We've been on an extended road trip over the past couple of weeks, adding another 1,500 miles to the odometer, visiting dear friends along the route, birding in the Klamath Basin, exploring the colorfully eroding hills in the John Day Fossil Beds, and being amazed by the large expanses of wildflowers that seemed to greet us at every bend in the road. Yes, you might say that we were quietly taking in the sights and sounds of an Oregon spring.
Thanks to abundant rainfalls followed by warming Spring
sunshine, a wealth of wildflowers welcomed us daily.
Well, you know us. We couldn't help ourselves. We had to mushroom here and there to see what was happening on the forest floor. We stopped in a number of national forests, including the Willamette, Ochoco, Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa. We didn't have high hopes of finding much in the way of fungal matter on our journey. Yet, we believe that sometimes it's simply the opportunity to meander in the woodlands that is the best reward.
Do keep in mind, that mushrooming for us doesn't necessarily mean "collecting" or "picking." For us, mushrooming can be interpreted in several different ways. "Mushrooming" can mean to explore, to seek, to discover, to photograph, to appreciate and to leave the mushrooms untouched in their natural surroundings so that others may enjoy them, too.
We kept our ears to the ground on our journey, and we've been hearing a little about morels, those most delicious of spring mushrooms, that we'd like to pass on to you, dear readers. For example, as we took Exit 63 from I-84 into Hood River, a large, handwritten sign invited morel pickers to stop at a local buying station. Back on the south coast, e-mails arrived announcing that the writers had had some success finding morels scattered in the Siskiyou Mountains at the 4,000 foot level.
During our drive, we'd explored one of our usually productive places at that same elevation on Mt. Hood but found no mushrooms. Interestingly, while we were parked at this spot, freshening up after our foray by snacking on a bag of grapes, a couple from Dufur pulled up beside our vehicle. We swapped stories, and like us, they'd had no success in finding morels.
Spring mushrooming is always a delight with the landscape bursting forth with new life. However, even the most avid of mushroomers needs to exercise caution. So, here's our reminder to ourselves as well as to you: be cautious, be knowledgeable, and be sure that you actually are picking morels rather than a look-alike mushroom.
Sometimes we get concerned by the cavalier attitude of some would-be mushroomers, like recently when we received an e-mail from someone who wanted us to identify the mushrooms in the photograph that he'd attached to his correspondence. We never perform this task, and for a couple of very good reasons. Mushrooming is serious business. One needs to be knowledgeable and confident. Simply telling someone what a mushroom appears to be is inappropriate... and just plain dangerous. We're adamant that collectors need to learn how to identify for themselves.
When I responded to the e-mail writer about our concerns and suggested that he contact his local mycological society for proper identification and instruction, he replied that he was so busy that he couldn't commit to another activity. Instead, he preferred to hire someone to take him on an outing. Perhaps this is an OK approach, but we're pretty old school and believe that one needs to do one's homework and be a well informed and knowledgeable forager.
But, I digress. I'll step off of my soap box, and leave you with one final comment: don't despair - morels are on their way.