I think, I might have just found a new hobby! mushroom hunting. This last Saturday I made the 2 hr trip to visit a friend in Port Angeles and discovered the thrill of mushroom picking. My girlfriend said if I came up to visit her, she would take me mushroom picking for Chanterelles. What are these Chanterelles she speaks of????
Now I know nothing about mushrooms, so I had to rely on her to show me which ones where the right ones. Once I got started I couldn’t stop, and it really wasn’t that hard. After I got back home though, I made a beeline for the computer to find out as much as I could about these little guys
http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/chanterelles.html
This site here has some good info about Chanterelles, just in case you are interested. 😉
My route in the purple. 🙂 from Tacoma to Port Angeles
Just so happened that, that day we had the RAINYEST day we have had the WHOLE year! Good thing I brought my snowboarding jacket that afternoon. Seriously, I think we got a few inches in a few hours, it just DUMPED on us. That’s not the best part though…. while in the middle of the woods picking shrooms I hear a call.
“Christina! Did you here that?”
“Um, no…”
A few minutes later, I hear this call from a mysterious animal again.
“Did you hear it that time!”
“yeah! That is a BIG bull elk.”
“um. WHAT?!”
Didn’t know where this guy was coming at, but I didn’t want to be around if he came charging out of the woods….
Nine pounds of mushrooms and a little faster heart beat later we came out of the woods unscathed, but heavy with our treasures. We needed a little warming up and drying out, so we stopped at the hungry bear café right on hwy 101. Had hot coffee and slice of rhubarb strawberry pie al la mode and watched the rain outside. Such a refreshing afternoon with time just for me and my girl. 🙂
http://www.hungrybearcafemotel.com/
Since I really had no place to be, my mushroom picking partner asked if I have ever been to Rialto beach. I have been to quite a few beaches on the coast but never made it over to Rialto. So, the drive continued westward toward the coast. As we rounded the corner on the highway, just off to the left in a field we spotted all these guys. coincidence? I think not! 🙂
OK, here is my disclaimer, I did not have my phone with me to take pics, but I tried to find some that showed the beauty of the beach and what the weather was like when I was there.
After a loooooong day, I had all to myself (thank you to the handy husband to for watching the boys) I made my way back home to unload my treasures and start drying them out.
Two and a half days later and I am STILL drying mushrooms…. I hope to be finished by tomorrow. The house has a very earthy/woodsy smell right now. It’s just GREAT!
Until next time…..;)
nwgreengirl 