I discovered this Laetiporus growing on one of my eucalyptus stumps. To record its growth, I took the same picture every day for 11 days, and sent them out to club members, so we could all watch its growth together.

Local Forays-Sold out    We will offer a series of guided local forays on the weekends of January 7,8 and 14,15. These forays will be led by local mycologists and will have the goal of identifying and learning about our local fungi in their natural habitat. After each foray, our culinary committee volunteers will prepare a tailgate style tasting of incredible mushroom dishes while we discuss the days finds. We will try to keep the group sizes small in order to allow a more personal interaction with our leaders and for covid safety. These will be outdoor events, so be prepared for wet and cold weather and some walking to see our mushroom habitat. The price to attend the walks will be $10 for adults, $5 for full time students and free for children under 12. We are suggesting that participants  make a $5 donation if they will be sharing in the treats prepared by our culinary artists. Xerocomellus atropurpureus Mushroom Lecture Series During the week between the forays, Monday-Friday, January 9-13, we will be offering a series of discussions/talks on Zoom featuring talented mycologists covering a range of topics. This is an opportunity to hear about the exiting work of some great amateur and professional mycologists.The talks will also be live streamed to our Youtube channel for anyone unable to attend the Zoom. Tropical Mushroom Collage. Photo by Lauren Re iNaturalist Project During the forays citizen scientists will be encouraged to document what they see on iNaturalist. Observations will automatically be added to the Santa Cruz Fungus Fair – 2023 Mycoblitz Project on iNaturalist. In addition, th e general public are encouraged to record their own fungal observations in the Santa Cruz Mountains and surrounding area from January 1-15, 2023 for inclusion in the Mycoblitz. Visit the project page for more information. We hope that this modified format will provide an interesting, educational, fun, and safe event for the whole family, and that next year we can bring back the traditional fair, bigger and better than ever. 2023 Fungus Fair iNaturalist Mycoblitz

The Fungus Federation is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We have all the trappings, including a set of bylaws   and a Board of Directors, known as Ministers in Fungusfedspeak. Elections are held every two years at the last meeting of the season. This year's elections will be held at the Membership meeting on May 15th at the Harvey West Scout House. Below you'll find a list of the Board Members up for election. Please note that only the Prime Minister and Vice Prime Minister positions require having served previously as a board member. The other positions can be held by any FFSC member. This is a super opportunity to get involved in the operation of the Fungus Federation, direct and shape the club's activities, and get to know a great group of people.  Again, THIS IS AN ELECTION! You can step up for any office, even if there is already a name listed. Several positions have provisional candidates who are open to either stepping aside for an enthusiastic new person.  To get a sense of what is entailed in these positions, check out the  Ministerial Duties in the bylaws , see if anything looks interesting, and chat up the relevant ministers. They'll be happy to talk about what they do so you can see if a particular job might be a good fit. Let Prime Minister Vellany Pierce know if you'd like to participate! Elected Positions: Prime Minister : Vellany Pierce Vice Prime Ministe r:   Open  - Richard Rammer will run but would welcome an actual race (or perhaps step aside for another candidate) Minister of Propaganda:  Open  -  Kitty Elvin will continue but welcomes new volunteers contribute to this position. Minister of the Exchequer (Finance) :  Margaret Carpenter Minister of Membership:   Open Minister of Programs:  Richard Lyness has volunteered to return to this position, but is open to stepping aside for a fresh contributor. Minister of Long Distance Forays:   Open  -  Kitty Elvin will continue if necessary but would love to pass this essential and rewarding position on. Minister of Local Forays : Dan Tischler. Dan would like to form a Local Foray Committee to increase variety and frequence of local forays.   Scribe:   Andrea Wilson can continue or pass to an aspiring scribe. Super intro position, no knowledge of mushrooms necessary. Stores : Andrea Wilson Science Advisors:  Henry Young, Christian Schwarz, Phil Carpenter    Appointed Positions:  These positions are not part of the elections process but please let Vellany Pierce or a board member know if you have an interest in one of these! Sustenance : Bob Wynn Culinary : Bob Wynn continues in Culinary and would welcome a co-conspirator for planning and setup duties Video/Media : Justin Pierce, welcomes members of potential media committee   Website :  Open Education : Jeanne Gonda Fair : Les Seltzer NAMA Representative:  Phil Carpenter Minister at Large :  Open .   The updated elected ministers are found at this page: FFSC Ministers

