Author: EEC Forest Stewardship

Up in the clouds again, enjoying the seasonal changes that signal Fall is here. I took my rifle to scout an area I’ve come to a few times, where bear sign is heavy. I tracked a few trails the bears left through the brush, and saw a few fresh tracks, but no bears manifested, but that’s OK, because it’s all about being outside and in the beautiful light of what is affectionately called the “cocktail hour” in Western Washington. At the end of the day, as the sun sinks towards the horizon, it often breaks through under the cloud line, sending radiant light across the landscape, almost like an alpenglow. The magic of this breif but spectacular light show is greatly appriciated at elevation, where I can look across the tips of each peak and turn to look down into The Snoqualmie Valley, and beyond to Seattle, and the Olympics far beyond that on the peninsula, where our state boarders The Pacific Ocean. The splendor of this evening time cloaks everything in warm light, and I enjoyed hiking back out of the back country in the setting sun.

Do you see those mushrooms growing out of the end of that floating log on SMC Lake? That’s a Chicken of The Woods cluster of wonderful culinary mushrooms, which were just past ripening, meaning the mushroom would be very woody to eat by now, so I happily left it to bask in decompisitional glory. You never know where you might find a mushroom around here- especially in the mushroom spring of our forests and fields- in this case, a floating log on the water presented a flush on this still lakeside paradise.

As I continued my hike out, the golden hour fell upon the far shore of Lake Nadeau, the middle lake in my favorite trinity of waters up in the high country. The clouds had really dropped down along the peaks, caressing the ridge line above, enhancing the bright light bursting across the peaks as the sun began to set her course back to the horizon’s edge. A breeze was rippling the surface, obscuring the light’s reflection, but the exquisite color lifted my spirits as it danced across the alpine spruce hillside and red flame of the vine maple along the scree strewn slopes. I was mesmerized by every color with a backdrop of grey granite and black basalt. Quickening my pace to make it back to the truck in time to catch the sunset to the far west, I hoped to catch the red and orange of sunset, setting the mountains ablaze.

Sunset lit up the ridges as I made it back to the truck. Unloading my firearm and picking up an extra layer and my water bottle, I headed to an overlook to see the show. Below me spread the river valley, city beyond with skyline reflecting the glow of sunset, and The Olympic mountains beyond. The sun was setting over Rattle Snake Ridge, across The Snoqualmie Valley. I90 runs below too, and I could hear evening commuter traffic crescendo with the evening light. In a final moment, light drowned out sound as the last rays of our great gas giant stretched out from the dark peak, seemingly consuming the sun into the mountain’s own shadow self; silhouettes on the skyline, consuming the light, dispelling the warm colors with colder blue and purple of billowing clouds beyond.

Witnessing this transition is a rare and precious part of getting into The Cascades. This October has been cold, but sunny on many days this Fall. I appreciate the opportunity to see these transitions as the light shortens towards winter’s long nights. This seasonal change is also signaled in the forest’s own changing color, and the shed of leaves, which will not come into full drop until mid-November. Many of the lowland alders are still green, and will most likely shrivle to brown and fall without much show. Cotton woods are dropping early, golden points across the landscape here at EEC Forest Stewardship. The climaxing fall foliage right now is maple- vine and big leaf. They show red and gold respectfully, and pop in the evergreen forests of The Puget Sound Lowlands. Up in the mountains, vine maple has been red for a while, and will soon drop it’s crimson cloak to shivering bare branches in winter’s approaching grasp. Snow will dust the peaks before long, and my next visit to this place will be in snow shoes. Gratitude for the mountains, colors of the plants, and tracks of the animals. May we all have a chance to wander in such wilderness, with appreciation for the evening light and seasonal transitions.

Back in the high country again for the last few days of autumn. Soon snow will blanket these mountains, freezing the alpine lakes, and signaling dormancy for the living world there. The leaves are changing, cooler temperatures and shortening daylight hours calls the quaking life of these mountain forests into final flushed of berries, mushrooms, and wildlife scrambling to harvest the last bounty. I started this adventure at 3,500′, and quickly climbed to 4,000′, where I began combing through the spruce groves for mushrooms. There were pika calling from the rock scree on the hillsides, and recent bear sign on the trail. I began trailing deer tracks up a steep bank from the lake shore, hoping the rout would navigate through the often thick overgrowth of blueberry, salmon berry, serviceberry, and huckleberry shrubs. As I slipped through the foliage, I came upon a surprising species at this elevation. A fat, sluggish guarder snake was moving into a nice sun patch on the forest floor ahead of me.

The snake was one of the biggest specimens I’ve ever seen. So healthy and confidant on the needle strewn forest floor. I pictured this snake borrowing down into the thick duff, slipping deep underground beneath the mountain craigs, through the cracks in the rocks, down into hibernation deep underground, avoiding the winter weather that would otherwise freeze the snake in its slither. Though the day was warm and sunny, much of the vegitation in this area is shaded by taller trees and towering peaks. My hike was a wet one, with my jeans getting soaked, then. after some time standing in the sunlight, drying out again so I could keep exploring without getting cold. Below is a picture of blueberry bushes covered in heavy dew drops right on the trail. This part of the hike was a little overgrown, but flanked by gentle bushes without spikes or spines, making it east to slide through the overgrowth without issue.

The adventure of being outside creates a lot of learning and new unknowns. I hopped around steep slopes on the ridges and peaks of this alpine landscape, finding new trails to shortcut from lake to lake in this trilogy of water features. I was not traversing long distances, but I was hauling myself up and down inclines that I’d prefer to be skiing, if not for a lack of snow and the beautiful thick spruce forest. The cold weather has made swimming in these lakes a little too chilly now, even with a wet suit. I did enjoy gazing into the crystal clear water, studying the reflections of white granite sand on the bottom of Lake Moolock. Rivulets on the lake bottom elude to the sometimes turbulent winds that howl down out of the sky and into these low points where churning waves wash across the lake’s surface and crash onto the shore. Today, the waters are calm, allowing this deeper look into the lake’s composition form shore.

The turquoise water sheltered soft basalt stones and small boulders, making up most of the landscape in these slowly eroding young peaks of geologic uplift. Earlier on my hike, I had observed a similar, though much smaller water feature with white granite and a collection of small pebbles. As always, nature patterns itself in all sizes, offering some order in seeming chaos. Within these two photos, there are strong echos of recent geologic activity, and water, a thing The Cascades are known for. Yeah- the name comes from all the water cascading down the slopes of these temperate rainforest mountains. Lush mosses, large evergreen trees, and wonderful mushrooms everywhere as Fall takes hold.

