Strolling for Boletes in Colorado - NAMA 2010

This is Aspencreek Lodge. What a great place to stay. Wifi and all. Food was great.

This is the entrance to Indian Peaks Lodge where the identification and display area was located. We also had our evening programs here.

This is the dining hall at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA Camp in the background. The building on the right is the back end of Aspencreek Lodge where most of us stayed. Great food and wonderful accommodations.

This is the size of the group that hiked to Columbine Lake on Friday. All but two hikers made it. The young woman from San Francisco had altitude sickness and her hiking partner went back down with her. It was really difficult to convince her to drink water even though she was nauseous and headachey. Air is too dry and thin to not drink lots of water.Kathy and I had this picture taken right after we ate our sandwiches for lunch. The organizers did not plan for the overall hiking abilities of this group and the people from sea level getting altitude sickness or the actual time needed to make the hike. We started right back down as soon as we ate.This was one of several boletes Kathy Richmond and I left to be picked up on the trip down from Columbine Lake on Friday. We started at the trailhead at an elevation of10,300 ft and climbed to 11,200 ft. We picked on the way back down. Round trip 6 miles. Good thing I was not carrying the 50 lb backpack I used to when I hiked50 Milers in Idaho's White Clouds and Sawtooth Mts.

Saturday Greg Sanchez, the gentleman on the right found this antler discarded by a moose and packed it out from the first stop on Saturday on our way to Berthoud Pass at a creek. We found a lot of different types of mushrooms along this creek along with mama moose and her two babies. Once we discovered her on our way out we tooted our whistles and whooped it up so she would know we were there and move off. She was in the willows on the other side of the creek from the trail we were on. Too bad Greg couldn't find where papa moose dropped the other antler.

We crossed the highway here at the Continental Divide on Berhoud Pass and picked along the side of the switchback to a creek and down the creek trail to the highway. This was actually two switchbacks down from the top. We were a small but happy group on the bus ride back to the camp. We all had sacks of lovely boletes to show off.

Pete was our foray leader Saturday on our hunt for boletes and this gives the size comparison between Pete and the bolete. We found enough edulis buttons to fill the 4 trays of my dryer.

Mike Beug was the mycologist who led this foray for boletes and other misc mushrooms. Everyone chickened out after the hike to Columbine Lake the day before when they heard the words "Berthoud Pass". Pete was the foray leader from the Colorado Mycological Society and this was one of his favorite places to hunt boletes. Mike said that this was his kind of foray. A small group of people and great mushrooms.

This is a shot of the main identification room on Saturday night. There are just as many mushrooms behind the camera and off to the left.
Sunday morning table talk after breakfast. Rick Kerrigan on Agaricus species

Tom Volk was there talking about polypores and boletes.
Michelle Seidl on Cortinarius.

Cathy Cripps finishing up the table talk. It would have gone on longer except the management wanted to clean out the sleeping rooms and everyone had to quickly get their personal belongings out of their rooms and into their cars.

Pictures and narrative by Genny Steiner

McCall Boletes for Kevin

Hello
This is Kevin S. As mentioned by Sue I was up near McCall last week-end also. I picked enough to totally fill my dehydrator and some more. They were far between but the ones I found were mainly free of bugs. It seemed to dry around Bear Basin but they received some rain around Brundage and the lakes. Here are a couple of photos.

Boletes!

While Genny, Mike, Hope and Kathy were in Colorado at the NAMA Foray, Bryan and I headed to the Brundage area for camping, fishing, and of course, looking for mushrooms. Up there, fall is in the air! It was a mushroom bonanza! Of course, boletes were top priority this time of year. Not only for us, it seems, but the bugs, the deer, the squirrels, and the sheep. Yes, it was a race to get them picked! Last week's rain were the ticket! We ran into Kevin up there also. How did you do?



There was plenty of Lactarius deliciosa available, which made me think of Kathy and our NAMA foray!








And beautiful Amanitas...yellow, orange and white! I went back to get a picture of a monster, but it had been consumed by then. The button had opened, though.




There was some fresh Ramaria maybe aurea? , and of course, a variety of colorful Russulas.
I found four odd mushrooms preliminary identification a Gyromitra californica. Growing on wood.(didn't get the picture copied, will add later!)
Lots of Sarcodon imbricatus....has anyone tried these? The Miller book says edible, but that doesn't mean always good! There was some Leccinum species near the Boletus edulis, also. I found some Hydenellum and Suillus also. I also keyed out a Gomphidius glutinosus, I think.

This is another unknown, white waxy gills...lots of cool things to be found!

By the way, a small quantity of Cantharellus cibarus went into scrambled eggs one morning. Fall is in the air...Make plans to get to the fall foray. Bryan is planning a great menu!