Bears and Blueberries on the Gunflint Trail

The blueberry crop this year has been disappointing. First the very wet spring was to blame and then too many days of hot sunshine dried out the few berries there were. Combine that with all of the extremely large piles of bear poop I have seen in our favorite blueberry patches and it’s not a big surprise it hasn’t been good picking.

Good picking for blueberries is somewhat a personal opinion. I like to be able to grab a clump of ripe berries at one time and dislike having to pluck one individual berry at a time. It isn’t as much fun when it takes forever to cover the bottom of a bucket and your back is aching before it’s half full.

I am thinking the USFS might have to plan a few prescribed burns to create some good patches like some people used to do in the “olden” days. Or I’m going to have to go over to Ely where the Pagami Fire raged through the woods.

It’s still nice to be outside in the fresh air and however few blueberries I pick it’s still better than none.