You should come prepared for any serious picking. There's no point in reminiscing about a childhood experience on what passed for a mountaintop back East, covered in acres of blueberries growing waist-high to a 12-year-old on even, dry sandy soil. In Juneau, the best berries do not remain long on any trail nor live on level ground. Unless you are driving from spot to spot along the side of the road, dress appropriately.

Long sleeves and heavy pants might be warm for the weather but offer good protection against insects, prickly spruce and thorny devil's club. Gloves are great. Heavy shoes help. Some people only feel safe when they carry a big gun, but my favorite way to ward off potential browsing black bears is to sing so as not to catch them unaware.

The vessel of choice for best collection is a small bucket with a handle that can hang from an arm. This leaves both hands free for picking, and it can be set down easily or even hung from branches while the berries are dropped in. Especially important with delicate fruit, a bucket will not crush them as badly.

The bucket also is handy once picking is done, if there are actually any berries left from the walk back. Just fill it with water and all sorts of things will float to the top. Please note that none of this stuff is actually harmful, especially if you are picking blueberries and huckleberries. Nevertheless, expect plenty of worms. You don't notice the extra protein when you eat as you pick, do you? But if you are serving your berries to friends, especially to vegetarians, you'll want to soak the berries, agitate them, and pick out the worms a few times over. Dry them off to prevent yeast bloom and fermentation.

While there's no end to the things to do with all these berries, most people I know can pick all day and still end up with not even enough for a batch of ice cream or a pie because they are so hard to resist en route. With what remains, it is still possible to enjoy a simple and delightful wild berry dessert of shortcakes to share with the people who stayed behind or fished for supper.

For wild berry shortcakes, add some sugar or honey to clean, dry berries to taste. Allow them to sit with the sugar for a few hours or overnight. Layer berries with whipped cream between your choice of sliced sweet biscuits or cake. Top with some more whipped cream and berries and dig in. It's still summer, after all!