Val and I continued along the shore of Lake Moolock. I was scouting the best way into the woods from the clearer shoreline. Soon, Valley caught a scent and headed into the woods. I followed, finding a nice game trail with enough space to squeeze in between the thick brush and low branches of the sub-alpine spruce dominate forest. The daylight does not linger as we get closer to winter. I watched my time, the shadows on the trees, and how the afternoon felt. My legs were starting to shake a little when I took steep inclines, so I began heading back towards the car, still wandering through the forest looking for a few mushrooms. Leaves change fast, and many are stripped from their branches when the autumn winds pick up at elevation. Still, the color of Fall comes to Washington, it’s just not as well known as The East Coast. There are wet years when the leaves shrivel and drop in the soaking rains, but this year, the landscape was painted red, yellow, and orange as mainly maples display their pageantry.

Under the thick Spruce canopy, less color abounds, which can make mushroom hunting a little easier, but certainly makes the longer shadows of late afternoon loom. I began to feel a little chill in the air, a signal that evening would soon be settling in these mountains. The rout back to the trail was new to me, but straight forward. I could pop my head out of the forest to get my baring, and sometimes it was a surprise to see how close to the water I still was. Scrambling over a fallen old growth tree, I spotted some mycological activity and dove in, a little distracted by the potential feast from the forest floor. From this modest harvest, I gave thanks for the wild food, and scrambled on down the hillside back towards the trail. Having been in this area many times, I’ve got a good mental map of the space in my head, and though I had not been on that hillside before, I knew the base of it would bring me back to the original path I’d followed in. Having good mental maps is crucial to wandering around in the wilds successfully. Always know where you are going and tell someone else too. If you give poor direction as to where you will be, expect poor response and slow rescuing if you do get lost.

The clouds were building up in the south as I made it back onto the trail, rain was not expected in the lowlands, but high country could turn wicked quickly, and I knew it was time to make my exit. My legs were also getting rubbery, which is a nice way of the body to say “all done”. At this point in the adventure, one might feel pushed to cover more ground and ignore signs that suggest ending soon. I’m not always surprised to hear of people getting lost or stuck because they pushed a little too far, or did not heed their own warnings that it’s time to go. I’ve been there, and been caught in some hairy situations due to poor planning or lack of understanding the lay of the land. On this day, like most, I heeded my own body, the time of day, and the incoming weather and made it back to my truck without incident. I chose not to check a couple of more spots I had been eyeing for mushrooms on this trip. There would be another oppertunity to see more, even if it waited for another year. The great thing about these mountains, is that they will always be here- at least for my lifetime- I think.

On the way out, I took a closer look at an old bear scat I’d seen coming in. The bear had been eating cherries and blackberries- I could tell by the seeds in the poop. Then I looked closer and notices another animal had been gleaning seeds from the scat pile. Three little bird poops lay in the middle of the bear’s excrement. I was not sure what kind of bird, but it was smaller, not a grouse- maybe a jay? Yet another nature mystery for me to ponder, I love these moments of not knowing, questing further into my field guides and studying the images I capture in the field to decipher the mysteries, or not. I have not discovered this feathered friend by it’s droppings, but I now know birds will go through bear poo to find leftovers. It might have even been picking the bugs out too. I’ve seen them to that with horse poop, so why not bear? The next way to find out would be to find a fresh scat of a bear and sit nearby to observe. Our best option to learn from nature is to sit with it and observe. I find sitting for too long a little challenging (unless I’m sitting for a hunt). My wilderness wandering is a little more active observing, and I miss a lot because I am constantly on the move, but I see a lot of terrain, and come upon endless nature mysteries to ponder later on.

So much gratitude for the wild places, having access to them, and sharing them with you, dear reader. May we all find time outside!

The Central Cascades are alive with Fall rains, and with the damp comes our Mushroom Spring. I’ve taken a few half day romps up into the woods of higher elevations, over 3,000 feet, and found a trace of delicious mycological wonder. These are modest harvest, and yes, some are bug eaten, but not enough to ruin the experience of a fresh porcine from the forest. The handful pictured above was harvested in one brief dip into the understory from a remote logging road. The area was dominated by spruce, with a good needle base. The chantrelles were found on the edge of a transition zone along this stand, where some rocky outcroppings formed. There were older mushrooms that had past harvesting peak, and some buttons that I left for future spore release. Since I’m usually picking for myself, I choose to take a modest handful if things are scarce. It’s still early days in the mushroom calendar, but the temperatures are cooling off, and rains are lingering, which makes for the right conditions to get into the woods for some picking.

I cover a lot of ground in my truck, driving to the right elevations, stand ages, and terrain that makes for good mushrooming. Hemlock groves are not ideal, you want spruce for boletes and Douglas fir for chantrelles. Both are out in the high groves, but chantrelles have been popping in the lower elevations too. I’ll be keeping an eye out for them during hunting season, and into early November. After the first frosts, mushrooms tend to go dormant till spring warmth returns. It could also be light related, I always wonder about that. I find mushrooms in light patches sometimes, only noticed because of the beautiful qualities light brings to a fruiting fungi. Afternoon light seems the most picturesque to me; green and brown forest floor make the unusual colors like the red caps of these russulas pop in the landscape.

Most days the skies are grey, and precipitation comes with the season. Mosses and lichens spill out in shaggy splendor, ushering the mycological feast that blooms up through the damp soil and woody debris. On this day, the grey light kept a mute tone in the forest, and I focused my energy on scouring steeper slopes where deep needle beds are turning into sponges with the rain. My gate is uneven and almost rickety to keep up with the changing elevations and fallen branches. In one stand that had recently been thinned, stepping over dropped small trees became too tedious, and, though the terrain was relatively level, too many sharp broken branches littered my path, and often brushed my legs and calves with too much familiarity. To avoid getting a serious puncture wound, I left those groves early with no harvest, but intact legs.

