Berries: The Valley's blue bounty

MAT-SU – There is no finer taste in the world than an Alaska blueberry picked and eaten while lounging on the tundra in the autumn sun. This is an indisputable truth, sitting alongside other bits of natural law like gravity and inertia, and the fact that Carrs in Palmer makes the best cheese rolls. If this time of year slips by and I haven’t eaten a blueberry right off the branch then I know something is seriously wrong. This simple and perfect act reinvigorates my attachment to this great land and somehow makes it all right that winter is coming soon.

Vaccinium uliginosum. The bog blueberry. Gegashla in the local Dena’ina language. Interestingly, it is not usually the Alaskan blueberry that we are after – this is the higher bush relative of the berry that rules the tundra and flavors my pancakes and ice cream. You can find the berries across southcentral Alaska, as long as you are up above tree line and get a little lucky. They are simple enough for kids to identify, with their vibrant blue color and oval leaves. The only lookalike that throws some folks is the crowberry, and its bitterness, dark color and needle-like leaves ensure that this doesn’t happen often.

My first memory of blueberry picking was near Gold Mint trail in Hatcher Pass. Although the berries were undoubtedly divine, the singular event that sticks in my pre-adolescent mind from that outing was that my younger brother had somehow completely submerged himself in what looked to be an innocuous and shallow puddle. After ensuring that he was still in fact breathing, we headed home. I still secretly hold it against him.

Nowadays the Gold Mint patch is usually completely devastated by the time I start thinking berries. It’s the low hanging fruit in the Valley blueberry universe and so each year I wander elsewhere in search of berry perfection. Opportunities abound throughout Hatcher Pass, but you tend to need to get away from roads and the popular trails to find an especially rewarding density of berries. If my Facebook feed is to be believed, the hunt for the perfect picking spot is alive and while many folks have hung up their buckets for the season, there are still plenty of berries out there.

I’m always impressed with the berries to be found beneath Matanuska Peak if you wander up the trail at the end of Smith road. After a walk of about an hour or so, the alders give way to tundra and thick patches of berries abound. It is another undisputed fact that lounging beneath the towering Matanuska Peak with a belly full of blueberries is good for one’s soul. I find myself returning to this sacred place year after year.

Equally as bountiful and righteously gorgeous is the berry picking out Buffalo Mine Road midway up Arkose Ridge. I typically make this hike in mid-September with a fine group of friends aimed for the top – my fellow hikers can be seen bowing regularly to the blueberry gods, their minds caught between the temptation of the exquisite treat below and the struggle to keep up with the group. Eventually everyone gives in and our taste buds trump any sort of propellant to reach the top.

This year however, my wife and I decided to head a bit south for our yearly blueberry experience and go up Bear Point, the steep mountain just off the Glenn Highway above Mirror Lake. The trail starts at the Peter’s Creek Trailhead, which is at the end of some road that I always take the wrong turn trying to find. After winding through the subdivisions of Peter’s Creek, we set out down the trail, took the first left off the broad path and then climbed for about an hour. I should note that this trail and summit is deeply gorgeous. If you haven’t taken a trip up there yet, then you should. Really. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a steep climb and can be a harrowing descent when it’s raining, but hey, we’re Alaskans.

The top of Bear Point also happens to have an extremely high density of blueberries. The long flat ridge that overlooks the highway is so carpeted with them that there is a slight blue tint to the scene and as if that weren’t enough, on sunny days the mighty Denali pops into view. I can’t think of a better way to spend a day - indeed we lounged in the sun until it began to get dangerously close to the horizon, filling our bellies and water bottles, trying to take some of that Alaskan perfection home.

It’s only a matter of time before the termination dust creeps down the mountains and seals the blueberries under a cold blanket of snow for the winter. However, there is still time to get out there and harvest some of Alaska’s tastiest bounty. If you do pick, the Alaska Plant Materials Center asks that you not harvest more than 1/3 of the berries at the collection site – it’s a good neighbor that leaves some treasure behind for others, and a particularly good idea up here where many of our neighbors happen to be bears.

Pete LaFrance grew up in Palmer and has moved back to the area after a number of years living abroad.