Susan Labiste also contributed to this field report. On a 2016 Foray in the Sierras My daughter and I headed up 50 toward Pollack Pines to check out the King Fire and to see what the area now looks like. We scout up around 4000' to 4500' on Peavine Ridge. We found some patches of snow but most areas were free of snow and warm. We found patches of corts popping up and cup fungus. The manzanitas were just starting to bloom quite lovely. Looking toward Tahoe we saw plenty of snow. We then headed down to Sly Park to cross over to Pipi. We found the road to be closed 23 miles past the reservoir so we took a short hike at Sly Park. We found 1 almost eaten large coral with just the stem remaining, 1 very old elfin saddle and 3 large old blewits on the trail. We hike near the creek so we found few mushroom along the trail. Here is a link to my (Kitty's) photos from this trip (on Facebook) . No morels on either area. However we did hear reports of a few morels at lower elevations of 2000' - 3500'. Looks like as long as the weather continues to warm up and rains continue we should see some activity in the next 2-3 weeks. But what do I know - still a crazed beginner here. Sue headed for 88 and checked Pipi. Here is what she reported, "There didn't seem like much to report regarding mushrooms other than the photos. Snow is off the ground in the camp. It is still showing up in small patches on the North facing slope as you approach the camp. Beyond Pipi the snow blocks North South Road well before reaching Pioneer Emigrant Road, and that was before this last storm. At Pipi the bracken fern is not yet sending up fiddle heads. The dogwood remains bare and is not yet blooming. There were no Ramaria (corals) and no snowflowers yet. The ground is soaked and still cold. The mountains are just beginning to wake up."

None-the-less, there was some really cool finds, including Hericium coralloides (a choice edible related to Lion's Mane), an Auriscalpium vulgare , some candy caps, and a collection of several robust and showy waxy caps.] Auriscalpium vulgare (Soquel, 2016). Photo by Cass Fuente s Just over 25 foragers attended, and for many it was there first time hunting for mushrooms. Thank you to everyone who joined; you were enthusiastic, had great questions, and found some awesome stuff. And thanks to Justin Pierce for helping with leading/identification! Go to this link on Facebook to see more pictures. Below is an (incomplete) list of the species we found: Auriscalpium vulgare Callistosporium luteo-olivaceum Clitocybe nebularis Helvella dryophila (Oak Elfin Saddle) Hericium coralloides (related to Lion’s Mane) Hygrocybe conica (Witch's Hat) Hygrocybe flavescens (Yellow Waxy Cap) Hygrocybe punicea (Scarlet Waxy Cap) Hygrophorus eburneus (Cowboy’s Hankerchief) Hypholoma fasiculare (Sulfur Tuft) Lactarius rubidus (Candy Cap) Mycena haematopus (Bleeding Mycena) Mycena sp. Panellus stipticus Psathyrella longipes Ramaria sp. Ramariopsis sp. Russula cremoricolor Russula sp. Stereum hirsutum (False Turkey Tail) Trametes versicolor (Turkey Tail) Tremella aurantia (Witch’s Butter, oak and Stereum associated) Tremella foliacea (Brown Witch’s Butter) Happy hunting, - Cass Fuentes FFSC Minister of Local Forays, 2016

FFSC foragers What a great time! It was a beautiful day to explore the woods, and though we've had a dry spell and hence lack of fleshy fungi, we found a surprising range of mushrooms. Species List Waxy Caps Black Trumpets Helvellas Mycenas Giant Gyms Lion's Mane Deer Mushrooms a lone Candy Cap Amanitas Artist Conks Sulfur Tufts Turkey Tails Lichens Russulas and more. Thank you to everyone who attended! Happy Hunting, - Cass Fuentes Minister of Local Forays

I just wanted to let you all know that it is my opinion that the right decision was made to cancel Albion II. All of the "usual" places were dry, dry, dry and essentially devoid of fungi. We all sought out the deepest canyons that never saw the sun to find damp spots to collect. Even then, things were sparse. With a lot of people gathering and spending the time, we had plenty of diversity and things to discuss. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the excellent mycologists present to continue my education. It was a good call to bring this subject up for a vote, Wendy! I agree that our group would have been disappointed.

