Huckleberries - Visiting Glacier in July 2022

The park is opening up, and Montana's most famous plant is ripening. In this bonus episode, a quick look at current conditions in Glacier, and some helpful trip planning information if you're coming to the park soon.

Vehicle Reservation Information: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gtsrticketedentry.htm

Current Conditions & Construction: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

The Glacier National Park Conservancy: https://glacier.org/

The park is opening up, and Montana's most famous plant is ripening. In this bonus episode, a quick look at current conditions in Glacier, and some helpful trip planning information if you're coming to the park soon.

Vehicle Reservation Information: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gtsrticketedentry.htm

Current Conditions & Construction: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

The Glacier National Park Conservancy: https://glacier.org/

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TRANSCRIPT:

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Lacy: Headwaters is brought to you by the Glacier National Park Conservancy.

Peri: Could you tell me what it's like in Glacier right now?

Voice #1: Beautiful, but buggy.

Voice #2: It's very hot and dry.

Voice #3: Buggy, and hot.

Voice #2: But then, depending on where you go, you can also be hiking over snow within the same hour.

Peri: It's July in Glacier, and after a pretty cold and wet spring, it's finally getting warm -- it's going to hit 90 this week. And so for some people, the true arrival of summer means hiking in the high country or going paddleboarding or canoeing on the lakes. But for me, it means one thing: huckleberries.

Peri: [distant] They kind of like to hide on undersides of the plants. You have to kind of flip them over to find what you're looking for. [gasps] There's one!

Peri: Huckleberries usually ripen in early- or mid-July at the lower elevations of the park, like where we are here in Apgar on the bike path, and then at higher elevations they're usually ripe into August.

Peri: My first huckleberry of the year. Mm. Little tart, probably a little on the early side.

Peri: They look a lot like blueberries and they are actually in the same genus, which is vaccinium, so even if you've never seen one before, you'll probably recognize them if you see them when you're out in the park. But they're a little bit more tart and they just taste a little bit different overall. But unlike blueberries, they are really difficult to domesticate. So if you eat a huckleberry, someone picked it.

Peri: This one's a little darker purple, so maybe it will be a little sweeter. Still pretty tart. Maybe the first huckleberries of the year are always pretty tart.

Peri: Generally everyone that comes here knows to bring bear spray and snacks and plenty of water on hikes in the park. But during huckleberry season, I always bring one other thing, and that is a yogurt container. [sounds of berries dropping into a pail]

Peri: These are the perfect containers for picking huckleberries because they're exactly the right size. In Glacier, you're allowed to pick one quart of huckleberries per person, per day. And so once you fill up your yogurt container, you're good to go. You can take them home and bake them into pies or muffins or make jam if you're really industrious. Or you can freeze them to eat over the winter. Or if you're really impatient, you can just eat them right on the spot.

Peri: [gasps] Here's a nice, dark one. Hmm. That's more like it.

Peri: Huckleberries have always been a big deal here in Glacier. In our Two Medicine episode of Season One, we learned about traditional foods and how the Salish and Blackfeet people have used huckleberries since time immemorial. But by 1910, when the park was established, they were starting to become big business. Local canneries were buying and selling huckleberries, so there was a year round demand for them. And so for families throughout northwest Montana and beyond, huckleberry season was like a gold rush. People would take working vacations during the summer and go to the mountains and pick as many huckleberries as possible. Selling to canneries and to grocers paid really well, and it got a number of people through the Great Depression. In 1932, these pickers collected an estimated 20,000 gallons of huckleberries from the neighboring Flathead National Forest. And this trend was so noticeable that it sparked some debate within the Forest Service over whether huckleberries would be a more profitable use of Forest Service land here than timber.

Peri: And people still love huckleberries today. Wherever you go in Montana, you'll see huckleberry liquor, huckleberry syrup, huckleberry ice cream, even huckleberry chapstick. But they're also really important to wildlife. At least six different species of bumblebees pollinate huckleberries in Glacier, snowshoe hares and deer eat their leaves, and dozens of animals eat the berries. From small mammals to wasps and coyotes and of course, blackberries and grizzly bears. It's estimated that during peak season, huckleberries can make up over half of a grizzly bear's diet. And there's still a lot to learn. Researchers in the park are trying to figure out some huckleberry mysteries, from where they grow in the park, how they're responding to climate change, and figure out how huckleberries can influence human beer conflicts.

Peri: I love picking huckleberries. First of all, they're delicious. And they're also a convenient way to force everyone to take a break on a long uphill hike when you maybe need a break but don't want to ask for one. Oh, look at these huckleberries that we have to stop and pick. But most of all, I just find it really satisfying. I'm not trying to get anywhere. I'm not trying to accomplish anything. I'm just spending time out in the park, collecting food to enjoy and share with my friends.

Peri: I'm seeing a ton of unripe green berries on these bushes, so I'm hoping for a berry good berry year.

Peri: So that's a taste of what it's like in Glacier right now. Up next, we have some practical trip planning information. And if you stick around, we'll have the answer to a trivia question, which is: what percentage of visitors to Glacier come in the summer months?

Peri: So the big news as of today is that going to the sun road is fully open--.

Michael: Hooray!

All the way from West Glacier to St Mary.

Michael: That is wonderful news. I love biking up there when it's not open to cars, but it is nice to also not have to pedal so hard to reach it.

