It was a berry picker’s delight on Saturday at Castle Mountain Resort. This location is often known for its ski hills and hundreds of people visited it in search of rare fruit.
Huckleberries aren’t easily found in southern Alberta, except in the high elevations of the mountain resort.
Castle Mountain’s sales and marketing manager Cole Fawcett said that the berries are abundant in areas like northern Montana, Idaho, and the interior of B.C. but not in Alberta.
“In southwestern Alberta, they’re quite rare, in fact, the castle region, Waterton and perhaps further north are the only places you can find them,” Fawcett said.
Since the mid-nineties hundreds of guests have visited the resort to enjoy the Huckleberry Festival in the summer months.
“Huckleberry Festival is the one day, literally the one day all summer we open up the huckleberry chair lift and spin it,” Fawcett said.
Many times, the picking adventures involve traversing the mountainous terrain in order to pick the berries as a subalpine region of elevation.
“If you’ve ever had huckleberries you’ll know that they’re worth the effort,” said Marie Cameron who has worked with Castle Mountain Resort for two decades.
She added this year’s crop isn’t quite as robust as previous years but noted the staff’s enthusiasm for the day makes up for any lacking’s.
“If their berry-picking bucket isn’t full their other bucket can be filled with the nature and the experience and the good jokes that I tell them here,” Cameron laughed. “The entertainment, the food… There are multiple opportunities for buckets to be filled today.”
The festival also featured music, a marketplace, and even games for kids.
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