After getting rained out on this year's annual Eldorado camping foray, Phil and I decided to return several weeks later based on reports from a friend of good hunting. We drove up Friday evening, June 5, arriving at the campground about 10:30 PM. First things first, we each had a beer. Then we made a minimal camp. We decided that since we could see the moon through the clouds that it wouldn’t rain and didn’t set up the tent. Phil set out his tarp and sleeping bag at the base of a large pine. I set my gear down in the open. On a trip to the restroom I found three Boletus edulis with my flashlight! We both took this as a good sign and planned on checking the campground in the morning. Before dawn I awoke to a clear sky and stars. Not long after, with the first sounds of morning, birdsong greeting us, the day began. With daylight we had coffee and sweet rolls and headed for the burn. Forest at Kings Fire (2015). Photo by Yevgeny Nyden Burns, whether controlled burns or forest fires, are good places to hunt morels in the Sierra Nevada. This was a controlled burn from the previous year. Arriving at the burn, Phil recommended a road I was unfamiliar with, that ran along the ridge above the burn. The road I knew was a few hundred yards below the ridge.This road was more like a stream bed than a road. The surface was “gravel” composed of 3-6” rocks. The lower road was earthen and smoother. With the burn bounded by the two roads we had good reference points for knowing where we were in relation to the truck. We would hunt up and down the slope and move down the road, driving the truck up a few hundred yards at a time. At the first likely spot we looked, we found a few fresh morels in what I call bear clover (not sure of the species) a habitat where neither of us had previously found any fungi. Encouraged, we kept moving up the ridge, stopping, checking, and collecting a few here and there. We found good habitat after a couple of hours and collected several pounds of morels each. At about 11:30 AM we broke for lunch. Phil had those obnoxious sardines in hot sauce, cheese, pickles, and potato chips. “Have you had the fat free chips?”, he asked. “Try some, they’re really good”. I did, not bad. I had my usual chub of salami, cheese, bread and some fruit. Of course both of us had beer. While we had lunch we observed the skyline and Phil noticed a coolness in the air that presaged a storm. Since we had heard the weather prediction, thunderstorms starting late Saturday for the weekend we were not surprised and agreed to get off that road before the rain started. After lunch we went back for more morels. At one point Phil chose to go further down the slope. Starting to tire, I decided to head back up slope to the truck. As I went, I intentionally drifted east or to my right thinking to search areas we hadn’t been in before I got to the road. I expected to come out on the road above the truck and just walked down to the truck. When I got to the ridge there was the road and a nice patch of morels which I picked. I then started down the road to the truck but quickly realized that I was on a different road than the ridge road the truck was on. This road led down between two ridges. “How did this happen?”, I asked myself. As I had worked my way up the hill I kept the ridge in sight and felt that I was still below the ridge road. What I did not know was that the ridge road ended a short distance from the truck and I had gone past that point before reaching the ridge. The road I was on was on the next ridge over. It was then about 2PM and I wasn’t worried about time to find my way back yet. Thinking to retrace my path, I returned to the last morel patch and tried to figure which way led back the way I had come. I realized that I had gotten turned around and no longer knew which way to go. Have you ever walked down a trail you know, searching for mushrooms you had missed? What was different? Your perspective? So was mine, I could not recognize the ground I covered from a different direction. I was lost. In the hope that I was wrong, I started up the ridge road I was on. I thought that if I was on the right road I’d get to the truck in a few minutes. Five minutes became ten, then fifteen, at which point I turned around and started back to the morel patch. By this time I was fatigued and not thinking clearly. I had gone out wearing just a tee shirt and jeans, leaving