Peri: I feel like it also means that summer is finally here.

Michael: Summer's here. Okay. So I can drive up to Logan pass now and hike around.

Peri: Yes, you can go all the way over the pass and you can park at Logan Pass if you can get a spot. I recommend getting there early or just being patient, but definitely having a plan B.

Michael: Yeah, it's always busy up there.

Peri: Yes. And once you get a spot, you can go to the visitor center, which is now open and you can potentially go on a hike. That said, both the Hidden Lake trail and the Highline trail are sometimes late to open even once the road has opened.

Michael: Right. Just because we spent several months clearing all the snow off the road doesn't mean that the snow has been cleared off of the Highline, Hidden Lake and things.

Peri: Exactly. We definitely recommend checking the park website for current conditions before you come. Stopping at a visitor center to see what current conditions are. Or there's a new system that you can sign up for that will give you text alerts about openings and closures for the park roads, trails and campgrounds.

Michael: Yes, I was meaning to ask you about this. They're called Glacier National Park updates. How do they work?

Peri: So for each of those different categories, you send a text to 333111 to sign up. So for the trails, it's GNPTRAILS, for campgrounds it's GNPCGS, like campgrounds, and for road openings and closures, it's GNPROADS. And so you just send that to 333111 and you'll get those text updates.

Michael: Just a short little update like this trail is closed. So if you're coming soon, that would be really helpful.

Peri: Exactly. The service isn't always great in the park ,and it's good to know ahead of time there's no service in places like the North Fork and Many Glacier and Two Medicine. But especially if you're on the way here or driving around the park, you'll probably get a text here and there and it would be great to know.

Michael: Yeah, always nice to know before you get to the trailhead and find that it's closed.

Peri: Ideally!

Michael: Great. So that's the Glacier National Park update system. That's a good way to learn about current conditions in real time. Is there anything else you should know now that the road's fully open?

Peri: Well, a big change now that the road is fully open is that... So we have this vehicle reservation system for both the Going to the Sun Road corridor and for the North Fork. And now that the road is fully open, you need a vehicle reservation to enter the Going to the Sun Road both from the west side and from the east side.

Michael: So before it was fully open, you only needed a vehicle reservation if you were entering West Glacier, but now on the east side you need to show one... Where does it start over there?

Peri: So it's at Rising Sun, so you can still access the first several miles of Going to the Sun Road on the east side without a reservation. But to go past Rising Sun, you need a vehicle reservation.

Michael: Okay. They're valid for three days of entry along going to Sun Road corridor.

Peri: Right. And the North Fork ones are valid for one day of entry.

Michael: Gotcha. Okay. It's intended to help manage congestion in the park and help people be able to plan around more concrete dates for their trip. So how do you get one?

Peri: So to get one you go on to recreation.gov at 8 a.m. mountain time.

Michael: Mountain time.

Peri: ...the day before you want your reservation.

Michael: Gotcha.

Peri: And make sure you log on right at 8:00, maybe 7:50, 7:55 to make sure you're in there and you understand the system to make sure you get one when they're released at 8:00.

Michael: Okay, that's how you snag one. But if for whatever reason you can't get one, you can still access Going to the Sun Road outside of like peak hours, right? What are those?

Peri: Exactly. So the Going to the Sun Road vehicle reservation is in place between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Michael: Okay.

Peri: So outside of that, you can access the road.

Michael: Gotcha.

Peri: One thing to be aware of is that they're doing construction during the night on the west side of the Going to the Sun Road between Apgar and Sprague Creek Campground.

Michael: So the road is fully open to vehicles, completely open for the season, and yet there is a nightly construction closure that would make it very difficult to get back if you're on the wrong side at 10 p.m.

Peri: Yes, it's between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Okay. So definitely plan for that and don't get stuck on the wrong side because you can drive around. But it is a ways.

Michael: Turns what is a 20 minute drive into a three hour drive.

Peri: So not recommended.

Michael: Not recommended.

Peri: So if you've got all that down, you have your vehicle reservation or you know where to get one, you know how to avoid the construction closures and you know where to get current information about road and trail closures, you're ready to go.

Michael: Yeah. You're an expert!

Peri: Ready to enjoy summer in Glacier.

Michael: Totally. Links to all of this information will be in our show notes if you need them. But this is a cool time during the summer because if you can get to Logan in early, mid, late July, there's still some snow around. And, you know, walking on snow in the middle of July is pretty crazy.

Peri: Pretty unusual.

Michael: But also, I would warn pretty dangerous because the worst sunburn I've ever gotten was from sunlight beating down from above and also reflecting off the snow. So that was a lesson I don't need to learn twice.

Peri: And whether or not you're on snow, it is peak summer here. So just be prepared with sunscreen, sun hat, sunglasses. Make sure you're drinking lots of water, eating salty snacks. Make safe choices.

Michael: Yeah. Come prepared and have a great trip!

Peri: That's our show. Thanks for listening. If you made it this far, you know that our trivia question was what percentage of visitors to Glacier come during the summer months? Which is May to October for us. And the answer is 95%. So if you come during the winter, you're pretty special. Thanks, as always, to the Glacier National Park Conservancy, who makes these mini episodes possible as well as season three, which we're hard at work out right now. If you haven't already, check out season one and season two. And enjoy your visit to Glacier.