We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.
This year was remarkable for the extra rain we had towards the end of summer and the result has been a better year than usual for mushrooms. Another result has been the abundance, size and juicyness of the glossy black berries on our evergreen huckleberry. In recent years they have tended to be quite small and somewhat dry and lacking in flavour, perhaps because the rains started later in those years. I have often pointed out that this species of shrub, Vaccinium ovatum, and sometimes called black huckleberry is actually quite uncommon in most of coastal BC. It's rare around Powell River and on the Sunshine Coast, but extremely abundant over much of Texada. The fruit is eaten by many birds including grouse, and mammals such as racoons and humans who find it sweet and tasty when gathered along hiking trails in the fall. My photo shows some heavily laden branches near our lunch spot on a recent hike.
JD.
The juicy ripe berries of Evergreen Huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum, in November
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