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The Ultralight
Backpacking Site |
Edible Wild Berries
Edible wild berries are a regular part
of my backpacking meals. Why? They are delicious for starters
- at least some of them. They provide vitamins and enzymes that
are often missing in ordinary backpacking food. Ultralight backpackers
can go even lighter when they know there will be berries to eat
(I've eaten an entire meal of wild raspberries during a twenty-minute
break along a Colorado trail, for example).
Edible Wild Berries For Survival
It would be a good idea if anyone who goes
deep into the wilderness learned how to gather wild foods. You
can get lost, a bear can eat your food, and you can lose your
pack. Realistically, though, most people won't take the time
to learn wilderness survival skills. That is why edible wild
berries are such a blessing for all back country travelers.
Edible wild berries look and taste like
their domestic counterparts, meaning you can find safe food in
the wilderness without training or identification guides. If
you know what strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries
look like and taste like, then you can identify the wild varieties.
They'll be smaller, but just as full of flavor and nutrition.
When you have time, pick up a good identification
guide and go for a walk with it. If you learn a few new berries
a year, you'll feel more at home in the wild. On a day hike in
Glacier National Park, we ate wild blueberries, service berries,
rose hips, blackberries, strawberries, high-bush cranberries,
raspberries, thimbleberries and currants. It's a good feeling
to be in the mountains and know that there is food all around
you.
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Can you really fill up on edible wild berries?
Absolutely! Wild blueberries on rocky little islands in Lake
Superior kept a friend and I from going hungry during a kayaking
trip (we underestimated our food needs when packing). I did the
math, based on the calorie count per ounce, and found that we
could eat 500 calories of berries in an hour. With wild raspberries
in the Rocky Mountains, I found I could gather and eat 500 calories
in less than 30 minutes.
Start by tasting the next edible wild
berries you see. If it taste like a raspberry, it is a raspberry.
If it taste wrong, just spit it out. There are not many wild
berries that look like a raspberries, strawberries or blueberries,
and virtually no berries in North America that can poison you
from just a taste (except poison ivy berries - so avoid white
berries if you are unsure).
Actually, in most survival situations,
food is a low priority. You need to stay warm, hydrated and uninjured
above all. Still, there is a deep psychological comfort in being
able to provide food for yourself, and that confidence can
put you in a better state of mind for survival. For an easy introduction
to wild foods, and a great excuse for a break when backpacking,
learn to identify a few edible wild berries.
New! 50 pages of Edible
and Useful Plants.
The Ultralight
Backpacking Site | Edible Wild Berries |