Anyone been to the high country yet? Still too much snow?

[JackOfAllTrades]

With all this sun I have to imagine that the snow is melting or has melted on many high meadows. Locally the Nooksack looks to be flowing well, but the USGS graphs show it to be well below average water flow. Timing of snow melting off the south, east and west slopes really affects the Blueberry sprout timing. I've come into some good Salmon berry patches recently in low lands, so this sun has really been a plus. But has anyone seen what the Blues are doing up high? (Yes, it's early for them, I'm just currious how they look.)  Most of the photos of Bears so far this year have been Bears eating grasses. The one and only time I've been in the woods above 3,000' I've noticed some torn up stumps.

-Steve

[Skyvalhunter]

I have noticed quite a bit of blueberry blooms up high on some of the south facing slopes. Should be a good year with not much late frost and warmer spring. Although up by me in the Central Cascades there is still a fair amout of snow in the timber and North sides of the ridges.

[saylean]

Bear I was watching the other week was at about 3600 ft, eating blooming flowers and buds...not alot of sign up there that I have seen, but I know there are a few up there. This was in snoqualmie.

[Skyvalhunter]

Yea 2 weekends ago I was up by Stevens pass and seen a decent brown phased bear getting water out of the inlet to a culvert. Went hiking a couple thousand feet above him but the greens werent quite out yet but the berries were starting probably why the bear was down lower in elevation

[runamuk]

We are going up this weekend in the Olympics.....last night I was eating blackberries, huckleberries and salmon berries in the Capitol forest.... we found a bunch of blueberries about a week ago that weren't quite ripe.....

[jackelope]

3' of snow under 5k feet facing north on fathers day.

[boneaddict]

huckleberries already?

[Skyvalhunter]

  sems early

[runamuk]

huckleberries already?

red ones .....on certain slopes down low yeppers

[boneaddict]

I guess on the eastside I never really understood red huckleberries.  To me a red huckleberry is one that isn't ripe yet.   I wonder if I just called them something different, or maybe we don't have them

[Skyvalhunter]

yea Bone over here on the wet side we have the red huckleberries that ripen earlier(didn't realize this early) compared to the blue huckleberries.

[runamuk]

Here is a wiki link there are pictures there

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_parvifolium

as a kid I picked enough of these to convince my dad to make a small batch of champagne from them..... that was a heck of a lot of picking......I believe he had enough to make 4 bottles...lol....

[JackOfAllTrades]

Still seems early to have Huck's on the west side...

-Steve

[boneaddict]

How do they compare in taste Run? 

[runamuk]

How do they compare in taste Run? 

never had blue huckleberries only blueberries ...lol... the red hucks are sort of sour/acidic.....but not as sour as gooseberries.....