Huckleberries, Bear Grass, Blue Point Summit, and a Bear

Rattlesnake Recreation Area, Lolo National Forest, Montana

Less than 30 minutes from front door to trailhead I decided to see what Blue Point looked like in the summer. Found it was not the ridge I thought it was the past 2 winters and that it really looks blue when you see it from a distance, and it's not covered in snow.

On the way to the summit of the point I found a great patch of huckleberries, juicy and ripe. Had to stop and pick some, and may need to go back in a day or two to really fill up on them for the freezer. As they are 5 miles from the trailhead I don't think I am in any danger of losing out to someone else.

Lots of wildlife, birds and butterflies and one of the most amazing displays of blooming Bear Grass I have seen. Probably the best I have ever seen and it covered the entire upper ridge for almost a mile.

On the way back to the trailhead and the truck, while I knew I had a bunch of freshly picked Huckleberries in my pack, I ran across a good sized (a bit bigger than me) cinnamon colored black bear who was ripping an old log apart. I startled it and then he quickly climbed a really big tree and then just got a bit agitated as it stood on the first set of branches. First time I have ever had a bear huff and pop his jaws at me. After a bit of a standoff I made a detour that was a bit out of my way and added about a 1/2 mile to my days trip. Funny how I see more bears in the Rattlesnake than I do in Glacier. I did get a few good pictures of him and one video as well. He was one focused bear.