With the recent rain development Haines is finally seeing a bumper crop of mushrooms. I encourage everyone to get out and walk through the woods to practice identifying these free and delicious seasonal treats. While it was a disappointing chicken of the woods and chanterelle season, the king boletes (aka Porcini, aka Cepes) are everywhere right now. They are growing in your backyard, sides of the road, and on any trail in the entire area. They are also some of the easiest mushrooms to identify. So pick up a field guide and have at it. You may only want to identify the mushrooms at first so that you gain a little confidence but once you do you will see what I mean when I say Haines has some of the most abundant foraging in the world. Last week Rachel and I picked a Cauliflower mushroom the size and a half of her head and 40 pounds of King Boletes.
Hope everyone can enjoy the fall season.
Travis Kukull