Huckleberries in Montana

Montana Moments: An Ode to the Huckleberry

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Huckleberry, oh huckleberry, you delicious, juicy treat,

A fruit by any other name is nary quite as sweet.

How did I go 28 years without you in my life?

It’s my own damn fault for not visiting Montana sooner, where your burgeoning bushes thrive.

Fudge and ice cream sandwiches and melt-in-your-mouth huck pie,

Lollipops, marinade and even chapstick—your diversity is not a lie!

It may be awhile until we meet again,

But you’ll always be in my heart—and stomach—you pretty purple friend.

*****

Travel tip: While huckleberries were, literally, everywhere we looked in Montana and parts of Wyoming, the Huckleberry Patch in Hungry Horse might very well have been one of my favorite stops throughout our entire road trip!

COMMENTS
  • August 3, 2011

    Girl, you know just what to say.

    Although huckleberry lip balm? For anyone who is wondering… huckleberry syrup is incredible.

    Here’s to purple power!

    • August 3, 2011
      Kristin

      I think anything branded with huckleberry is OK by me. Funny enough, I think the syrup is the one thing we DIDN’T try (mainly because we had just bought mixed berry syrup in Wyoming and that shit’s expensive!).

  • August 3, 2011

    I need to catch up on my berry knowledge. Never knew huckleberrys were real. never seen one. never eaten one. never smelled one. looks like a bluberry incognito to me. that ice cream looks good… nom nom nom nom

    • August 3, 2011
      Kristin

      It’s like a combination between a blueberry and a strawberry, only the most delicious fruity morsel you likely will ever taste in your lifetime! I highly recommend it =)

  • August 3, 2011

    Hehe, I didn’t realize they existed either which would explain why I thought the post was going to be about Huckleberry Finn!

    • August 3, 2011
      Kristin

      Or Huckleberry Hound!

      (Yes, they totally exist and will be haunting my dreams until I find them again!)

  • August 3, 2011
    RebeccaD.

    Commented before on living in N. Idaho… have to jump in again… We have a tiny cheezy theme park – Silverwood, a little north of CDA… They had the BEST huckleberry cheesecake ice cream. I dream of it to this day and its been 15 years since I’ve eaten it! SOOOOOO stinkin’ good!

    • August 3, 2011
      Kristin

      I had huckleberry ice cream…and huckleberry cheesecake fudge…but never huckleberry cheesecake ice cream! My life has new purpose!

  • August 3, 2011
    Sarah Gabriel

    Hey Kristin! I laughed as I read this. My boyfriend recently went to visit family in Montana (Whitefish and Eureka) and he brought me back Huckleberry chapstick and jam! Love that stuff!

    • August 3, 2011
      Kristin

      That’s hilarious! I had the jam (yum) but not the chapstick…but I imagine it tastes a lot like Lipsmackers!

  • August 3, 2011

    I’ve never seen a Huckleberry. I learned something new today.

    • August 3, 2011
      Kristin

      They look a lot like blueberries but taste SO much sweeter. Huck pie is pretty much the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.

  • August 3, 2011

    I have some huckleberry lotion that I savor…and still have after two years from my trip to Montana.

  • August 3, 2011

    Love them huckleberries. Used to pick them in WA state. Had a small bag get buried to the back of the fridge and when discovered, they had fermented. Oh la la. Sure wish someone would sell me some huckleberry liquor.

    • August 3, 2011
      Kristin

      I didn’t even think to try the liquor! Damn. Now I need to plan a trip back, stat.

      • August 3, 2011

        They have it and you didn’t try it? What’s up with that? Maybe we should meet there for a toast.

        • August 3, 2011
          Kristin

          I’m clearly a huckleberry failure–I didn’t even see that! Yes, I’d toast to (and with) some huck liquor!

  • August 3, 2011

    I should have known you’d be a poet, too. =)

    • August 4, 2011
      Kristin

      When it comes to food, I have been known to wax poetic at times… ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • August 4, 2011

    #Jealous.

    I’m always wanted to visit Montana. Something about sweeping landscapes and that deliciousness right up there. I need that.