I love wandering up and down the slopes of these mountains. There are birds singing, Douglas squirrels chirping their territorial warnings, and occasional waterfalls crescendoing off rocky overhangs. The mists these falling waters form float across the mossy banks and bunker tree roots in these dense forests. My best hunting grounds are in The Snoqualmie Tree Farm, where active logging changes up the environment constantly. It’s actually getting a bit harder to find more mature spruce groves, the timber trade is making fast work of mature trees throughout these industrial stands. Boletes like older forests, with old growth being ideal for many of our favored culinary species. Porcine does not grow in young stands. Chantrelles prefer them, under 60, over 30, in most cases I’ve observed. I keep talking about this to help those hoping to find their own harvesting spots, and to save time. With harvesting, you have a responsibility to take with restraint. Share the wealth of a forest flush, it’s good karma. Online announcements of where to find a flush is not helpful to preserving mushrooms for future harvests. Check your hubris please.

All my shares about mushrooms keep the harvesting spots vague enough, while still talking about where to go. I hope these posts also offer responsible guidelines for proper harvesting practices. An encouraging piece of advice- a mushroom is short lived, but it’s mycelia, the majority of a mushroom’s makeup, which lives in the substrate and is not the fruiting body we harvest- that body of a fungi can be very delicate, and should be respected. Cut your boletes to keep the root in the soil. Cut or as I do, squeeze the day-lighting stipe form the ground, leaving the bottom stem and roots behind. Take this time in harvesting to preserve the mycology. I’ve not hunted for truffles, but rakes should NOT be employed because of all the tearing of the mycelia from the soil when metal tongs rip the substrate. That’s a lazy, industrial way to harvest, and should never be employed by ethical mushroomers. Want another way to charm mushrooms? Pick up trash you find in the woods. They appreciate your reverence for the landscape and care in taking out what other careless people left behind. It leaves a more pristine wilderness for the mushrooms to inhabit.

Want more foraging advice? Sing. Sing to the mushrooms, specifically about which types you are looking for. It helps focus your mind on the search, entertains your friends, and does charm the mushrooms. I use this technique when fishing too, and it always seems to bring me luck in the field, so sing. Sometimes I don’t want to belt out a tune, so an original poem to the mushrooms can also work wonders. These are special tricks of the trade folks, try it out and see what happens. I’m not saying you can sing a mushroom out of anywhere, but if you’re in the right environment, it does not hurt to offer praise to your quarry. Speaking of offerings, a bit of tobacco to the woods before you start your hunt is a great way to pay your respects to the wilds you’re about to enter. Even at the tree farm, I lay a pinch of loose pipe tobacco on the landscape in thanks for the opportunity to experience this place and forage. If you don’t like tobacco, sage and other died herbs are fine. I’ve also given some trimmings of my hair. When we are taking something, we should give something back in return. Imagine how balanced the world would be if humans thought this way.

Sometimes you’ll find a lone mushroom that looks so good to eat, but it’s alone, so please leave it. This young puffball looked so scrumptious, but it was alone, so I could not take it. I can remember the area and come back again once more rains have fallen. Usually, where there is one puff ball, there are many. This is often the case in mushroom hunting, so mapping where you go, and returning at different times can pay off- if you have the time. Puffballs come with a warning- they are often fruiting in roads, which can harbor chemicals like automotive liquids and chemical sprays used to keep forest roads open on the edges. Please observe your surroundings and know the history of use in a place before you harvest there. Many mushrooms are pollution remedies, naturally neutralizing many hazardous chemicals, which are then held in their flesh. You don’t want to eat that concentration of chemicals, so know where it’s safe to pick and where to avoid harvesting. I do not recommend roadsides- they are often sprayed with defoliants, which can build up in the soils where the mushrooms fruit. Sometimes you can tell by the dead roadside plants, but the spraying is usually done seasonally, so sometimes a roadside may look lush, but the chemicals are still in the soil. Just avoid roadside harvesting.

On my hunt in the elevations, I had to go up and down slopes to find most of my harvest. This takes strength in my legs and fancy footwork. Be able to traverse the landscapes you enter. I have to keep track of my muscles, heading back to the truck to take a break if my knees get shaky. Rushing never helps, and the faster you go in the woods, the more you miss. Mushrooms can be very illusive, so slow observation, sweeping back and forth through the underbrush, promises the most successful mushroom hunters. Also- stay hydrated. I get a great workout hiking around the slopes, but I also have to take breaks to hydrate, get a snack, and check the sky for any immediate weather changes. The mountains can hide a storm until it’s right upon you. I checked the forecast often while I was out on this day, because there was a front heading our way, expected to drop in the late afternoon, so I was hunting in the late morning. I packed extra layers and a full change of cloths in case I got soaked. Rain is not needed to find yourself soaked in a temperate rainforest. Crawling through damp brush can be enough to soak through a pair of hiking pants. I had a wool wrap on to repel most of the dampness, but I had to change my socks once to keep my feet dry. Be aware of your body, the weather, and timing to stay safe in the mountains.

I could feel the changing pressure as the front moved in. My hunt that day took me first to the high points, then I slowly came down, hitting groves I had scouted on my drive up. I did not want to be far out when the rains began, and avoid them all together would be ideal. My timing was perfect, as I covered all the high points planned for in my trip, with enough time to take a few detours in the lowlands in hoped of finding a chantrelle patch. The gold mushrooms never materialized, but the hunt had taken me to some new places in the tree farm, and I’d also scouted possible clear cuts to hunt in for deer in the following weeks of modern firearm season. As I hunt for mushrooms, I’m also mapping the terrain for future hunts- both animal and fungal. I did spook a grouse in one forest, but it was alone, and not on my menu that day. Bear season also overlays the mushroom spring, but as I’ve mentioned before, and will again- it’s best to quest for one thing at a time. Mushroom hunting means a lot of looking at the ground, while deer hunting requires a lot of still observation from a vantage point that overlooks a wide area. Black-tail move through the landscape, so you can sit and wait. Mushrooms are still, never moving from where they fruit, so you have to seek them out- usually in hard to get to spots, because the low hanging fruit gets picked early on.

My last pro-tip- if you are not finding mushrooms, you’re too close to the road. Take a hike another 500′ from the road and then start your hunt. If you find yourself in a place that has recently been picked, move on. It does not help the mushroom harvest if we’re over-harvesting. Also- the whole go another 500′ in applies to actively managed forests, not pristine wilderness. It’s not good for the wilds when we push in and disrupt them. I can write a whole other blog about this, but as responsible mushroomers we can find what we’re looking for in disturbed ecologies. Going deep into old growth wilderness does more harm than good. Humans have take up more than their fair share of space on this finite planet. Please be mindful of restoration areas too- keep to the marked trails, timber farms, and well established accesses. You’ll find enough mushrooms in these terrains, and leave the wilder places to the wilderness.