my fanny pack with emergency supplies in the truck. I had no food and no water. As I walked, and I walk at a fast pace, I noticed that my hands were turning blue. I assumed that it was from oxygen deprivation, since the day was still warm and I was not chilled, and I stopped to catch my breath. After that I would walk for 24-40 paces, stop, and breath ten times and resume walking. When I got back to the morel patch reference pointI spent about fifteen more minutes frantically trying to figure which way to go. As I tried to hike through the woods, off road I got light headed and dizzy, my legs cramping. I returned to the road and decided on the direction that led out to North-South Road and headed down it. After what seemed to be a couple of miles, I decided that I had gone too far and was going in the wrong direction. I turned around thinking that I should have followed one of the first rules when lost, stay put . I wanted to get back to the last morel patch because I knew it was within a few hundred yards of the truck and Phil would at some point honk the horn on the truck and I could follow the sound back. Then it started raining. Meanwhile Phil was wondering where I was since we had agreed to get out before the rain started. After I had left him he hunted down the slope and back up. When he got to the truck and I wasn’t there he just figured that I was still hunting elsewhere so he went back out again. Returning the second time and finding that I still wasn’t there he got concerned. He started honking the horn and calling out to me. When he got no response he became worried that I might be hurt and unable to respond. He then searched the slope we had been hunting, up and down, side to side. Since I had not gotten lost in the twelve years we’ve hunted together, he held firm in his mind, “Henry doesn’t get lost” . So the only other explanation for my absence was that I was hurt. When it started raining he knew that something must be wrong and he got his rain gear on and hiked out to North-South Road, where some horsemen were camped. This was because I had the truck keys and had not given him a duplicate since we were not locking the truck. He explained the situation to them and one of them gave him a ride to the nearest phone at the campground to call for help. Phil started by calling 911, but they could not connect him to the ranger search and rescue team. He finally got the search and rescue phone number and called direct. The effort to find me, beyond Phil’s, had begun. It was a frustratingly slow start for Phil as it took over an hour to get anyone else into the woods to search. He and two sheriff’s deputies finally got back out to where the truck was and re-searched the slope we had been hunting on. By then it was 5:30PM and Phil was tiring from all of the hiking he had done that day but he still moved up and down the slope easier and faster than the two deputies half his age. With darkness approaching, the deputies call off the search in the woods and explained to Phil that they would drive the roads with lights and sirens on to give me something to hone in on. At this point Phil said, “Aren’t you going to keep looking? Give me a light and I will.” “No. We don’t need two missing persons.” “But I’m telling you, Henry doesn’t get lost. He must be hurt and down in this rain he won’t survive the night.” “We’re going to drive the roads. You stay with the truck in case he shows up.” “What are you going to do about me?”, Phil asked. “Can’t you sleep in the back of the truck?” “No, it’s wet and full of gear.” When the rain started I knew that I had to make a shelter and hope that a rescue effort would start soon. I needed shelter from the rain and the cold of night. I chose a cedar tree to build a lean-to against. I chose the cedar because of its thick canopy, hoping it would help shed the rain. I started building the lean-to with eight foot branches about 3 inches in diameter. I leaned three main poles against the tree and started cutting green boughs from other trees to layer over the poles. I then added pine duff and more boughs. Then two of the poles collapsed and all I had was a pile of debris. I fished out the poles, moved the boughs and duff out of the way and started over. I made the second attempt a bit smaller than the first, but it too collapsed. At that point, I remembered that for heat retention, smaller is better . My third attempt