    • August 4, 2011
      Kristin

      It’s so hard to reach from the South/East Coast! I’d been trying to make it here since I was a teen, but airfare was always so pricey, which is why we made a mission to visit Wyoming and Montana by car before we were no longer Californians.

  • August 4, 2011

    I– like the others who have commented– have never tasted a huckleberry. This place looks amazing though, and I do love the color purple. Are those huckleberry and white chocolate covered pretzels? They look delicious. ๐Ÿ™‚

    • August 4, 2011
      Kristin

      That is exactly what those are! Sadly, I didn’t try them–though a general rule of thumb is I like anything pretzel with a sweet coating!–as I had already filled my basket with all sorts of other huckleberry wares =)

  • August 4, 2011
    sbc

    Oh how I love this post! Huckleberry soft serve while sitting on the deck at Many Glacier is one of my favorite things ever! You can also order some delicious huckleberry preserves from http://www.evagates.com/ , if you ever need a huckleberry fix. I don’t even like preserves much, but those are really good. Also, if you are like me huckleberry vodka can really hit the spot ๐Ÿ™‚

    • August 6, 2011
      Kristin

      Huckleberry vodka chased by huckleberry preserves? This website is dangerous; you just opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me… =)

      (Also, the Gravatar my blog assigned you looks like a huckleberry does it not? Irony…or Fate?)

      • August 7, 2011
        sbc

        definitely fate… ๐Ÿ™‚ luckily in real life I do not resemble a huckleberry.

  • August 5, 2011

    Uhm, those bear claws look RIDICULOUS. And this is strange, but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a huckleberry….

    • August 6, 2011
      Kristin

      They seem to be very common in Montana and Wyoming but nowhere else. I’m surprised you didn’t encounter them growing up in Oregon, but some people say they’ve picked them there, other Oregonians say they’ve never seen them in their lives. Who to listen to? ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • August 5, 2011

    Wow. That’s a LOT of huckleberryโ€ฆ

    • August 6, 2011
      Kristin

      And I was not happy to share a single bite of my pie either!

  • August 5, 2011
    Vicki

    Where I grew up, in western WA, huckleberries were and are everywhere!!!!!!!!! Along country roads for the red ones, under the timber cover for the evergreen (blue) ones, and in the foothills of the mountains for the blue deciduous that are most like “blueberries”. Family outings for the last ones included bear safety lessons, as our ursine friends like them, as well. It seems strange to me to see all this hyperbole in the commercial world. All these berries are in the same family – interestingly the same family as rhododendrons and azaleas.

    • August 6, 2011
      Kristin

      I’m seriously thinking I might need to buy a share in one of these huckleberry farms in Washington or Montana…the funny thing is that I haven’t actually eaten a plane huckleberry, only huck products! None of them were growing on the bushes while we were there due the cold and the fact that the season isn’t until August.

      • August 7, 2011
        Vicki

        Interesting, Kristin. I have NEVER eaten commercially prepared huckleberry products. I am only familiar w/ au naturale. However, for the best of the West for flavor – it is the little wild blackberry that reigns supreme. That is another PNW native, not commercially marketed. Marionberry comes closest to that for flavor. We don’t have “huckleberry” farms, only blueberry. Like so many things, it IS a matter of personal preferences and, often, childhood experiences and memories.

  • August 7, 2011

    I’m visiting the Rockies this fall and I was told, under no circumstances whatsoever, was I to leave the region without trying a Huckleberry milkshake. Did you ever give that a try along with the pie?

    This could be a problem for me too, as I’m a milkshake addict. I fear I’ll try one and then never come home. ๐Ÿ˜€

  • August 7, 2011

    And now I’m hungry!! Who knew the abundance of uses for the fruit!

  • August 8, 2011

    YUM! I went many years without trying it either- and now I’m hooked!

  • August 8, 2011

    Your hoodie even matches, love it!

  • June 17, 2014

    GAH. My favorite berries in all the land!

  • February 13, 2017
    harry

    awesome certainly be using VivaVideo Free Video clip http://vivavideomaker.com play VivaVideo Free Video clip Editor on computer nice.

  • April 16, 2017

    GAH. My favorite berries in all the land!

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