We were fully prepared to be disappointed. The weather had been cool and damp on Mt. Hood. So it was that we resisted getting our hopes up when we left our Brightwood cabin early on Saturday morning, June 4, with mushroom baskets in hand for our first spring mushroom foray.
Would there be spring mushrooms or not? Would we find edible mushrooms on Mt. Hood?
Amazingly, what we found was a wonderful array of our favorite spring mushrooms: blond morels (with stems up to 2 inches in length and caps measuring 4-5 inches in length) and a collection of giant puffballs (many of which were the size of baseballs) - and all at the peak of perfection!
Large blond morels greeted us at one of our favorite Mt. Hood locations.
We thought the other mushrooms might be helvellas, a particular favorite.
Instead, spore prints revealed them to be the poisonous brain mushrooms.
Always use extreme CAUTION when collecting wild mushrooms!
We visited three of our all-time favorite spots and were properly welcomed at each with perfect specimens. However, the fourth spot was temporarily inhabited by a gathering of off-road vehicles and RVs. And, the fifth spot was sadly barren, probably because it was too close to the mountain's slowly receding snow pack.
We had never seen as many large pezizza
as were at our first stop on Mt. Hood.
One of our spots, shown below, is a little-known camper's and hiker's paradise with dense woods interrupted by grassy meadows, all within the shadow of the mountain's peak, where we found choice morels and puffballs along with suillus which we left for chipmunks and other woodland critters to consume.
This grassy meadow with Mt. Hood framed
in the background revealed a number
of large suillus early in June.
All in all, a very satisfying day afield. Other business is likely to keep us from going back for more this Spring, but we have happy memories of our one trip, and to all of you fellow mushroomers out there who like to seek morels and other Spring mushrooms, don't delay... the time is now!