to build a lean-to was small , the poles only touching the tree about three feet up. Just enough so that sitting with my back to the tree I had just enough room. This time it worked. I piled and gathered and piled until at most all I could see when looking out was a few specks of daylight. I left one side open so I could get in and out. One side kept collapsing which let the breeze flow through – finally though it stabilized. It helped to drape green branches over the doorway to reduce airflow. By then I was soaked to the skin and my activity and adrenaline were not enough to keep me warm so I stuffed my T-shirt with pine needles for insulation . Around 4PM I reached the point of exhaustion and chill that I could not work on my lean-to any longer, so I crawled in to wait. After a while I started thinking, “There’s still lots of daylight, the rain is letting up, I could walk for ½ hour trying to get back, and if not, return to the shelter.” I crawled out of my shelter, picked up my basket and started walking. I reached a dirt bike road going up a short distance from my shelter and started up it. My legs protested with trembling and cramps. My head spun. “You idiot, get back to your shelter.” I did. Sitting in my little lean-to, I had a lot of time to think over all of the things I could or should have done. The first and most obvious was that I should have worn my fanny pack. Had I done so, I would have been warm and dry in my shelter rather than cold and soaked to the skin. Being tired, I should have just gone to the truck instead of hunting more. As anyone who knows me is aware I wear a bandana to keep the sweat out of my eyes. I took it off and squeezed as much water out of it as I could. I then retied it in triangular fashion over my head to help retain some body heat. A short while later I reached up and felt it, it was dry! If you are cold, cover your head . You lose a lot of body heat out the top of your head and a hat will help retain it . I wondered what Phil was thinking and doing. I hoped he’d realized I was lost by this time and had gone for help. I shivered and rubbed my arms, stuffed my shirt with more pine needles and waited for dark. A while before dark I did something I hadn’t done in years. I said a prayer. This was different though. I prayed to my mother who had died just over two weeks ago on May 20. I prayed to her because at her funeral service, Father Mike urged us to when we were in a time of need. It was short and simple, “Ma, please send someone to find your son”. With darkness I started the long wait for the return of daylight. After calling for search and rescue, Phil called home to have his wife Margaret pass the word that I was missing to Marje, my wife. Marje was spending her afternoon shopping. About the time it started raining on me she started feeling uneasy. At 4PM a voice inside said “Go home, now!”. So she did. Since Phil or I hadn’t called to say we’d be back in time for dinner, Marge made dinner plans with a friend. Then Margaret called with the news that I was missing. Marge’s concern was the same as Phil’s. “Henry doesn’t get lost, so he must be hurt.” Two Eldorado Park Rangers arrived on the scene and following directions headed to where my truck was. Whether the directions were inaccurate or in the darkness they missed the second road to the right I don’t know. They wound up taking the third road right. Sitting shivering, thinking, fearing the night and hypothermia, I heard the sound of a motor vehicle. Turning toward the sound I saw headlights and spotlights round a bend in the road. I was instantly out of the shelter shouting and whistling to get their attention. The vehicle started down a side road away from me when I heard a woman’s voice say, “Where are you?”. I was thinking, “Come up the road not down.”, but all I could shout was “Up, up, up.” They understood and drove up to where I was. I had been found. Getting out of the vehicle someone noticed my lean-to and said, “Built yourself a shelter, smart move.” At that point I was untucking my shirt and dumping out the pine needles. I must have been a sight. “What are the pine needles for?” “Insulation.” “Another smart move.” They made room for me in the truck, gave me the front passenger seat and cranked up the heat. The myth? Henry doesn’t get lost; dispelled. Henry got lost. Now read Phil's account of this day from a companion's point of view .

