Berries are in season, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, thimbleberries, tayberries, boysenberries, blueberries, huckleberries, and even the everywhere-invasive Himalayan blackberries. You can pick your own berries along the roadside, you can buy them at the farmer’s markets, or in the Safeway. Even better, the last Saturday in July, you can visit the Westhaven Fire Department outside Trinidad, CA, and eat blackberry pie at the Wild Blackberry Festival.
I read that to actually purchase a pie, it would be good to arrive on the early side. We turned up in Westhaven about 10:30 am and found the road to the fire house was lined with parked cars and barely room to get through. Still, we had some parking karma and found a spot not too far from the entrance.
First things first, we got in the long line to purchase a pie to take home. When we got inside the sale room, pie boxes were piled high. We had our choice of blackberry or huckleberry, and since we rarely find more than a few huckleberries on bushes in the forest, a pie sounded terrific. I stowed the pie in the car while Jonathan got us slices of pie to eat right away. There’s nothing like pie and ice cream for breakfast. Sure enough, by 11:30 am, the only whole pies left for purchase were bake-at-home frozen pies.
Booths selling jam and jelly were next, and booths selling local crafts. We browsed around, and stopped for a photo with Smokey the Bear, and chatted with the Six Rivers Forest rangers in the adjacent booth. We said hello to the Westhaven Volunteer Fire Fighters, the sponsors of the fair. At this time of year, fire is on everyone’s mind.
By then, we’d sampled what the fair had to offer, bought a t-shirt, listened to the music, eaten pie, and were ready to move on. We didn’t go straight home, because we were so close to Trinidad. It’s a lovely, tiny, waterside community, with imposing Trinidad Head jutting into the ocean. A path to the top has spectacular view of the boats in the harbor and the offshore rocks. After a short walk around the beach we were ready to head home.
The day was sunny and warm with blue sky and none of the late morning fog that has been common around us. It was the best possible Saturday morning.
Llywindatravels 2025 