Lost Lake Blueberries and Huckleberries

Plump high bush blueberries



Ryan in an alpine blueberry/huckleberry patch



Ann Marie in a lovely alpine blueberry patch



Huckleberries and blueberries

I know that I said Bold Ridge had the best blueberry patch I had ever seen, but I may have spoken too soon. The Lost Lake Trail actually has the best blueberry patches you can imagine, and they're high bush too! These high bush blueberries are not only at convenient heights for picking, they are the biggest blueberries I've ever seen in the wild. They rival cultivated ones.

To make the weekend even better, I discovered that huckleberries grow along the Lost Lake Trail as well. I didn't even know we had huckleberries in this part of Alaska! I've been missing huckleberries from Washington for the last couple of years so I am happy to know I can pick them only a couple of hours from home. I'm already planning my next trip!


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Lost Lake Overnight Mountain Bike Trip

We had an incredible weekend mountain biking the Lost Lake Trail near Seward. The weather was absolutely fantastic with the exception of a little wind. I had never been on the Lost Lake Trail before, but for some reason I agreed to bike it on my fancy new mountain bike. I've never really mountain biked anything except normal dirt roads and ATV trails, and a few single track trails around Anchorage and Palmer...so why I agreed to do this I have no idea. However, I survived and had a great time.

We started on the Primrose side. The trail has some big roots, many of which we had to push our bikes over, but it really wasn't terrible until the last little stretch before you break into the alpine. At that point I was not having a great time. Nor did I take any photos, mostly because I was too busy cursing all the gear on my bike. But, there were convenient distance markers every half mile from the Lost Lake trail race earlier in the day that kept me going. Once we got into the alpine though the riding was exactly what I was hoping for. If you watch any YouTube videos of biking Lost Lake Trail, they are likely to be of this section because it's awesome.

My cousin and a friend of ours hiked the trail and met us at the lake and we all camped out together. This was the first time we've loaded up our bikes with racks and panniers with all of our camping gear. I think I had about 15 lbs and Ryan a little more. I was surprised at how well my bike handled with all the weight and I am really, really glad Ryan decided I need a real mountain bike this summer!

 The riding down to the Seward side the next day was awesome. The trail turned into a bit of a super highway though of hikers and bikers and our bear bells ended up being really handy for announcing our presence.

The Blueberry Motherlode

Last Thursday night I almost posted about how we found the best blueberry patch we have ever seen up at Mile High Pass. I'm glad I didn't because on Saturday we found a blueberry patch that blows the first one out of the water. I will venture to give this amazing location away because a) I doubt many people will get this far out just to pick blueberries and b) I am sure there are a gazillion other places with just as many berries.

Bold Ridge is the place. We biked the first five miles along the Eklutna Lakeside Trail, and then hiked up to Bold Ridge. It was a little rainy, all the vegetation was wet, and we got completely soaked. As soon as we broke into the alpine we started to see blueberries...lots of them. And then when we came to the most amazing patch I have ever seen, we dropped our packs and started picking. In about three hours we had picked two gallons.

On our way home on Sunday we picked two quarts of watermelonberries on our way down the trail, and a few handfuls of raspberries. I've probably said this before too, but the watermelonberries were the biggest I've ever seen!

Watermelonberries in the Alpine

Despite having already spent two berry seasons picking blueberries and crowberries in the mountains around Eagle River, I saw watermelonberries in the alpine for the first time today. They weren't just any watermelonberries, these were particularly plump and sweet ones. I have always thought of watermelonberries as growing in damp areas - in Kodiak they often grow in the alders. Even though I did find them on Mount Baldy last year, they were far from the alpine zone. It was just such a surprise to find them so high on a mountain were they were surrounded by blueberries, crowberries, and other shrubs.

We only picked watermelonberries to eat tonight. Mostly we were on a blueberry mission, but next time I may go for the watermelonberries instead.

Watermelonberries, blueberries, and crowberries

Currants

The red currants near our condo are not as plentiful as they were last year, but they are absolutely still worth picking. They love to grow in thick deadfall, which can make picking a bit treacherous. Highbush cranberries are also abundant in this area (as they are in most of Southcentral Alaska). Even though I consider myself and expert berry identifier, I still find myself occasionally reaching for a cranberry when I think I'm getting a currant. There are just so many of both, growing so close together, that you really have to stay focused to stick with one type of berry!

Red currants on the right in the foreground, highbush cranberries in the background

When we were hiking Crow Pass we encountered black currants. I've seen these before near Fairbanks - the bushes are more burly and thorny, the berries are fuzzy, and they taste terrible. They seem most likely to be the prickly currant (Ribes lacustre). Today down by the river near our condo, Ryan came upon a different type of black currant - the berries are smooth and the leaves are more light green. I believe they are northern black currants (Ribes hudsonanium). Unfortunately the berries also taste rank. It's too bad because there were tons of them. I hear of people making syrups and sauces with black currants, but I wonder if anyone really does it with wild ones, or if the cultivated variety have been selectively bred enough that they taste tolerable.

northern black currants

Berry Season

We are making an effort to harvest plenty of berries this year. The last few years we have done well in the mountains around Eagle River but missed out on the blue berries at the cabin in Talkeetna. This year I have a little hiatus in field work so we took the opportunity to bike to the cabin and pick a few berries. The berries could still use a little more time to ripen but they are pretty good.

Getting ice cream in town before we hit the trail. 

Curious Ermine

In the blueberry bushes. 

Berry Season in Eagle River

Watermelonberries

The berries are ripening about a week or two early here and I am not ready! We still have three jars of jam/jelly from last year! It's been a chore getting through everything I put up last year (and I gave tons away too), but it's a hardship I'm willing to endure.

Even though I've been in Eagle River for two years now, and have spent a lot of time picking berries, I am still discoveries new berries and new environments they grow in. While hiking Crow Pass we saw highbush blueberries on the Girdwood side, lowbush blueberries in the alpine, watermelonberries EVERYWHERE, raspberries and currants along the river, and even a few black currants (which are not tasty). It goes without saying that there were also unripe highbush cranberries everywhere.

Have you ever seen this many watermelonberries in one place? I have not.

Wild raspberries

Red currants

Black currants

Crow Pass

Crow Pass has been on our list of backpacking trips we've wanted to do since we moved to Eagle River. We finally had the chance this weekend. Despite getting slammed by a cold, I decided I'd rather be miserable while outside than miserable laying around my house when it's sunny and 75 degrees. With a good dose of cold medicine, we set out late Saturday morning after Ann Marie gave us a ride to the trailhead in Girdwood.

The entire trail, but especially the Girdwood side, was crawling with people. I think we all get frantic to enjoy the great weather while it's here. We made it to Eagle River (the actual river, not the town) by the evening. We knew there would be tons (by Alaska standards) of people camped out by the river waiting to cross in the morning when the water is low. Instead of heading toward the ford site like it looked like most people were doing, we bushwhacked down river just a little ways and found a fantastic secluded campsite. Based on the amount of moss and lichen growing in the fire ring, I don't think anyone had used it in many years.

The river was a few inches lower in the morning and we had no problem crossing at the designated ford site. It was thigh-deep at the most.

It was awesome to end our hike just a twenty minute drive from our house. We are lucky trails like this are right in our backyard.



Raven Glacier



The blue moon at 6:45 this morning






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