As the afternoon continued, I came down from the high country and hunted the lowlands for chantrelles with no luck. Then the slow patter of rain began, and I finished my rout with a quick scouting of a lake for some future fishing. As I began the drive home, the rain came in and settled across the landscape. It was smart timing, as the light does not linger when evening sets in. I’d started my forage in late morning, with a plan to be out of the woods by 3pm, giving me plenty of daylight to get home for farm chores. It also allowed a buffer in case I ran into trouble, I’ve had to change a tire out there, and I’ve ended up on the wrong side of a mountain when exploring. Having the extra daylight in case of unforeseen obstacles is a smart part of getting outside and back home safely. I can’t stress enough having a solid plan with clear directions, imparting that to a reliable friend to check back in with when you return, and knowing your own rout, communicating it well to others, then following those directions.

I had a wonderful time learning and exploring in the forest, while remaining safe. I’m alone in the woods a lot, which is not ideal, but can be very enjoyable with proper planning. The mushrooms are fun to get to know, and know them you must if you plan to actually harvest them. if you are a beginner, trying to learn, start with taking good pictures, noting substrate, location, distinguishing characteristics of your fungus, and then following up with ID back at home, using the incredible knowledge of the internet to help. However, only with an expert mycologist in the field, should you ever start picking mushrooms with the intention of eating them. Get an expert’s advice and guidance before you hunt these incredible fungal friends. Pictures and online ID can go a long way to introducing you to your new fungal friends, but without an expert in the field, there is too mush ambiguity on the line. Some mushrooms are so poisonous, ingesting even one can literally melt your liver, kidneys, and so on. I am serious, and it is scary, so please consult an expert before you forage for mushrooms anywhere.

Also, note that my writings are about mushrooms in Western Washington- not anywhere else. All bioregions are different, and what might look like a safe mushroom from your own woodlands, can be deadly in a different region, so never assume with mushrooms. White gilled mushrooms are particularly anonymous, and often the culprit in accidental poisoning. I just leave all white gilled mushrooms alone- no matter what I might think. A brave mushroomer is a dead one- be cautious, take pictures, make notes, learn without eating and you’ll go far. Take a class with a mycologists to learn what to eat and where to find them. Enjoy my tales of foraging and go look around- observing is how best to learn. Enjoy the amazing fungal world, as well as the natural world it’s set within. Nature is an abundant teacher, and her lessons can be harsh, so pay attention and plan well before you enter her classroom. You can find mushrooms in city parks, suburb garden beds, even high dollar landscaping around a golf course. You don’t have to go far into the wilds to meet a mushroom.

With cool weather and rains returning, the mushroom spring has begun! I had a chance in early October to run up to the elevations for a peek at what’s growing on in the high alpine woods. The fungal feast is off to a somewhat slow start, due most in part to the drought Western Washington continues to struggle through. It’s easy to see the drought in late summer, as the smaller shrubs and trees drop their leaves early to cope with the stress. We don’t usually spend time touching the soil to feel it’s moisture content, but crawling around in the woods on all fours looking for mushrooms invites my skin to come in contact with the ground a lot, and it’s still not wet to the touch. This non-technical way of feeling the ground does confirm to me that the soil is not damp enough for fungal activation. When it’s too dry, even after a hard rain, you’ll see a few token mushrooms make it up through the substrate, and a lot of little surface mycological communities trigger into bloom, but strains like Boletus need wet foundations to spring forth from deeper soil, below the leaves and needles on the surface. As I crawled around the forest floor, there were many small fungal friends out and about, but the larger edible crew is still holding back, at least in the forest I was in for a few hours in an afternoon. Forcasting mushroom blooms is not easy, and I find that taking a walk in the woods is the best way to feel out the Mushroom Spring.

This year I was told in late September, that chantrelles were up in local forests after a big rain, but I did not find any. These days, a lot of people are online following the news, and mushroom blooms are photographed and posted on social media like baby announcements. Someone sees a picture and thinks “it’s on!”. But one photo or one report from a friend of a friend is not enough to confirm a flush in your own backyard. Get outside, hike your local forests, and find out for yourself. I don’t talk too much about where I am harvesting- mostly to protect the spaces, because a lot of online learners come into the woods on a tip without any mushroom know how. Harvesting practices determine if mushrooms will be present for years to come. If you have not learned proper harvesting practices for each mushroom species, you can do a lot of harm to a grove when you pick. Best rule of thumb is- CUT the stipe, or stock, form the ground- DON’T PULL the whole fruit out of the ground. Harvest a third or less of what you see, and try to avoid the very young fruit, it needs time to mature and open to spread it’s spores. My biggest piece of advice for new mushroom fans is taking pictures, but not taking fruit out of the woods. We call mushrooms fruit because it is the fruiting body of the mycological fungus. When you pull up the whole “plat” roots and all, you remove the legacy body, which will put out fruit again next year. Also, if you don’t know how to harvest, you probably don’t have relationship with the mushrooms, as in, knowing the species. A brave mushroomer is a dead one, so take pictures and plan to go out with an expert to learn. There are lots of mushroom clubs around, use the internet to find one.

Although this first foray was lo win harvest count, I did see countless fungi up and fruiting all around. Little fruits laces in the leaves, twigs, and rocky soil of the mountain terrain signal Mushroom Spring is here. Many are blooming along the trail, partly because the spores are carried along trails on the animals and people that use them. I often follow game trails into the thicker woods to find mushrooms. But once I’m in the woods, my eyes track color, shape, and texture more than which way the animals went. On a mushroom hunt, it’s good to stay focused on the terrain, direction, and forest type. Mushrooms tend to avoid hemlock trees, and prefer a shaded slope just above water. I found most of the edible harvest just above a lake, in a well established grove of grand firs. This did not mean all the stands had fabulous mushrooms waiting, but a few stands did offer delicious harvest, enough to feed me and a few friends.