If you are unaware of this company, Daniel leads multiple mycological eco-tours to many areas of the world. Check out his website at mushroaming.com . This summer was the first time he organized a trip to his homeland, Munich, Germany. Daniel's family owns a 300+ year old farmhouse (Severenhaus) in St. Johann, a small town in the beautiful Tyrolean Alps a short drive from Munich. Growing up, he spent a lot of time there with his family and developed his interest and knowledge about mushrooms in the spruce and beech forests of the area. After meeting up with the group in Munich and doing some great sightseeing in the ancient capital of Bavaria, we loaded up the rental van and drove to St. Johann through the picturesque Tyrolean Alps. The area is well known for its many ski areas and unique wooden architecture. Our destination was Severenhaus where we were most comfortably housed. A unique feature of this very old but very sturdy building was the low doorways. The bottom of the heavy beams forming the top of the doorway was right at the middle of my forehead, and I’m not a tall person. Needless to say, there were a number of encounters with those most solid beams, especially for the taller people in the group. The Severenhaus was located outside of town at the base of the Niederkaiser, a low limestone mountain range in the shadow of the much taller and more rugged Wilderkaiser range. Of course, as soon as we unloaded our gear, we set off behind the house on our first little mushroom foray. Unfortunately, the area had just experience record high temperatures for a while before we arrived so conditions were pretty dry and few mushrooms were found. Mostly, we found some small Marasmius species. Chanterelles in the Viktualien market in Munich (2015) The next day, however, we drove to an area nearby where there were extensive sphagnum moss beds and notably more moisture. We hit the jackpot there filling our baskets with the small European chanterelles. A “big” one was maybe and inch and a half across, many being smaller. They were certainly tasty, though! Since we ate most of our meals at Severenhaus, we had them fixed in many different dishes. On those occasions when we sampled the very tasty local restaurant cuisine, there were always chanterelle dishes on the menu. They were also found in many of the local open-air markets. Dried boletes in the Viktualien market in Munich (2015) Over the next week, we alternated sight-seeing and collecting forays to various regions in the area. One day we went to Salzburg and visited Mozart’s place of birth as well as the imposing castle high on the central hill. After reaching St. Johann, we had much cooler and rainy weather which was great for the Dried boletes in the Viktualien market in Munich. We did much better towards the end of the trip and were able to put together a species list of nearly 100 species. I was very surprised to find that I was able to not only recognize the mushroom genera but also many species. Daniel had a number of field guides for the area but they were all in German. With Daniel translating and the color photographs for all the mushrooms, we were able to positively identify nearly everything we found. Daniel Winkler with a cluster of Lyophyllum decastes (fried chicken mushrooms) The trip was over much sooner than we’d have liked but we went away having seen the incredibly beautiful scenery of the area, experienced some great habitats and mushroom fruitings, had some long and exhilarating hikes in the steep local mountains, ate some delicious meals, both at restaurants and the Severenhaus, and of course, sampled quite a few of the numerous local beers. I even took the opportunity to visit the world’s oldest continuously operating brewery (Weihenstephan, brewing since 1040!) in Freising, about an hour train ride outside of Munich. I’d like to add that this trip with Daniel was very well organized, relaxed but efficient and thoroughly enjoyable. The group was friendly and of varied and interesting backgrounds. It was a real pleasure to be able to share the Winkler family house in Austria and experience the comfortable feeling of being in a home instead of a hotel. If you have a chance to join Daniel on one of his trips, I highly recommend going!

