The Mushroom Hunt

As mentioned yesterday, I did indeed go mushroom hunting. My father lives very close to the mouth of the gorge and having grown up there (mostly there, anyway) I am very familiar with that area. Deciding on a trail to walk was not difficult at all. We ended up walking on a neighborhood trail called Robin's Way. It was not the ideal one I had in mind because it has more deciduous trees than coniferous and I figured the deadfall from the conifers would yield more mushroom growing conditions. However, I was not disappointed. I found a veritable treasure trove of clustered mushrooms that were a very pretty yellow color. I'm sure we would have found more parasitic mushrooms on the other trail, but the wind was blasting and my dad did not want to walk very far in it. Honestly, I was a little surprised that he came with us, and he actually became very involved in the hunting.

So, I strapped crabby-patty on in the ergo to take a nap and bundled miss Erin up in a sweater and coat before setting off down the steep hill. I made sure to bring a grocery bag to carry the mushrooms, and I was glad I did! I nearly filled it, and could have had the baby not been strapped to me. I was a little cautious where I stepped because I did not want to slide down the hill through the underbrush while holding him.

The first bunch of mushrooms we saw were imprisoned by blackberry brambles. The bright yellow mushroom caps taunted me, as they were less than four feet from the trail. I did not want to risk Connor getting poked, so onward we trekked.

The reusable trader joe's grocery bag ended up being a little over halfway full by the time we were done. I attempted to identify the mushrooms using an online source, and I am pretty certain they are Gypsy mushrooms; an edible and common variety. We also found some beautiful deep red mushrooms growing off the side of the cedar steps leading down the hill. I have no idea what they are, but it will be a cold day in... Hawaii before I eat any mushroom that I pick. So many of them look a lot like other species. No, thank you.

Today I will prep them for drying to use as dye.

Now, it seems that I should be going. There is a little person sitting on the floor throwing longing glances my way and grunting at me. :)