🍄 A Mushroom Kingdom 🍄

A large and healthy flush of some Shaggy Scalycaps!

Mushroom Foraging in Colorado

Well we are back in Colorado, and if you have been following us on any of our other media outlets: Podcast or Instagram, then you would know that we’ve been finding a few fungi around the area.

Ok “a few” is a little bit of an understatement. It is a mushroom kingdom out here! Mario would never have to traverse one of his levels at minimum size ever again if he was here. And no, that’s not an exaggeration. 

Amy’s amazed face at the size of the fungi we were finding!

Fly Agaric, also known as Amanita muscaria. This mushroom inspired the one in Mario!

An extremely large mushroom we couldn’t identify

Now a tad backstory before we get into what our recent foraging adventures have been like. This backstory happens not that long ago, exactly a year ago for those wondering, and in the same location we are staying in now: Twin Lakes, Colorado. 

We had just recently moved into the van and after a few months of living close to nature, we thought the area we were in would be perfect for mushroom foraging. We had recently been seeking out information on the magic that is the fungi of the world. If you want to get intrigued, a good starting point is the film Fantastic Fungi, which is now on Netflix! Seriously, go watch it. If you end up not caring about the information, at the least everyone will enjoy the cinematography of the many different time-lapses of the mushrooms growing the films boasts. It’s awesomeeeeee broh. 🤙🏻

Seeing the area we are in looking very fungi friendly - lots of dead wood, trees, and plant matter around- we thought we would go a-foraging. How hard could it be after all? People literally have mushrooms that grow in their front yard without trying. So we went out on a forage on part of the Colorado Trail that’s in our backyard… anddddd we found absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. 

While I knew foraging wasn’t going to be a walk in the park (though if you walk through some of Denver’s downtown parks you will easily spot some little white mushrooms popping up), I thought at the least we would find some semblance of fungi, somewhere, anywhere. But alas, nothing. We know we were in a good season for it as well, as mushroom seasons tend to begin as early as spring for some species, but typically the main season is late summer to early fall. Which is what we were in. Which is why we were perplexed at finding nothing. 

We began wondering if this should be attributed to our complete noob status as mushroom foragers, or if the part of Colorado we were in - mainly high elevation 9,000+ ft, and the dry atmosphere that brings was actually good for mushroom growth. 

Some quick research led us to find out that indeed Colorado is one of the top 2 states in the country for variety of mushroom species that grow there, and one of the best spots to forage. We were perplexed, but moved on. What else is there to do, ya know?

Fast forward to… well, now. And we have just completed our longest work road trip in the van: Colorado -> California -> Idaho -> Wyoming -> back to Colorado.

This year, as we pulled into our spot around the lakes that are twins, I stepped out to pee in the brush as I normally do directly upon parking, and immediately spotted one, no two, no three! and more! Mushrooms, and different fungi popping out of the ground in every direction. I even realized I stepped on one, which would quickly become a trend over this week anytime I went to relieve myself. They were everywhere! The reign of thee mushrooms had begun! 

A member of the Slippery Jack family of Fungi. Hand for size reference. Non-edible.

A thriving flush of Common Ink Caps. They are thought to be edible(except when consumed with alcohol!) but have little taste.

A type of Shelf Fungi growing on a downed aspen. Possibly a White Cheese Polyphore.

We were a tad taken back at how many were just around without even having to search for them, when we were in this exact same location last year, at the exact same time last year and found nothing. It left us pondering exactly how bad we we might have been at foraging the previous year. Mushrooms need a special combination of warmth, and moisture to truly thrive. Apparently one of these aspects was a tad out of balance the previous year, which left us foraging empty handed, literally. 

The mountain climate this year though had found its balance, and the fungi were thriving. 

And we were ready to put our nose to the dirt to forage.

A few short hikes down the Colorado Trail confirmed what we had already known just from being parked at our recent spot, the mushrooms were indeed everywhere. And the plethora of fungi only increased the deeper into the woods one ventured.

Another large Fly Agaric. Yes, this mushroom exactly: 🍄

A healthy flush of Shaggy Scalycaps!

More Fly Agarics. They were everywhere!

A large member of the Bolete family of fungi hanging out under some trees!

