Huckleberries: True friends share berries, Harry

I was introduced to flyfishing and huckleberrying by the late C. Patrick King on a Fourth of July weekend 30 years ago. At the time, Pat was publisher of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., and I was about to begin a five-year stint as his news editor and later managing editor, fresh from Northern California. He invited my wife and me to join his wife and him to pick huckleberries and fish behind the Hungry Horse Dam, north of Kalispell. That day remains one of the perfect days I’ve spent in the Northwest. It was also the only time that I know of that someone revealed his huckleberry spot to a relatively new acquaintance, before Wednesday when Huckleberries Online regular Stickman offered to show me his spot 20 minutes from CdA. “I have been pickin’ for a week now and already have a fridge full, plus 4 batches of that delicious Jam you once tried,” said the kindly Stickman. Reluctantly, I declined for two reasons: I couldn’t get off work in time to go with him. And another HBO regular, MamaJD, had dropped by earlier in the day to lend me her copy of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” ‘Twasn’t easy choosing between the H’s – Harry and huckleberries. But Stickman’s offer was appreciated nonetheless. I’ve tried for years to coax Seasoned Citizen Bob Eachon to tell me where he goes to pick huckleberries. In a weak moment, he slipped once. But it didn’t help. I still haven’t located No-Tellum Creek on a North Idaho map.