The habitat walk was geared towards beginners and those wanting to brush up on their skills. Our focus was on identifying trees and related habitat, followed by a supporting discussion on the mushrooms one could find there and when they might be found. As is often the case with these events, a few "tips" or inside "suggestions" were given out as we moved through the woods (i.e. "last year someone found Butter Boletes under that tree…). It pays to be involved ;). The group traversed one of the main trails through MF from the bus stop entrance to the water tanks for two hours discussing trees, fruiting patterns, oddities and whatever else came up. For an event prior to significant rains it was highly interactive and informative, with a few questions even challenging the seasoned guides. Good group, good weather, good time. Mushrooms were not expected being so early in the season and even with recent rains predictions were correct. The few macrofungi found were specimens of "Dead Man's Foot" (Pisolithus arrhizus) and "Dyer's polypore" (Phaeolus schweinitzii). With the recent rains and conditions in general there are high hopes for a wet Fall and consequently fruitful mushroom season. Currently there are no local forays planned for October, but keep an eye on the FFSC calendar and, of course, the weather. One more significant storm and we will be back out in the woods searching for the first flush of Fall mushrooms… Cassandra Fuentes - Minister of Local Forays Adam Ryszka - Along for the Ride

Now that you have read  Henry’s account of being lost in the wood , I’ll tell you my side of the story as the companion and the various thoughts that prompted my actions.  Caldor Fire Recovery. Photo by Katherine Elvin Henry and I had driven up Friday night, slept on the ground and had risen early for a full day of hunting.   The plan was to first look for morel at the burn north of our campground and then look for boletes on the way home that evening.  We spent the majority of the day walking up and down the steep hillside between the two roads that bordered the burn we were hunting.   We had been having mixed success in finding morels, but overall we were doing very well.  At lunch, we had noted how quickly the predicted stormy weather was coming in.  We also talked about the need to leave the area before it started raining since the road we were on was in such poor condition. We had gone out on another leg of the search, splitting up, as is usual for us.  A little later we met again halfway down the ridge (again, as is usual for us) and discussed our “plans”.  I was going to go down to the road below the burn and Henry was going to work his way further east at the same elevation.   After working down the slope and finding little worth keeping me there, I worked my way back up, slowly moving eastward as well.   By this time the wind had picked up and it was getting noticeably cooler.  I was still picking lots of nice fresh morels but I heard some distant thunder and decided that it was time to get back to the truck and get out of there.  I worked slowly back up the steep ridge, picking as I went. Something seemed wrong about the direction I was going.  I felt like I was going too far east and needed to move more to the west.   Even with that, I found that I was at least half a mile east of the truck.  When I got back, Henry was not there.  That really did not concern me since it is not unusual for Henry to be the last one in.  I dropped off my haul of morels and went back out on a short loop to kill some time waiting for Henry. By now, the thunder was getting more intense, frequent and close.   When I returned, Henry still was not back.  Now I was concerned!  With the weather deteriorating rapidly, I knew something was wrong from our earlier discussions about departing before the rains.  I dropped off my basket and went to the area where we had met in the woods and searched the entire region east of there, both up and down that ridge.   We have long-established calls, whistles, etc. that we use to “communicate” and I was using them but with no answers.  I made my way back to the truck, hoping of course that Henry would be there.   No such luck.   That was the crucial decision point:  do I assume that he is just really slow in getting back or do I assume the worst?  Given the previous discussions, I made the fairly simple decision that something was wrong. At that point, it was about 4:00 and I knew that I needed more people to cover the area where he might possibly be.  I never for a second thought that he was lost; I was convinced that he was hurt and unable to answer my signals.  Henry and I had hunted together for many years and never in all those years had he ever been lost, and that was in parts of the world where it was much more likely to get lost.   Remember that the area we were hunting was a slope between two roads:  impossible to get lost, right?!  Go uphill, hit a road, go downhill, hit a road – no problem; therefore no compass, no survival gear, no water and no extra clothes in case of bad weather.   All that went through my mind in a flash and formed the basis of my decision to walk out and get help. I had to walk since Henry had driven and he had the keys.  ( Lesson #1: Take a spare set of keys and give it to your hunting partner )  I knew that he needed to be found before dark and for that I needed help.  Just as I wrote a note (just in case he DID come back late), the heavens opened with a vengeance.   The next five hours were really frustrating since it took a long time for the search and rescue team to mobilize and get there from Placerville. All this time it was pouring rain and I was envisioning Henry in a heap somewhere in a T-shirt, freezing.  Once the authorities were involved, I was not allowed to go back out to hunt (this was REALLY frustrating).  I did take a couple of El Dorado County Sheriff deputies out in a search right at nightfall, only to have them announce that they would take up the search the next morning since they didn’t search the woods after dark.   Their “plan” (standard issue, I guess) was to drive the roads with lights and sirens – a fine plan if someone is lost, warm and can get around to find the road again.  Of course, I was jumping up and down trying to get through to those guys that all of that was worthless since he would already have come out if he could since he NEVER gets lost.  I really believed that unless we continued to search through the night, by morning he would not have survived.   My frustration level was really going off-scale and I started second-guessing my decision to get help in the first place.  I felt like I had just wasted all the daylight left in the day and had nothing to show for it.  If only I had continued to search by myself, I would have at least felt like I was doing something positive.   All of that ended abruptly when I heard that radio call from the search vehicle that had gone off in the wrong direction but was successful in finding him. “Lost?  What do you mean, he’s lost?  You mean he isn’t hurt?”  I had all these mixed emotions going at once:  relief as well as disbelief that he really was actually lost and that they had actually found him.   The fact that he was found strictly by accident only adds to the incredulity of it all.  I must say that I really was impressed to see that Henry had come out with his basket – full of morels.   But, you know, we never did have time to go look for boletes.

