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angel wings, boletes, chanterelles, children, golden chanterelles, hedgehogs, lobsters, Zeller's Boletes -

Every week I'm out there (on the slopes of Mt. Rainier) hunting this fall, there seems to be a different variety of exotic mushrooms predominating. At first (about a month or so ago) it was Lobsters, loads of Lobsters. Then shortly after that the Chanterelles started, but didn't come in as strong as usual; but after the rains what did come in strong were the Boletes: Fat Jacks, Zeller's Boletes (pictured at right), even Admirables.We've had a few weeks with almost no rain, now, and the Boletes are drying out and thinning out a bit. But what is coming on...

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Boletes, Coltricia Perennis, Coral Mushroom, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Golden Chanterelles, King Boletes, Lobster Mushroom, Porcinis, Ramaria, White Chanterelles -

Our first big hunt of the Fall season took place yesterday in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest (at the 2,300-foot level, north of Mt. St. Helens). My brother Don and I drove the Shroom Mobile (fondly named Jedediah, after the famous explorer) up into the national forest Thursday night and camped. We were then able to get out early in the morning ... right as the first raindrops began to fall! Despite the rain, we conducted a total of three forays into the forest, an average of two hours each. We were joined by new hunters (with kids! The youngest...

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chanterelles, Chicken of the Woods, Exercise, golden chanterelles, mushroom hunt, Oyster Mushrooms, Tiger Mountain -

In previous posts, we've talked about where to hunt, when to hunt, and how to prepare for your hunt. Now it's time to get down to brass tacks. What should you hunt for? The bottom line is, if you get out in the forests during the right time of year, you may very well see dozens of varieties of mushrooms. How do you know what to harvest, and what to merely photograph? When my son Nathan and I lead hunts, invariably, within the first mile, team members are quite excited to find some very fascinating-looking mushrooms. "That's so cool!" they...

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angel wings, boletes, fall mushrooms, golden chanterelles, hedgehogs, hunting, lion's mane, lobsters, matsutake, morels, spring mushrooms -

In my last blog post, I addressed where to hunt, and the difference (here in Washington State) between national parks, national forests, state forests, and private land, and the requirements for hunting on each.In this post I'd like to address the question of WHEN to hunt. Here in the Northwest, there are two times of the year most fruitful for hunting mushrooms: Spring, and Fall. Spring Mushrooms In the Spring, it's pretty much just about morels. Between April and July, the morels pop out. There are very few morels to be found here in the Western Washington / Puget Sound...

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