Frozen Chanterelles and Jeffs Jackpot

Attempt number 3 to find our old mushroom picking grounds..

We take 101 north past..

Heceta Head Lighthouse

We turn onto the road that should have lead to our spot..

But…

Our attempt failed….for some reason, we just cannot find the road we are looking for. Its somewhere back amongst the dirt roads we traveled today, but maybe not labeled as it was four years ago..

Oh well,

We did pick mushrooms in the area..

We had a frost and the Chanterelle were all frozen.

I have never picked frozen Chanterelles before so we don't know how they will cook up. I may just end up drying them.

We left the dirt roads and headed to another area closer to the coast to look for Hedgehog mushrooms.

Unidentified..

We hiked up to a ridge looking for hedgehogs on the way..

We found about a half dozen…and a few Chanterelle.

The mushrooms in this area were not frozen. It its closer to the coast and a bit warmer.

More unidentified shrooms..

Huckleberry and fern..

Heart..

It was getting late and Jeff wanted to get home to wash the frozen mushrooms we picked earlier in the day.

So we bushwhacked down to meet the main path.

On our way down Jeff found this beauty and a smaller one nearby

Cauliflower Mushroom~Sparassis radicata

His first find of this species..

Back to coastal route 101

Another great day of mushrooming!

Cauliflower cut and cleaned..

Chanterelles..

We’re Back! and its cold..

Jeff and I and Homey are back on the coast of Oregon..

Its cold..

Frosty mornings here..

We bundled up in our down coats and put on our rain pants for added warmth.

 

We revisited our favorite area to look for Matsutake mushroom..

A mile or so walk in..

Into the lush green world of moss and shrooms.

I believe this is a Manzanita Bolete..

I picked one to bring home and try it out. I just need a confirmation on this before I would attempt to eat it.

Leccinum manzanitae is an edible species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. Described as new to science in 1971, it is commonly known as the manzanita bolete for its usual mycorrhizal association with manzanita trees. Its fruit bodies (mushrooms) have sticky reddish to brown caps up to 20 cm (7.9 in), and its stems are up to 16 cm (6.3 in) long and 3.5 cm (1.4 in) thick. They have a whitish background color punctuated with small black scales known as scabers. Found only in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada, it is the most common Leccinum species in California. The mushroom is edible, although opinions vary as to its quality. L. manzanitate can be usually distinguished from other similar bolete mushrooms by its large size, reddish cap, dark scabers on a whitish stem, and association with manzanita and madrone.

I took it apart to study it.

It has the sticky cap when damp and also stains a greyish color.

I put a photo of this mushroom on the Mushroom ID page in facebook.

I was told to avoid all Lecciums

Read here..

 Wild Mushroom Warning: The Scaber Stalks (Leccinum species) May No Longer Be Considered Safe

One of our picking areas is right before we reach the dunes..

Then into the magical land of lichen..

\

We were happy to find several Matsutake along with a handful of Hedgehog mushrooms.

Happy bundled up Me..with a bag of Masutake.

 

I will freeze some of these Masutake and try drying a few.

We also found a few Hedgehog mushrooms..I did a quick sauté then added them to our Miso veggie soup.

Todays agenda..

Attempt to find one of our favorite mushroom picking spots for the third time.

Wish us luck.

This time we will bring a detailed map.

Almost gone…

We are still in Eugene, Oregon area. We are almost ready to move back to the coast for our scenic meander south. Just one more appointment for Homey and off we will go.

While Homey is being worked on we have been busy spending our days doing errands, eating at our favorite restaurants and going out for a few walks and mushroom forays.

We love the Saturday Market..so last week we went to check it out.

The Mushroom guys were there..

Selling a variety of mushrooms..

Jeff and I pick many of the same shrooms.

I have not found any good Lobster mushrooms yet..still looking..

I bought some nice produce here..

veggies that will become a soup in a few days.

Lots of Organic

There is also an arts and crafts area of the market..

Plenty of tie-dyed shirts for adults and children.

I Liked these tees..

and these..

though, I did not buy any…

A few photos from our Mushroom Forays..

I loved these lush, wet woods..

The trees dripping with moss..

Jeff looks so small in the forest…..

can you find him?

Mossy wonderland..

I run into spiders all the time.

I halt when I see one..

Most of the time I don't see them and end up taking a few spiders out of the woods..

This one was lucky..

Black Elfin Saddle..

Chanterelle patch!

Hedgehog patch..

Hydnum umbillicatum,

A large Hedgehog..

Hydnum repandum

Found this on yesterdays foray..

This is the largest hedgehog i have found..cant wait to taste it!

Cleaned Hedgehogs..

The two varieties..

Our chanterelle bounty for the day..

We are having a blast picking here..

In a few days we will be back on the coast to see what mushrooms are popping up there.

I really enjoy Eugene and will miss it when we leave.. i just hope its not four years until we can get back again..

Camera fail..

My little point and shoot is going back for repair..

Looks like I will be lugging around my big point and shoot..or using my ipod touch.

To Eugene and Homeys appointment..

We left the coast a week ago..

We said goodbye to campsite 22~

Amanitaville..

We took route 126 from the coast..

Followin the Siuslaw river for a bit..

Fisherman were out in their boats fishing for salmon.

Misty fog clouds in the mountains..

We get closer to the mountains....

Into a small town before turning to go through he mountain pass..

Not a bad drive…

Some sharp turns and curves..and a tunnel..

Through trees that are always green..

Out the other side..

Into the Willamette Valley..

We head toward Junction City to where we will bring Homey in for service.

Here we are..

Carrier RV service center

We have been here for a week now..

Our service tech found the source of our leak.

We thought our slide room was leaking..He found the leak under our sink.

Apparently someone who was working on Homey had sliced the water line.

Instead of replacing the hose they clamped and taped it.

It rusted and leaked..

We also found out someone who serviced the engine did not replace and oil cap..

No wonder we went through so much oil going cross country.

Gurrrrrrr

Luckily we are in good hands here.

The people here know our brand coach well.

That faucet you see above is a new one.

How do you like it?

We will be here into the middle of next week..Waiting for a few parts and continuing to dry.

Until then we are enjoying Eugene and going to our favorite restaurants.

We are also picking mushrooms and visiting with friends.

Today is Eugene's Saturday Market..

I cant wait!