Mushroom Hunting

Mushroom hunting is one of my favorite activities. It's certainly more like hunting to me than gathering. You have to be extremely patient. You have to know when to move and when to stand completely still. A knife is your primary tool. Your eye needs to be sharp. The obvious difference between fungus hunting and animal hunting is that fungus don't move. But in any case, mushroom hunting is strangely thrilling in its quiet way. Unlike on some American-style hike, you go where your gut takes you. Off the trail, up the mountain, down the mountain, through the creek. The feeling of victory when you uncover a particularly vibrant colony is beautiful.

Today, I went with my mother who's the mushroom hunting expert. I prefer to go alone to heighten the wilderness-explorer-ness of it all, but oh well. I was too hopeful and my expectations were too high; every beige leaf I hallucinated into a mushroom, and we weren't very successful at all. 

A few key tips I've gleaned from my limited yet enthusiastic experience:

Look for damp areas, under tree trunks and around dead leaves. 

The locals know what's up. Learn their spots, and beat them to it.

Fold your knife before you begin to walk again so that when you trip you don't fall and stab yourself. 

Only pick mushrooms that you know. Otherwise you might eat poison and die.

Girolles. This is a picture of my most impressive session, in 2009.