Columbia (180 miles away), we’ve got a haze from smoke filling the air and the sunrise this morning was striking at how red it was.
Note to self – Remember August of 09
Monday, August 3rd, 2009Reminder: Put the yellowjacket traps out in April of 2010! This way you have a chance at catching the queens. Here’s a shot of one of two traps I put out about 2 hours prior to taking this shot! Thankfully, we’ve easily put a big dent in some nests around the area – these traps work great!
Click to enlarge