On this adventure, I did do some tracking of wildlife, as I encountered a lot of bear sign, which was expected where I was. It started with an old scat in the trail, a bear had been feasting on stone fruit, choke cherries, and left a large pile, which was picked through by grouse, who left their own scat sign in the bear’s. Then, as I made my way into the deeper forest, I found the classic sign of cambium bark feeding. What? beard eat trees? No, but yes- they want the sweet sap that flows under the bark in trees as Spring warms their layers. Bears smell this sweet treat and come to claim their share. They bite the base of the tree, peeling back the bark to expose the running sap. This can harm young trees, even killing them if the bark is peeled back too much. In tree farms, special bear hunts will happen if too many young trees are debarked. In this sub-alpine area, there is not a timber industry ruling the grove, so the bears eat freely, and the forest grows.

Am I worried about bears in the woods? No. I have my dog with me to alert if there is wildlife about. Nothing peaked my dog’s nose, so we foraged freely. If a bear was nearby, I’m sure it high tailed it away from us. bears don’t tend to like confrontation, and only really become a threat if they are habituated to people or a mamma bear protecting her cubs. It’s not cub season, and I’m out in the woods, a good 2 hours from the closest neighborhood where bears could be learning bad habits, due to careless human action, like leaving smelly trashcans out, hosting bird feeders and letting the seed build up, or any other number of seemingly harmless actions that could spell death for wildlife. Most nuisance animals are killed, because relocation rarely succeeds. People are the only cause of nuisance animals. We are to blame for every encounter we cause. On this day, I was clearly a visitor to the bear’s woods, and I leave the place as I found it- minus a few mushrooms, which the bear did not harvest for its self. Yes, bears to eat mushrooms- they are omnivorous, and glean what they can from the land as they move through it. Luckily, they left a few specimens for me.

Like I said, it’s a slow start to The Mushroom Spring. I harvested five mushrooms, but two of them were vollyball sized- and still good. Often times, larger mushrooms are too riddled with bugs for our plates. You ideally want to find mushrooms that are still firm to the touch, yet open enough that they have released their spores already. If you don’t know what I am talking about, please don’t forage until you know more- and take a class. More and more incredible information is also being shared online- from reputable sources- so always check your sources for mushroom info. Who should you trust? Well, academia is a good place to start. Or your local mushroom club. An organization that takes you into the woods to learn is ideal. I have clients here in Western Washington who I take out from time to time, but what I teach is limited, because I am no expert, and do not claim to be. I just love mushroom foraging, and have been doing it for over a decade. I started with experts in the field, learning some basics and then taking more formal classes at our local university when offered. I’m still a novice in my own opinion, and do not teach more than basic ID to most people.

Meet the bitter bolete. It taught me about assuming all boletes are yummy. I harvested a bundle of these one year thinking they were queen boletes. They were not, and luckily, because I knew this family in my specific region was not poisons, I felt free to cook them up and eat- spit out, the very bitter fruit when it hit my tongue. That was a “kind” lesson from the mushroom world. Many other lessons can be deadly, so again, don’t play with mushrooms. How can I tell bitters apart from edibles today? Everything from the color of the cap to the shape of the pours, which took a decade of observing in the field. I still stick to non-gilled varieties, in general, avoiding the most dangerous look alikes. Again, don’t go if you don’t know. Take pictures, look around online to learn more, and take classes if foraging is something you really want to learn. For me, the excitement of seeing so many different kinds of fungi fruiting in the woods is thrilling. I’m looking for food, but also observing the sheer diversity of this remarkable kingdom.

Mushrooms are great teachers in my life, and I am so glad to have a friendship with them. Any time I go into the woods, I’ll see a mushroom in one form or another- from slime molds to bracket fungus, this world is full of every shape, color and texture you could imagine, and it’s all there to observe and learn from as you spend time in the woods. I am grateful for every foraging adventure I find, and also happy to be surprised by an unexpected encounter where I might take home a meal, or mystery to unravel. I’ll be sharing more about this season as it evolves, look for more mushroom updates to come!

At the end of the summer, a friend joined me in the boat for an afternoon of fishing in Klaus Lake at The Snoqualmie Tree Farm. We both have recreational passes, and enjoy exploring, fishing, and hunting together in the woods here. Since it was late summer, the lake was down a bit, but a boat still fit in at the launch spot, and with a little punting, we floated out into this beautiful water. Earlier this Spring I had fished this lake with my mentor Wes. We caught a few small perch and had planned to come back a few months later in hopes that the little fish had grown into bigger fish. Well, they did.

I usually use a hand constructed lure of red salmon eggs (plastic beads), a Colorado spinner, and simple barbed hook. Then I bait the whole thing with a worm- red wigglers are best, but when the groud is too hot, I buy night-crawlers, which never catch the same amount of fish. NOTE- never put your bought worms into the ground when you are done, they are not native and to a lot of damage to forests over time. That’s another reason I prefer to dig worms out of my compost, though most of them are non-native. Baiting the hook, I plopped my line down into the deeper part of the lake as we trolled across to the far side to look for perch. For the ride across the lake, there are no bites. My fishing companion and I are a little worried we may have the wrong tackle. Should we put on a fly? No, the fish are not kissing the surface. It’s mid-day, not the best time to fish, because they like cooler weather at dawn and dusk in the summer. That’s when the bugs come out too. So we keep the worms and continue our hunt.

The far side of the lake holds a few floating logs and some aquatic grasses that offer good habitat for fish. When we reach the spot where I caught the perch earlier in the Spring, I cut the engine and point to an area for my fellow fisher to cast, and I cast the opposite side so we have less chance of tangling our lines. It’s important when you are with another person in a boat to plan where each of you will be casting so as not to hook one another or get lines crossed. My buddy casts out near one of the floating logs and cries “fish on!”. Her poll bends at the tip as she hurriedly reels. I quietly pull in my line and reach for the net to help bring in her catch. The thrashing fish comes up to the boat and I reach down under the fighting fins to haul it in. A new is crucial in boat fishing, because many of the fish are large enough to break off the line if you pull them out of the water. The net holds the weight of the fish and preserves your tackle for more fishing. The fighting fish is indeed a nice sized perch, so I offer the net to my friend, she carefully gripped the fish and pulled out the hook, then we plop the prize into an ice chest to preserve our food. In hot weather, it’s good to keep caught fish you plan to eat on ice so they don’t spoil.

