Sunday Funday Hike

Sunday Funday! Family Hike day in Ohiopyle area while Spencer’s sister Meg was in town from Brooklyn. We ended up taking along route than planned and the kids were absolute troopers to be pushed outside their hiking comfort zone. But, because of the Dad detour, we ended up finding a pretty awesome Bear’s Tooth mushroom, which is a close cousin to the Lion’s Mane.

Speaking of bears, we also came to a bridge that went across a mountain stream that had some recent bear tracks on the rock algae in 3-4 inches of water. It looked like a couple smaller cubs made the tracks and you could see where their pads where sliding on the slippy rocks (yes, slippy).

It was a fun and rewarding hike and pretty warm by the time we left. Awesome day to be in the mountains.

Puffballs Mushrooms

I was making my way to my treestand this evening and found a half dozen giant puffballs all around my tree.  I climbed my tree and sat out the last couple hours of light.  The deer were on their feet and I watched a couple small bucks chasing does all over the hill side.  Fun action, but no big boys yet. On my way out I grabbed one of the medium sized puffballs (yes, some were bigger).

I knew puffballs were edible, but I mean, just look at it.  Does it look edible?  It took a bunch more research to convince myself to actually eat one. The key when eating a puffball is it HAS TO BE PURE WHITE.  If it starts to turn yellow at all (entering the stage when it turns into that big dead "puffball" we have all intentionally stepped on in the woods) then it is past its prime and not edible.   This one was pure white and in perfect condition, so I cut it into about 3/4" steaks and pan fried it in butter until golden brown on both sides.  

The results???  Delicious!!  It was like a little piece of fried dough.  It was mild in flavor and just a fun little snack.  I bet puffballs would actually be pretty good with a little maple syrup on them for breakfast too and be a nice paleo replacement for pancakes.

SW Virginia Shrooming

I took Hunter on a like fall forage around the mountains of Hot Springs, VA, primarily so he'd finally take a nap, but also so I could do a little mushroom hunting.  We had a great hike and he was drooling out of the baby bjorn in no time flat.  

We found some older mushrooms, but still fun to find nonetheless.  We found some Chicken of the Woods, Maitake, (Hen of the Woods, and my first ever Cauliflower mushroom.  I've never found one of these and had to do some research to even find out what it was.  Unfortunately, it was a bit old and I opted not to eat it.  

Note: I intentionally picked some Jack O Lantern mushrooms so I could take them back to the house and examine them further.  I found them on the tree with the maitake and I circled them red in the last picture.  Don't eat those.  You might die.    

*As always, I am not a mushroom expert, so please do not use this blog as a source of knowledge.  Do not consume wild mushrooms unless you are 100% sure of their identification.

Wild Virginia Rainbows

Spence and I took the afternoon to spend together the best way we know how - which is hiking up through a mountain stream fishing dry flies to wild rainbows.  There is not many other places I know of with wild rainbows, so this stream is very special.  In addition, it has one of the coolest, most picturesque streams I've fished.  

I knew the trip was going to be special when we walked to the first big plunge pool and scared a bear from taking an afternoon drink right out of the place I wanted to fish!   

Wild rainbow fishing (think brookies) is exactly what you want when you dont fish as much as you want.  The fish were not selective and happily ate a decently presented dry fly.  No match the hatch, techinical Euro nymphing, micro drag, etc, etc.  Just happy hungry trout in a beautiful setting.  Stealth and an accurate cast was all you needed.  We only took one little 3 wt and I found it more fun watching Spence fish then I did myself.  Plus its loads of fun busting on each other after missing a fish, which happens often when the little 4" fish tried eating a bug that is bigger then his mouth.  

Later the at evening, my father-in-law and I took Jack back to the bottom of this creek that held some stocked trout. I had a more difficult time catching a trout that clearly had no idea what I was trying to pass off as food, but alas I triumphed.  And a happy 3 year old was the winner!

Morel mushroom hunting with the twins

We took the kids on an afternoon hike to look for some morels.  We went to a place we'd never found any before, but it was close and needed some fresh air.  We were delighted to find some morels and let the twins pick their own (last year, they were in baby bjorns).  They were certainly interested and loved how excited we were!  

Thanksgiving Oyster Mushrooms

We visited the family in Lynchburg, VA for Thanksgiving and in the morning I took Cooper on a scouting walk for some deer in the city limits.  We ended up finding these good looking oyster mushrooms on this old dead log. 

These were the first oysters I found and just to be sure, I took a spore print.  A spore print is simply placing the mushrooms (cap side up) on any surface to allow you to see the expected color of the spore and covering them (with a pot, bowl, etc) to create a controlled environment.  In this case, oysters have a pearly to white spore print and this was confirmed on the purple construction paper in the morning.

Turkey Tail Mushrooms - Proven Cancer Killing Fungi

I continue to go further down the rabbit hole of learning about the mushrooms and their amazing health benefits.  This spring I came across some turkey tail mushrooms. 

Turkey Tail mushrooms are well-researched and one of the most revered medicinal fungi all over the world, but particularly in Japan and China. It is a herbal mushroom that has an tremendous amount of health benefits.   

The most interesting health findings are the Turkey Tail mushrooms have been proven by an NIH study to cure cancer — especially breast cancer.

Turkey Tail mushrooms offer a long list of medicinal properties and health benefits, but they are most prized as a natural source of the anti-cancer polysaccharide PSK.  PSK is said to fight cancer and halt tumors by inhibiting the growth of cancer cells and “stimulating a host mediated response.” PSK also promotes the body’s own “Natural Killer Cells” to strengthen and kick start the immune system.

PSK is frequently combined with chemotherapy to increase cancer survival rates.  Here are a couple links with more info:

http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/turkey-tail-mushroom/#axzz30tymrnU9

Here is what Dr. Andrew Weil has to say about turkey tail.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400904/Turkey-Tail-Mushrooms-for-Cancer-Treatment.html

Here are some of the pictures of the turkey tail mushrooms I found - I see where it gets its name!