Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 1st October.

We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

Last week we had a fairly nice day for hiking, a comfortable temperature with a high overcast that covered just the highest points of land.  We figured the clouds were going to clear before very long and headed for the new high point with a view we discovered recently on the east side of Mt.  Pocahontas.   When we reached the lunchspot we were in thick fog, but like magic a breeze came along and the fog came opened up and reclosed just long enough to let us see the mainland before it closed in again.  

The recent rains are having an affect on the underground parts of the mushrooms that fill the soil just about everywhere on the island and we are starting to see a great many fungi fruiting bodies of many different varieties coming out of the ground here and there.  One quite uncommon one is the this fresh specimen of the Cauliflower Mushroom which we came across in the morning. I harvested part of it and enjoyed it as a tasty addition to a couple of meals. I was quite surprised to learn that it is only found in BC in a few locations in our south-west corner of the province although similar species are found in California and some parts of eastern North America. 

JD.

 

A Cauliflower Mushroom, Sparassis crispa, easy to identify and edible.