Along with ice, I bring two poles, I have a two pole endorsement, so my fishing license allows me to fish with two poles. I like that when I am out in the boat alone, because I can actively fish with one pole, while leaving a bobber on the other. When I am trolling across the lake, I can have two poles in the water on each side of the boat for the troll. When I fish with friends, I tend to use only one pole to prevent any confusion if someone has a fish on. We both continue to work the area with our worms, and the perch are hungry! However, after my friend’s initial larger fish catch, the rest of what we reel in are too small for our dinner table, so we throw them back and move out of what I start calling “the nursery”. Often, smaller fish will congregate along the shore in the reeds and tall grass for protection. Our sights were set on bigger fish, so we pull out our lines and move on to another part of the lake. We troll a bit to find what my mentor calls a “honey hole”. Sure enough, in a few minutes we start getting bites again. I cut the electric motor and we fish the new spot, near another floating log, and a big boulder submerged just under the surface. Between these two imposing snags- things out hooks could get caught in, we carefully hunt the waters for larger prey, and indeed, the big fish are biting. In less than an hour we’ve caught four fish of nice size. We’ve found a honey hole, a place where the adult fish are schooling.

Shouts of delight echo across the water as we haul in nice sized perch. The worms are working, and our honey hole gives up a few great feasts, but all good things come to an end, and so, the school moves on, and we begin to get less and less hits, so we start our troll again across the calm waters. Sometimes it’s nice to take in the views while fishing, and this lake has some vistas to appreciate. To our south, Mt. Si looms above the treetops. It’s a famous hiking peak in the area, and the first real mountain you come to heading east on Interstate 90 out of Seattle. I’ve hiked it once, and it is a formidable climb. Today I enjoy viewing it form my boat in the lake, savoring the relaxed afternoon on the water, rather than climbing switchbacks to the top of a peak. So much gratitude for time on the water fishing with friends. Hiking too, but today we’re out harvesting wild food.

An overcast day can be to your advantage when fishing. We were enjoying this cloud cover, and the dull light encouraged the fish too. While trolling around, we caught the rest of our limit in perch. My fishing friend had never done this, and we celebrated her first limit catch. Catch limits are important, they keep the stocks of fish healthy for others to come and enjoy fishing too. Biologists spend a lot of time studying fish in these lakes, and have an understanding of populations, habitat, and the dynamic relationship of fishing and mother nature. Many of the local lakes are stocked with trout each year to help keep fish available to the public, but our responsibility as ethical fish catchers is just as important to keeping our wild food source available for all. If we over-fish the lakes, there will not be food to catch there in future. Following the state fishing regulations ensures we can all enjoy fishing for generations to come.

With our limit in perch caught, we talk about trying for the trout or bass that are also swimming in this lake, but we have 10 fish already, and that’s a lot to take home and clean tonight. We agree that we’ve caught enough for today, and turn our boat back to shore for the take out. It was a full afternoon of fishing, and we were glad to be heading home with our catch after a lovely calm day on the water. The perch had been good to us, allowing each of our larders to receive some fillets for frying or baking. Cleaning perch is a little more effort than trout, because you don’t eat the skin of scales. I took my fish home and filleted them, the froze the meat for later in the winter, when I would be craving fish but unable to go out and cast for them. Well, the lakes are open year round at the tree farm, but a cold boat in the rain is not so much fun. I try to keep my fishing to the warmer months out of a love of comfort, but I have been known to head out on a sunny day in February to catch a late season trout. To many more days in the boat on the water reeling in a fine fish.

Our first meetup was at Moss Lake outside Duvall, WA. It’s a King County Park where you can enjoy a natural lake with beaver activity, a range of forest types from hemlock dominate to fir monoculture. There are some more established woods around the water, but further into the forest you’ll hit The Snoqualmie Tree Farm, which hosts plantations of Douglas Fir trees. We stayed on the main gravel trail around the lake, but saw and learned a lot about our local ecology.

Shelter 101- find a good hollow stump to climb into, then stuff with leaves for insulation and enjoy a dry, warm rest. This stump was a great teaching moment for natural shelter in the forest. Two people could fit in there comfortably with the addition of debris. It took us only a few minutes of searching to find this dry spot to shelter in an emergency. What can you find in the woods to shelter under?

fire making 101- find dry, snapping sticks form low hanging brush and trees- from left to right: snow berry, salmon berry, hemlock tree, and red huckleberry. We found these tinder materials in the parking lot in less than a minute of searching. You want to find off the ground dead stuff if you can. All of these branches were dead, but still attached to the live plants, harvesting dead wood off a living plant should not harm it, in fact, your doing the plant a favor by pulling off the dead stuff so the living can thrive more. It’s also removing a potential fire hazard. Note- fully dead standing wood should be left alone. Snags, as the standing dead wood is called, become crucial habitat for wildlife.

We ran into this Palliated Woodpecker on down the trail. We heard it excavating in this standing dead hemlock before we saw it. What can you hear in the woods before you see it? Why is the bird above pecking at the tree? What else lives in standing dead trees? Dead standing wood can also offer good fingermark materials, especially the burned out ones. You can find dry charcoal and tinder in these hollowed out stumps.

The punky (rotted) wood smolders, but that can help extend your coal while you are building up your fire. The charcoal will light, and help get a small fire going. Just make sure all your starting materials are dry. The rotted wood was actually in a still living tree, so fire materials come from many places in the woods, look around and see. What kind of tinder materials can you find?

water 101- active beaver dam on Moss Lake. A great example of why wild water is not safe to drink, even in a more pristine area. Beaver fever is the colloquial name for giardia. You don’t want to get it- trust me. Always filter your water or boil. If we have fire, and a metal container of any kind, we can safely treat our water to drink. Note- boiling does not remove heavy metals or some dangerous chemicals that can get into our water. You’ll need a life straw or other high end filtration system to safely treat polluted water. Luckily, Moss Lake is not considered polluted, so you’re mainly concerned with pathogens that are easy to boil off with a little time and patience. A metal cup, pot, or water bottle is a crucial one of the 10 essentials for your day pack or overnight kit.

Near water you will often find special plants that only grow in wet places. Lichens like Usnea are a great example of this. These wispy hanging strings are an important wild first aid for cuts- this is wound packing material with anti-microbial properties. You can harvest some and keep it in your first aid kit for emergencies. Bonus, usnea is also a good fire tinder. Where have you seen this lichen in the woods? Do you know it by another name?