Sadly, the weather has been so warm and dry this year that despite spreading out and searching a wide area, no one found any edible Boletus . Lisa finds a Ganoderma tsugae (North American Hemlock Reishi) at Echo Summit (2015) Our hunt included the tried and true locations near the still flowing creeks, but no luck. Happily, we had a great time anyway. Those of us looking for Ganoderma tsugae (North American Hemlock Reishi) found as many very fresh, moist ones as we wanted. Many of them within walking distance of the lodge. One intrepid group even found edible Sarcodon imbricatus which we cooked so everyone could taste it's nutty flavor. Everyone had a great time. Many of us had fun on Saturday afternoon after the morning forays doing other things such as hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail (part of the Pacific Crest Trail) on the high side of Lower Echo Lake and exploring the Taylor Creek Visitor Center . Taylor Creek is where the land-locked Kokanee Salmon that live in Lake Tahoe swim upstream every fall to spawn. The visitor Center has a spectacular Stream Profile Center underground and right in the creek with aquarium-like windows for viewing of the fish in the creek. We didn't see any spawning salmon because it's a little early still but did view trout, minnows, and crawfish. The afternoon was followed by a gourmet dinner prepared by Chef Bob Wynn. Many members generously donated their dried mushrooms from past forays which Bob used to create two brilliant black trumpet and morel flat bread pizzas and a wonderful mixed mushroom ragout of gypsy, hedgehog, and yellowfoot. Other delicious dishes included bacon-wrapped, stuffed chicken breast; polenta; broccoli; collards; and green salad. This was followed by a wonderful fruit dessert. Some members brought and shared homemade beer, hard cider, and mead and you'd never know by the volume of laughter echoing throughout the lodge that evening that no one found an edible Boletus that day. As always, the Echo Summit Lodge provided breathtaking views of crystal clear vistas of the Lake Tahoe Basin; the visibility couldn't have been any better. The water of the surrounding lakes was a beautiful, clear blue. Once again, we wish Lee Yamada a very special 'thank you" for making this epic venue available to us every year through his membership and work with the California Alpine Club. Species List (Courtesy of Dennis Nolan and John Munoz) Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) Boletus sp.? Boletus calopus (bitter bolete) Boletus fibrillosus Fomitopsis pinicola Hypholoma fasciculare (picture says something different) Leucopaxillus gentiana Naematdoma Faciculare (Sulpher Tuft) Neolentinus ponderosus (Sawtooth, Trainwrecker) Gomphus kaufmannii (false chantrerelle, scaly chantrelle) - correction per Debbie V. Ganoderma tsugae (Reishi) Ramaria stricta Russula sp.? Russula albonigra Russula brevipes Sarcodon imbricatus Suillus pungens (Slippery Jack) Suillus tomentosus Suillus umbonatus Tricholoma flavovirens (Man on Horseback) Editors note:  The original article included a link to photos posted on Google+. Unfortunately, Google+ is no longer available for personal use as of 2019.