I love huckleberries... not too too sweet... and tiny so you feel a sense of accomplishment when you pick and eat a handful. Once upon a time I had the good fortune to live within an hour's range of Mt. Rainier.But even if it was longer, I would've gone just as often. I definitely didn't take it for granted. It and a college friend and "Here Come the Brides" are the things that brought my imagination - and my body along - to Washington State. What a gorgeous area, the huge square Mt. Rainier National Park, and every angle and environs around the mountain take in the diversity of nature. From waterfalls and hills of wildflowers to old growth forest with trees old enough to be your greatGREAT grandmother. And so large around... fun to take the circular walk... also plains of snow and ice caves and glaciers... Oh my! A dear friend and I used to go to pick huckleberries there. There was this one cool spot we used to go to - on a slant, elevated quite high, with grasses and flowers of some sort anytime but winter as far as the eye could see... sorta - it's a mountain, ok? So you can see pretty far is what I'm aiming at here. There was also the occasional big log plunked down in the perfect spot to sit and rest after one or another phase of the picking cycle. Huckleberries are beautiful little spritely berries. Not quite sour... easy to pick, but it takes hours to get anything respectable. :)I remember my friend, N.H., teaching me to stop every so many minutes to shout "Bear!" "Bear!" so they don't accidentally stumble upon you and get... er... surprised. I have such wonderful memories of the two of us, at slightly different altitudes, shouting "Bear!" and smiling at each other with hearts beating a tiny bit faster, standing on a hill of grass, old logs, and dense flowers, looking around at the gorgeous day and where we were, and being happy.