'Like a red carpet:' Master pickers make huge cranberry haul in Whitehorse

Charlotte Kay says she and her friends are well known for their berry picking skills.

"We always get jokes from everybody in the region about our picking," she laughs.

But this summer's harvest has been especially "excellent," Kay says.

Last week she and three friends drove to Whitehorse for two days of almost straight cranberry picking.

"There's lots in Whitehorse, it's almost like a red carpet," she says.

"They're awesome. They're as big as apples."

Between the four of them, Kay says they filled 56 medium freezer bags of cranberries.

"Our third day, all we did was rest. We had aching bodies, sore legs.

"It's very tiring."

'Share with the people that are in need'

Kay and her friends are out almost every night of the summer picking cranberries, blueberries and cloudberries which people in the region call "knuckles."

"I like it cooked the way it is," she says of the berries. "Along with custards, or I make banana-cranberry loaves or scones."

Kay doesn't do a ton of baking herself other than "famous knuckle and blueberry tarts" she makes with her cousin but all the ladies share their bounty with the community.

"[We] practise what our parents taught us, to share with the people that are in need, especially people that are sick, or the elders. We normally donate to feasts for funerals we do baking for that."

Kay says thanks to the huge haul in Whitehorse, the season is over for the pickersnow.

"Yes, I'm done," she laughs. "We have our winter supply."