Mushrooms 101- we’re not here to pick edible anything, we’re just looking at what’s blooming on the landscape as we move towards The Mushroom Spring here in Western Washington. The chantrelles were not out yet in these woods, but there were some fungal friends popping up to say “hi”. Most were polypore– wood eating mushrooms, which are not too helpful for hunger. Again, we’re not eating these, but documenting who is out in the woods at this time. It’s still a little dry for many mushroom species, but fruiting happens year round in these woods. You might get lucky if you have a look. The one Xerocomellus chrysenteron we found- a bolete, was a sign of what might come to this area in future. Though again, we’re just talking species, not what to eat. Another fungal highlight from our wander was finding a Dyer’s Polypore– that yellow looking one bottom left in the gallery above. There’s always so much to learn from these amazing mushroom teachers. Keep your eyes peeled as the forests get wetter this fall, there’s a lot more fruiting out in the woods than just berries. What kinds of mushrooms have you found around town?

There was a great looking stand of big leaf maples in one corner of the park where I would head in late fall to build a debris shelter. Marking these places for later use is always helpful. Forests will offer many different opportunities throughout the year. Each season brings change to the woods. What do you see now that won’t be there in a few more weeks? Hint- they fall, from trees, and we love to pile them up to jump into. Try climbing into a pile of them to keep warm.

The woods at Moss Lake are diverse, and we looked at three main types in our location. Can you spot some major differences between the three groves below?

The first stand is a typical third growth forest of mostly hemlock and Douglas fir. These woods will have a mediocre understory, usually dominated by sword fern and some deciduous shrubs like huckleberry and vine maple. They are still heavily altered by humans through logging, burning, and ground compaction that will not let more sensitive species reestablish. Still, there is some diversity in tree age, and opportunity for more understory to develop in time. The second forest type above, in the middle photo, is a common alder and cottonwood mix. This forest is young, and has a lot more understory established. Why might that be? I like these forests for medicine, fruits, and usually, nearby water. Why is water usually nearby these stands? The third forest type is what you’ll most likely be running into where forests are “managed”. Mono-cultures are an easy way to replant timber forests. You pick the best wood products species- Douglas fir, and plant as much as you can all at once. This makes thinning easy, and will get you standardized size and growth in a woodlot, but it’s unhealthy for the ecology, even with a little more diversity in the understory right now. Eventually, these evergreens will grow tall, shading out the understory and limiting what can grow. Chantrelles favor these kinds of woods, but wildlife tends to avoid them. What kind of forest can be found near you? How old are the trees there?

Our lessons at Moss Lake were many, with a few put down in this blog for those who missed the meet up. There was some plant ID, some fire making, shelter finding, and landscape reading. My guess is, this forest was left alone after the big timber trees got taken out, leaving the hemlocks to fend for themselves. Most of the woods around this lake are hemlock dominate. Loggers leave them because they are a less valued wood in the timber markets, being too soft and prone to twisting when milled into building materials. I have heard from timber framers, that you can work with hemlock wood when it’s still wet, but expect the beams to warp as they dry in place. That’s my best guess as to why this area was overlooked for more logging, and why is was easier to get the land protected and put into a county park. Gratitude to this place and the public assess. It was a great location for access and learning, and I am thankful to King County Parks for keeping this place open and available.

When I reflect on the short 43 years I’ve been alive, and an American Citizen of The united States, I’ve watched a system of governing unravel under the strain of corporate pressures in economic strong-manning. We are mistaken to think a single man is running any show in this nation. The lines are drawn by investment, and returns. All the white collar 401K retirements are wrapped up in the corporate hustle. I watched the Enron melt down, and it set a precedent. Working people would not have a guarantee of concessions, should a company fail. So throw it all under the bus and walk away rich people- that’s what’s happening in The USA right now. Democracy is being thrown under the bus for the billionaires.

As a small farm in Western Washington, I may not have a hat in the ring of politics, beyond my vote, but this current runaround of a two sided coin is getting stale. I’m too smart for this BS, and it’s time to call it out. From the pasture, I’m watching the hay shipped abroad for global conglomerates that don’t give a fig about human rights and the wadge earning worker. What planet do you think we’re living on? I can’t raise sheep without hay- alfalfa through winter, yet the price of a bale is out of reach for small scale production, and priced out by horse people who enjoy riding. It’s preventing food from being grown, the act of equestrian hobby/sport/animal abuse. Sorry, but after seeing horses on The Mongolian Step, seeing any equine confined to a stall is the upmost form of confinement- like putting a person in a cage/jail cell. Truly, look at a prison structure and then look at modern barns and commercial/industrial animal production facilities. You’ll see cells, confinement design, shit lagoon drainage, or outdated septic fields. That’s what happened to Alligator Alcatraz/Auschwitz- bad poop management.

Our corpse is so toxic, we pollute our own water table if we die there. Take it in for a moment- we are toxic. When we become cancerous, from our environmental toxicity, we then poison ourselves with plutonium and “heal” to prolong our pollution on this earth. Prolonging our insult to this biological injury says a lot about our egos. Let’s all follow our original instructions; to live with the earth around us, in that soil on the hands, bare feet on the earth where and when we can, there is a way to work back towards holistic balance in this system. Running on cash has taken away the true values of life and hollowed out basic needs into streaming and same day delivery to all who buy in; giving themselves over to consumer driven capitol gains for a few at the top, while the rest of us, and they, buy now, pay later debt slaved, but only a little for those at the top, the bottom 99% will pay the interests so the wealthy 1% gain their capitol to throw bread crumbs at their investors- all in that 1%. None of these investments will support the majority- but trickle down? Yeah- in the shape of no more free speech, people grabbed by masked kidnappers and hustled into unmarked vans without warrent of any kind. Is it really ok that it’s “only” black and brown people.

Meanwhile, foreign trade tariffs are crippling our industrial farmers- growing the majority of our commodity crops, which run the agricultural arm of the country. Beef is not part of that commodity wagon- only corn, sot, and wheat are given subsidy crowns. 10 billion went to industrial farms in March of this year to cover some of the crop value crashes happening all over the country. Nebraska is declaring bankruptcy. Arkansas soy farmers are about to default on their farms, putting tens of thousands of acres into private foreign investment, and away from American ownership of the very soil we stand for. I’m waving a red flag here for my fellow citizens. Our very terra firma is on the line, and there are a few Peabody Coal Co‘s hauling it away. The legacies of human encroachment on nature for profit has left us all empty- like a pop bottle. Sorry, but I will ride John Prine’s words for support. It’s those musicians of the 60-70s that I’ve been reflecting on, along with post-modern impressionistic guitar strumming about love and loss. It’s that old cowboy ballad to calm the waning wild west.

