snowy walk at snowden

Oh, the unpredictable nature of the weather. November is supposed to be cool and wet. Perfect for mushroom hunting, right? Well, the end of this November has turned out snowy and downright cold - more appropriate for frost than fungus. Fortunately the cold weather did not deter the hearty souls who joined us at Snowden Forest for a hike and mushroom hunt last Sunday.

Though it didn't feel mushrooming weather we still managed to find quite a few varieties. As one of our hikers said, once your eye gets trained you start to spot them everywhere. We saw some bright yellow witch's butter,

a type of false morel,

a coral mushroom

and even a nice fat chanterelle!

But, I think my favourite was this diminutive specimen of bird's nest mushroom.

It was only a few millimetres wide and filled with lots of tiny "eggs" (actually spores packets). The word "mushroom" is hardly adequate to describe the variety and diversity of species in the Fungi family. What too often overlooked treasures of the forest they are. And what fun to go out and spot them with our own eyes.

Mushroom hunting was not the only fun we had. The trail itself was quite lovely, too. We hiked along Lost Lake and then followed a bike trail up a high ridge. From the top we could see Lost Lake below and mountains beyond, and were able to enjoy the sunny skies and amazingly crisp, warm light.

The cold weather lent a magical air to the whole forest, with the frost, rime, and snow glistening in the late afternoon sun. By the time we had returned to the parking lot we were tired out from two hour walk, but I for one was reluctant to leave such a beautiful time and place.

(Thanks to Mark Wunsch for the wonderful photos)

snowden forest mushroom walk

The forest is looking decidedly less green these days. All that remains of the brilliant leaves of fall are wet leaf litter on the forest floor. But every season holds it's delights, and November is when the lowly mushroom takes centre stage.

Our recent forays into the forest have turned up all kinds of mushrooms. Like so many things, once I began to actually look for them they seemed to be everywhere. There they were on trees trunks, rotting stumps and poking out of the mossy forest floor in a seemingly limitless variety of sizes, shapes, colours and textures. These cheerful little fellows have certainly brightened up what for me can be a dreary time of year. So I say, hooray for mushrooms!



Which brings me to our next event. For our next gathering we'll be heading out to the Snowden Forest for a hike and mushroom hunt. Meet at the Lost Lake Parking Lot off of Loveland Bay Road on Sunday, November 21st at 1:30. I am no mycologist, but I'll bring a fieldguide along and we can try our hand at identifying some of the fanciful fungi we find. There are edible mushrooms to be found in our region, but it's best to go with an experienced guide, which I am not, before you actually plan on serving them up. So while we won't be picking any mushrooms to eat, it's still fun to check out the many varieties that one can find along the trail. We hope to see you there!