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Hugh
Erle Smith Favorite Forays North American Mycological Association (NAMA)
Foray Southern Idaho (not including Boise) appears to be a desolate place, much like eastern Oregon, I suppose. Could it be because this area of the United States is in some kind of shadow from the rain? Did they (we) chop down all the trees long ago so that no moisture is captured from the atmosphere? Or is there no moisture left by the time the weather systems get here? The hills look similar to the hills east of San Jose and Oakland and the East Bay, the ones with no trees on them. But that's southern Idaho. McCall, Idaho is NOT in southern Idaho. It's 2 3/4 hours north of Boise and at a much greater elevation (5,000 feet plus). The Payette River is a series of very long white water rapids coming down a canyon from Payette Lake at McCall to the Snake River, the border between Oregon and Idaho. Not unlike the Sierras in the West, there are lots of evergreen and deciduous forest. The rains had been there a couple weeks before we arrived and the hunt was most rewarding, once you figured out where to look. Most of my hunting was done at Goose Lake at 6400 feet. King Boletes were pretty common here and around McCall and there didn't seem to be any competition for them. The size of some of them rivaled anything we have here. We picked a lot of mushrooms in and around McCall at the NAMA Foray. Hedgehogs, Hawk Wings, Chanterelles, Gypsy Mushrooms and Shrimp Russulas were found, and we have many King Boletes in our refrigerator here in Yuba City (the City). We couldn't bring them all, so we brought the best. A few pounds in our suitcase. Of course, those are just some of the edibles. Those are just to taunt you. The variety of fungus is what makes a foray great. And this was a great foray. I will taunt you a 2nd time. It's always the season somewhere on this planet. What a fun group of people! Let's hunt! |