Mushrooms! This was a common sight whether you looked to the left or right on the trail!

We immediately began an even deeper dive into researching the various types of fungi we were seeing, with the hopes of being able to discover at least one species that would be edible and delicious. 

Now, disclaimer, before we go any further. Mushroom foraging is f******** hard. Or should I say, correctly identifying the fungi one finds is f********* hard. Everything we were reading on the inter webs, and in the books we had, said to only attempt to eat a mushroom if you are 110% of the species, and even then, the possibility of it causing an upset stomach because of the wildness of the mushroom could still be possible in some individuals. I say all that to say, if this post inspires you to go out in the woods and chow down on the first little pinhead you see poking out from the ground because it looks like something you would find in Whole Foods, don’t. Do your research and be cautious! 

As a wise man once said, “All mushrooms are edible, but some only once.” 

While this is a good quote, upon further research we discovered that the majority of wild mushrooms if cooked very thoroughly will not be fatal towards the average healthy humans. Still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. But at the very least, if you pick a wild mushroom and plan to try and eat it - cook the shit out of it first. 

A common field-cap. These were all around the ground we were parked at!

Common Puffballs! While they are considered edible, they look kinda gross. They have some interesting nicknames such as “Wolf Farts” or “Devils Snuff Box.” If you poke them, you see why!

Stinking Orange Oyster mushrooms growing on a downed log. Not edible- unlike their highly sought after cousin: the regular oyster.

There are many factors to determine when correctly identifying wild mushrooms. From cap size, to color, to the trees and plant matter the fungi is growing around, the shape and anatomy of the gills or whether or not it has pores, to the color of spores it drops, etc. etc. etc. It can be overwhelming. Many of the edible species of mushrooms have a non-edible mimic as well, which is frustrating. Like why? Can’t you stay in your own lane mushroom mimic??

I digress, we took the whole family out on evening hike - whole family as in Amy and I and our two dogs, Jet & Kona - to go foraging! With as much knowledge as we could attain from reading, a few helpful phone apps (yes there is an app for that!) and the universe smiling upon us, we began our forage. Our main focus was to find the great and tasty Porcini mushroom, or Boletes as it is also called, an edible and fairly easy to identify species without any fatal mimics.

A small flush of unidentified pinheads peaking out from under a log.

Violet-toothed Polypore.

A large Fly Agaric spreading it’s spores!

The stretched cap of a large Amanita muscara! 🍄

What I think is a Destroying Angel. Very Not Edible though common in yards and fields.

Funeral Bell mushroom growing out of a log. Definitely Not Edible, unless, well, you like funeral bells.

After finding many species that seemed sketchy, or showed warning signs of in-editability (is that a word?) such as orange or yellow gills/pores, we found some absolute beauties that looked thriving and ready to share their nutrients with humanity! 

We carefully picked and took these back home, or to the van. We live in van full time after all, iykyk. Cleaned the excess dirt off of them, and stored them in a bag in our cooler. 

A Large Porcini!

3 large Porcini/Boletes we foraged and cooked up for eating!

They go by many names: Porcini, Boletes, or Red-Capped Scaber Stalk! But made for a delicious and earthy meal.

We had confidently done everything we could have to identify them. There was only one more step in seeing if they might be an inedible type, and that was to cut them open and if they bruised a bluish-green, then that was not good. 

So one morning for breakfast, we took them out, cut them open -and they didn’t bruise blue! -so we gave them a good ole cooking (just to be safe), and, well, we ate them!

After a full twenty-four hours of no stomach issues, and not dying (always a plus) we deemed it a success! And we had officially completed our first successful forage. 

It left us in a state of euphoria, not because the mushroom had any psychoactive effects in it, but just the feeling of searching out, identifying, hand-picking, and then cooking and eating this magical fungi was extremely grounding and rewarding. And quite tasty, although a bit earthy if you’re into that.

So, in conclusion, if you are interested in going Mushroom Foraging with the motive to try and find edible fungi, do your research. And no, do not consider this blog post as adequate research. Watch Fantastic Fungi. Go buy and read a book. Download a few helpful apps. Read a few articles online of mushroom species in your area, and the seasons they grow. Bring a friend and second eye (dogs don’t count). And then cook the shit out of it!

🌊 🌊 Caleb