shroomysean's Journal

I went on a hike yesterday in a local park. I had found both C. formosus and C. subalbidus there before. I was not expecting the sheer amount of C. subalbidus. In all corners of the park, you could see them popping up alongside the trails. Beautiful clusters of them everywhere! It compelled me to go and buy a dehydrator, because there is no way I would be able to use all of these mushrooms in one sitting. Marking my calendar; September 1st, 2024; that’s the chanterelle day!

I could have taken more, but I had to restrain myself. In no world would I need that many. At one point it kinda just felt like stealing - I mean, there right there! How could no-one have already harvested them! If there’s this many now, I can only imagine how many there will be come October-November.

While exploring some trails a couple of days ago, I came across some false Chanterelles, Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca. While kneeling on the ground taking photos and noting some features, a flash of gold caught my attention underneath the thick cover of the nearby Salal. A giant Pacific Golden Chanterelle, Cantharellus formosus, was only a few feet away from a patch of its less tasty, poisonous counterpart. I took the oppourtunity to showcase them side by side.

I also noticed that there were only two other observations of C. formosus on the West Coast with microscopy attached, so I put a few ridge slices under the scope!