I walked the land of a friend today. She had 20 acres of 3rd cut temperate rainforest on a glacial ridge above The Snoqualmie Valley. There is natural restoration happening here- with an understory on the rebound. Creeks and streams are still dormant, remaining underground during the dry season. That’s what Weiss Creek, the stream that flows through EEC will turn to in future. Imagine a childhood stream drying up when you grow up. It’s happening now around the world, and we’re the cause. I understand why many of our ancestors fled underground when things got tough. It might be the future for the next few generations- after the floods. But I hate to be a Nostradamus. This little plot of heaven will remain fertile and functional for at least my lifetime- if there is no major fire- or even if there is, I hate to put any limitations on the possibility. Future forecasting prevents living in the moment, which we should all spend more time doing. That’s the fountain of youth so many quest for, in my humble book.

After over ten years of sitting with land and working to better its fertility and restoration to native rainforest, I’ve had a little time to think about what’s going on, or growing on in our world. In this small corner, there is so much potential, and a willing return to what was, the old growth, sacred waters, and salmon, fish for all the people- humans, animals, vegetables, and minerals all fed by one source of great thrashing life. The fish are returning now, up the rivers in the valley below, and some to this very land, through the small creek sourced from natural springs. The Coho come here to spawn, from the Ocean; thirty miles away. How amazing- it’s still going, and some recovering, from our slaying of the woods, timber dollars raked from the land- even today, hundreds of acres at a time. What will the future hold for these scalped lands? Again and again, the trees grid planted by the millions, often paid for by our “plat a tree” endeavors. Beware the green wash– you should know better by now.

We are in a pivotal moment, where determining what is real has become almost impossible- at least online. I’m stepping further away form screen time inducements– even basic news. The narrative is skewed so far from my own reality in the day to day of this holistic farm and forest, I struggle to relate. Scales are tipping faster, the planet is shaking us off, with intensified storms, violent swings in weather, which for a tender of soil and ecology, means immediate adaptation and a sort of “hold fast” attitude. I’m still observing, taking it all in, both in the woods and the political gambit, to the best of my ability. I want to understand, it’s a life quest- to know what is, as I find it, and evolve. What I plant today may not be growing tomorrow, so I sew continuously, all kinds of seeds, expecting nothing and everything at the same time. What a concept. If only we could plant our political forests in the same mindset. That would be stagnation, no? How does this impact the little slice of land that is EEC Forest Stewardship? Well, from taxes to legal representation, it’s all based on who I vote fore locally. But is it still? Thay orange fool in that house of white gilded in gold has no place in my day to day, except in the executive, totally immune actions of an old white guy with a lot of missing information in his world view. Scary. But that’s been the way of things for my entire lifetime, and many before me.

As I walked this neighbor up the road’s land, I reflected on what could return if we would just let it. Instead, our current administration is gunning (yes, pun too) to build roads in to the last vestiges of public wilderness set aside for our enjoyment, and as a wilderness for our diverse wildlife and vegetation. Reflect on this please- the last untouched wilderness in The US is being carved up by mislead capitalistic resource plundering. It will be the final nail in American public lands privatization. Again, red flags for the land and soil of this country. I’m addressing the ecological threats, but our very democracy is at stake too folks, I’m just trying to keep the narrative I speak related to my own life and role in this world. I hope other land stewards and growers have awareness of these immediate conservation threats. The list keeps growing, but I have this moment and these thoughts to share with you now.

Thank you for your time in reading this, and your reflections on the continued erosion of American freedoms and values that I was raised with by several generations of hard working people, including two grands who fought in WWII against fascism, and one died over The Pacific- we never got his body back. This is personal. My great-uncle flew in a fortress pane that was shot down off The Philippines. My Grandmother’s family never got over the loss. I was not born yet, but my Grandfather, who did survive Guadalcanal, spent a lot of time outside with me, planting gardens, tending a small forest, and a creek behind his house. I took all that love of nature, from a man who was 16 when he signed up and went to war for this country, giving his youth to The Navy, and defending us against a belief that would have taught us to kill people that were different- or at least put them in camps and forget what happens after that- like The Tacoma Detention Center here in Western Washington, or the east side of the mountains, where farmers had to let their fruit crops rot on the trees because ICE took the migrant workers from the fields. One after another, the neighbors disappear, until they come for you.

How do I start the day with these thoughts? Well, I see the sun rise, hear the birds calling, watch the geese moving through the orchard, and see a dog’s tail wag as I step outside to take in a deep breath. My day starts here, on the land, with intention to grow things, learn, and share the bounty of this life with those I know and love. If I can help others tend a little bit in their own lives, we’re on the right track- surviving. Ideally, we’d be thriving, and in the scheme of the world as a whole, we are, but at such costs to others we’ll never know or see. What is balance? How to turn the wheel a little more smoothly through all the spokes so everyone takes a turn through prosperity. That would be the governance for me. Sounds- or smells, like Communism, or Socialism. Change is coming, and I’d like to lean towards a more liberal way to share a thriving world, rather than a totalitarian dictator male god head commanding my actions. I can’t imagine training my Kangal pup through demands and forced behavior, he would quickly turn on me, seeing my unstable actions as true weakness. That’s what we’re in now, a weak trend in leadership- rule by force, threat, and payoffs to the upper crust.

Ok, enough about governance, we have a top down running here on the farm. I feed what will one day feed me, but if I don’t treat the animals well, it reflects in their health and production. The cycle is unavoidable, you get what you put in, so if you watch a lot of youtube, but don’t plant any seeds, nothing will grow, no matter how much you stream online. I feel out country has become too much watching and not enough doing- we can all talk about what should be, but until we act on it, nothing will change. Plant ideas, stories of action, and move your feet, to the voting booth, the town meeting, the city council when it meets. Know your local representatives, and keep track of state and federal positions. Write letters demanding action, go to protests and march. When my sheep bray together, I hear them and get compelled to feed, move pasture space, or check minerals to make sure everything’s good. “We are without salt- get a block in here or we’ll have deformed lambs!” That is the consequence for not properly feeding the animals what they need. What is missing in your diet?

Yes, I’m embracing more metaphor for us here, but it’s all the same- and so, should be digestible for bright minds that follow this little blog on the corner of no where and everywhere. Now I’ll take a page from my old barn cat Lucia- take a nap on the couch and wake with a clearer mind. In praise of those who see the path and take it, following old footsteps of wisdom without stepping on the faces of our ancestors.