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Finally out...
Sep. 2nd, 2006 07:01 pmI pulled a repeat of yesterday's mad morning dash through the forest, except this time, I veered off Piedra Road onto McManus Road, which brought me eventually past a one-room schoolhouse that was used between 1909 and 1959, to the fork with Plumtaw Road. Shortly after turning off onto McManus, I stopped to take the following picture:
There is a certain cattle guard on Plumtaw Road, near which there is a log from which sprout oyster mushrooms, while the opposite bank of the road generally will have a half-dozen or so boletes on display when the season is under way. This was not the case today, though I did see some old boletes here and there, and the remains of some kind of growth was evident on my "oyster log" (I didn't bother climbing down through the brush to verify it).
Scouring the side of the road for about 100 yards on either side of the car yielded two red-capped boletes in remarkably good condition (which is to say, hardly any insects), but that was all. I got the definite impression that I was looking at the end of mushroom season.
I drove back toward Pagosa along Plumtaw, hoping to see some Shaggy Manes, but for a while it looked as if I was too late for them, too, though upon rounding one corner, I spied two large puffballs about the size of softballs that turned out to be in pristine condition for eating.
A few more miles down the road, I braked to a halt next to one lone Shaggy. A little while later, Shaggies started to become more common, but in not anywhere near the kinds of quantities I have come to associate with the height of the season. Interestingly, enough, I only ran across one group of these mushrooms that were old enough to have entered an advanced stage of self-digestion. This ought to give you a pretty good idea why these mushrooms are also called Inky Caps:
Eventually, I got home with about thirty Shaggies, a half dozen or so boletes (one dehydrator load), the puffballs, and a couple of mushrooms that I'd like to key out because there sure are a lot of them out along Plumtaw. One is a Russula, with a white spore print and a stalk with just the slightest hint of rose color in one spot. The other is a tan mushroom that grows in plentiful clumps that has yet to drop any spores.
Upon returning home, I proceeded to cook the Shaggies (no choice, lest they self-digest if left uncooked) and the puffballs (same basic idea, as left uncooked, they might start doing what puffballs do best), having a portion of each with a couple of fried eggs. I refrigerated the rest.
Here, by the way, is a shot of a red-capped bolete from yesterday; I think it's a red-capped scaber stalk.
After "breakfast," Galina and I went to the store (after I changed the front right tire, which had gone flat in the interim), emptied the last few items and handed in our keys. We stopped at home to unload the Ford of the items from the store and then set out for Durango to change the oil in the car and pick up some victuals.
It occurred to me, as I drifted off to doze while Galina drove, that this was my first trip out of town since returning to Pagosa from Houston. Once in Durango and while waiting for the car to be worked on, both of us got our hair cut and I got my visa photos made (albeit wearing an aloha shirt... I wonder if that matters? I expect not.). Shopping and the trip home were uneventful, but for some reason - maybe it's because I've been up since 6 am - I feel a mite tuckered.
Galina wants me to address some accounting issues with the store before we set out for Houston, so tomorrow and Monday will likely be devoted to exactly that work.
Cheers...
P.S. FWIW, my FastMail account is still offline. <grumble>
There is a certain cattle guard on Plumtaw Road, near which there is a log from which sprout oyster mushrooms, while the opposite bank of the road generally will have a half-dozen or so boletes on display when the season is under way. This was not the case today, though I did see some old boletes here and there, and the remains of some kind of growth was evident on my "oyster log" (I didn't bother climbing down through the brush to verify it).
Scouring the side of the road for about 100 yards on either side of the car yielded two red-capped boletes in remarkably good condition (which is to say, hardly any insects), but that was all. I got the definite impression that I was looking at the end of mushroom season.
I drove back toward Pagosa along Plumtaw, hoping to see some Shaggy Manes, but for a while it looked as if I was too late for them, too, though upon rounding one corner, I spied two large puffballs about the size of softballs that turned out to be in pristine condition for eating.
A few more miles down the road, I braked to a halt next to one lone Shaggy. A little while later, Shaggies started to become more common, but in not anywhere near the kinds of quantities I have come to associate with the height of the season. Interestingly, enough, I only ran across one group of these mushrooms that were old enough to have entered an advanced stage of self-digestion. This ought to give you a pretty good idea why these mushrooms are also called Inky Caps:
Eventually, I got home with about thirty Shaggies, a half dozen or so boletes (one dehydrator load), the puffballs, and a couple of mushrooms that I'd like to key out because there sure are a lot of them out along Plumtaw. One is a Russula, with a white spore print and a stalk with just the slightest hint of rose color in one spot. The other is a tan mushroom that grows in plentiful clumps that has yet to drop any spores.
Upon returning home, I proceeded to cook the Shaggies (no choice, lest they self-digest if left uncooked) and the puffballs (same basic idea, as left uncooked, they might start doing what puffballs do best), having a portion of each with a couple of fried eggs. I refrigerated the rest.
Here, by the way, is a shot of a red-capped bolete from yesterday; I think it's a red-capped scaber stalk.
After "breakfast," Galina and I went to the store (after I changed the front right tire, which had gone flat in the interim), emptied the last few items and handed in our keys. We stopped at home to unload the Ford of the items from the store and then set out for Durango to change the oil in the car and pick up some victuals.
It occurred to me, as I drifted off to doze while Galina drove, that this was my first trip out of town since returning to Pagosa from Houston. Once in Durango and while waiting for the car to be worked on, both of us got our hair cut and I got my visa photos made (albeit wearing an aloha shirt... I wonder if that matters? I expect not.). Shopping and the trip home were uneventful, but for some reason - maybe it's because I've been up since 6 am - I feel a mite tuckered.
Galina wants me to address some accounting issues with the store before we set out for Houston, so tomorrow and Monday will likely be devoted to exactly that work.
Cheers...
P.S. FWIW, my FastMail account is still offline. <grumble>
