Of Foraging or Hunting and Gathering

Mommy and Daddy took me to the Olympic Rainforest in the Olympic National Park. According to the signs along the trail this is one of the only temperate rainforests in the world. You can read more about what a temperate rain forest is here. I wasn't really sure what they were except that they aren't tropical and they are very wet, getting over 100in of rain a year. This particular place gets about 15 feet a year. We stayed at the Lake Quinalt Lodge which is right on Lake Quinalt. It was a very pretty place and very green. We went for a 3 mile hike near the lodge. I hiked nearly the whole thing except for just a little at the end. There was a lot to eat along the way that my daddy fed me. Here are some pictures of the wild things I ate.

This is a wild Huckleberry - very yummy.

Here is a handfull of Huckleberries my dad gave me to eat.

Here's what wild Huckleberries (Vaccinium parvifolium) look like on the bush.

I also ate lots of wild blueberries. These are my favorite. Fortunately there were lots on the trail.

Daddy giving me some blueberries that he picked.

This is known as a "Highbush Blueberry" (Vaccinium corymbosum) which means that I couldn't reach the fruit so daddy had to pick them for me.

There were also some yellowish berries called Salmon Berries (Rubus spectabilis). These were kind of tart and sometimes bitter - probably because daddy picked them a little early. But I liked them anyway because they are a fruit.

Up close Salmon Berries on the bush. They look a lot like raspberries but different.

Here is an actual wild raspberry bush. I always thought they were called rasberries, but I guess I was wrong.

I like wild Raspberries (Rubus idaeus), but Blueberries are still the best.

Here's a handful of yummy raspberries

Elderberries (Sambucus callicarpa) look yummy but they taste really icky. Mommy and Daddy say they are good for something called wine. I think wine is a bad thing because they yell at me whenever I do it when I don't get my way.

Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridus) is something you don't eat unless you are a trained professional. We weren't but you can be if you read this article. Not that it looks at all tasty, but just in case you were tempted check out the picture below.

If the spines and thorns on the stalks and leaves weren't enough then perhaps the spikes facing upwards and downwards on the leaf surfaces are enough to get the message across that this plant doesn't want to be eaten.

There were lots of ferns growing along the trail. These Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant) were my favorites. Though one should, as a rule, not eat ferns - unless, of course, one is a deer. They are still nice to look at.

When in a pinch you could eat some of this Oregon Oxalis (Oxalis oregana). It doesn't taste that great and has a lot of oxalic acid in it. I like the fruits better. This plant was all over in the rain forest.