Huckleberry Madness

I love huckleberries......not eating them, although they are delicious. My obsession is hunting them. Stalking the wily, elusive huckleberry is one of my most favorite pastimes. Late in August or early September my precious, and very patient husband and I, head on up the mountain to at least 4500 ft. elevation to start the search. We always check out last year's prime spots first. Sometimes that works out great. Other times it's only the beginning of many frustrating hours of slim pickings...We have learned never to give up and think 'it's just a bad huckleberry year' the way we used to. No, we trudge on...until finally...pay dirt! A steep hillside (huckleberry bushes seem to shy away from flat ground) covered with waist high bushes dripping with burgundy colored berries. No, maybe more like Shiraz colored berries. Either way I am in heaven! My husband, not so much, but at least the search is over, for now. I strap on my huckleberry bucket, a secret family design passed down to me from my father. The bucket consists of a 1 gallon milk jug, top cut out, the handle threaded through your belt. Genius! Next the crazy quest for the perfect bush begins.