Foray Log- Northern Oregon Coast, January 27, 2022

Diana and I decided to take a day together and look for ectomycorrhizal connections and winter fungi growing along the coast. We were looking for signs of the hyphae that would have capped the root ends of trees and made their way into the wood wide web. On our first stop we spent a lot of time discussing what habitat we were standing in and how to identify trees. We were standing in a Cedar, Western Hemlock and Spruce forest, with old growth stumps as big as yurts. Beside all of the slash piles we found the Western Hemlocks used old fallen and decaying logs as their nursery, while the Cedar did not.

Cedar is one of those trees that does not foster an ectomycorrhizal connection with fungi. So as we looked at the fungi that was present in this forest we began to see the connections in a whole new light. The spongy forest floor was

Foray Log- South Central Oregon Coast, February 5, 2022

Scouting out new territory to mushroom hunt is always an adventure. If you have never been to a place before, it is hard to know exactly what you are getting yourself into. My friend Beth and I decided to get way out of town and go explore about 4 hours south of our forests into the south Siuslaw, Elliot State Forests, and BLM land off the Umpqua River. We researched the area with a mix of google maps, OnX maps, BLM maps, state forest maps, blog posts, newspaper articles and observations on iNaturalist. We were on the hunt for Black Trumpets, Craterellus cornucopioides, in the Tanoak forests of southwestern Oregon.

Beth came to my house at 6:45 where we packed up our gear, enough food for a few days and spirit ready for adventure. We had not been out to the woods together for months, maybe even a year and we finally made it work

Foray Log- Alsea Falls Area, January 22, 2022

After the whole family recovered from COVID, I wanted to get out and meet with my study group for a late winter foray. I got the group together and we caravanned out to the Alsea Falls area. We were not looking for anything particular, but just wanted to see what was fruiting this time of year. I am always impressed by the diversity of fungi in the coastal range mid winter. It is probably my favorite time to go to the woods because

Foray Log- Oregon Coast Foray, July 30, 2021

One of the only places to see fungi in the PNW during a drought and wildfire season is at the coast on the west side of the Coastal Range where the fog rolls in and keeps everything damp. We decided to make a day of it and visit 4 different places to observe the early summer fungi. First we stopped at Ona Beach, then met up with the study group at Cape Perpetua, stopped in to the Mike Miller Educational Trail and finally before heading home, walked through Fogarty Creek State Park. It was one long trail of stops up 101 starting in the south and heading north.

In the fall of 2020, Oregon, and especially the Willamette Valley experienced some of the worst wildfires in recorded history. We watched as the skies downwind of the million+ acre fires turned red, and darkened the sun even at noon. Our air quality was so bad, that it was hazardous to go outside for over 10 days. As our forests burned, communities lost their homes, livelihoods and lives because of lack of warning and scary conditions.

Foray Log- Big Meadow Horse Camp & Parish Lake, June 16, 2021

Today we took a drive out to Big Meadow’s Horse camp. As soon as I got out of the car, I sprayed myself down with bug spray and put on my hat with my new mosquito veil. I remember the last time I was here and the mosquitoes were so bad, I wasn’t going to deal with that again!

Foray Log- Avery Family Forest, June 12, 2021

Today was the last foray to the Avery Family Forest for our study group. We are heading into fire season here in Oregon, and we have to return our key by the end of the month. It has been an incredible experience watching the seasons change in the foothills of the Cascades.