Mushroom Journal: 2007-08-18 in the White Mountains
From AJS.COM
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This is a Mushroom Journal walking report from August 18, 2007. Also see the full gallery of photos and movies at http://mush.ajs.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=204835
Contents |
The trip
We had a bit of trouble on the way up. Jeff's tire got a nail in it, and we had to pull over and hit the NTB to get it replaced. An expensive start to the day, but we got through it just fine. Plus, I got a chance to buy a new 2GB card for my camera, which was nice. Wow, those prices have come down!
The hike
We got to the mountain and found that it was fairly dry. No mushrooms were in evidence at the stream that goes by the parking area, which is a sign of very dry times. Still, we saw a few as we started up the path.
The yellow fungus
Jeff and I disagreed about a particular yellow fungus. He insisted it was paint. I insisted it was a scrambled egg slime... until I got closer. Nope, he was right. Paint. ;-)
Death cap
About half way up the mountain, I encountered a young Amanita phalloides
(death cap), one of the two most deadly mushrooms in the world, and in my opinion one of the most beautiful mushrooms. It's always stunning to look at something in nature that you know can kill you with a single bite. With the death cap, it's even more striking because its poison will kill you slowly, over the course of days while it painfully dissolves your internal organs. Needless to say, we took the pictures and moved on.
