Carpe Diem! Wild Huckleberries at Index, WA

Yesterday we escaped to the woods to search for wild huckleberries. The thing about running a restaurant and catering company, especially of barbecue, is that while everyone else is enjoying the summer, weekends, nights and holidays, we are working our tails off. Eric and I don't get many days off together, so when the chance presented itself to take the kids berry picking, we seized the moment. We have 2 acres and an uninhabitable shack in the woods just outside of Index, WA.

The heady scents of pine, ferns, and berries helped me stop and breath deeply. There is no cell service, no power, and the only running water is the rushing North Fork of the Skykomish River. Bliss.

Index is just off Highway 2, before Skykomish and Steven's Pass. Surrounded by the Wild Sky Wilderness and mountains, it is sandwiched between the river and the railroad, two reasons it was a boom town during the gay '90s. Read more about the town and history on the Index, WA website.

We picked off the early huckleberry bushes. Many have yet to produce or ripen. The tart red or blue berries make excellent tarts and sauces for desserts or pork. We picked just enough to make a small tart, after we'd eaten our fill. Tomorrow I hope to post a recipe. We have a zillion caterings to do or prep for today, but the afternoon is slated for tart-makin'. Enjoy some of the pictures of our day.

Not many of X's berries made it home.

Blue huckleberries especially like to grow on nurse logs.View of Jump Off Peak. Daisies growing in the small amount of sand between the river rocks.