Travis Kukull receives a lot of messages from friends, family, and randos up and down the Upper Lynn Canal every year around this time.

“People text me pictures of things all the time.” They take pictures of fungi and send them to Kukull’s phone to see if they’re edible. But Kukull is the first to admit he doesn’t know everything and that he’s not a scientist. 

“I’m just a chef, but I am a mushroom…

Francisco Martínezcuello is the Chilkat Valley News summer reporter. Previously, he was in Southwest Alaska working for KYUK Public Media as a News Reporting Fellow from November 2022 through January...