Remote Pond, the sign said
We were greedy for mushrooms. It was the day after a day of rain – seemed the perfect conditions for them. We started on the trail up Fiery Mountain, where I’d found mushrooms before.
The black trumpets appeared first. You have to get your eyes used to seeing them as they are well camouflaged. A sudden glimpse, then the patch extends, then it seems like they’re everywhere. We picked a little over a pound.
Then we kept going. There was a possibility of finding a chicken-of-the-woods mushroom on one of the many oak trees along the way. And we’d heard there were lobster mushrooms along the trail to the hidden pond. It turns out neither of us had been to the hidden pond before, although we’d been near it. We knew the turns to take. The hike was long, but not very steep or difficult. We found a few small lobsters and a piece of chicken-of-the-woods that was long past its prime. So the star of the show started to switch from mushrooms to our destination.
And we reached it! This beautiful pond, accessibly only on foot. At least there were signs saying no ATVs (four-wheelers) on these trails. We found some canoes that must have been dropped off there by locals. The pond is in the shape of a horseshoe. We’d love to come back and see what was around the bend. For that day, we just enjoyed the beauty of the site. We saw dragonflies, beaver dams, tadpoles, minnows.
And lots of interesting plants. This pink bloom was identified by my plant app as “Handsome harrry.” Yes, with three r’s.
We walked further than we intended – maybe 7 miles from camp round-trip. But we had a bag of mushrooms to show for it and a new destination. Maybe we’ll return with a picnic lunch.
Oh that lake is stunning! What a lovely walk.
I saw this after reading your post. Thought you may enjoy ????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jlM5kiAUO8
Great video, Nancy, thank you! Perfect perspective for mushrooms and other forest finds.
It was an awe-inspiring walk.
The black trumpet mushrooms are exquisite, other worldly looking. Instead of wanting to eat them, I would love to try dyeing cloth with them. Have never done mushroom dyeing as it more than likely is a bit more involved than the dyeing that I do but that color just beckons. The only time I got a terrific black from dyeing cloth was when I dyed pomegranate skins an a rusted enamel pot.
I don’t know if they are good for dyeing but probably! I bundle-dyed with blue chanterelle (Polyozellus multiplex) and got good color. And these are also known as black chanterelle. I dried some of what we foraged so maybe I’ll try to extract color and dye a patch. So beautiful.