"Adventures of the Boomer 'Shroomers!"

[tjcrebs]

Ah, it's apparently Colorado Monsoon season up here. This morning, towns along the Front Range are flooding, and Interstate 70 got partially blocked by a mudslide near Wolcott Junction.

It's been raining all last night and all morning here in Lakewood, and Joy just spotted another leak in my gutters--oh, Joy! Rain gauge in the backyard says 2.7-inches since yesterday. The veggie gardens, trees, and grasses are loving it after all the +90°F temperatures. High today forecast in the mid-60's--yeah, as old Colorado Boomers like us tend to wilt when temps hit 85°.

Us 'shroomers love it too, 'cause it means in about 5 to 10 days T's favorite big Rocky Mountain King Bolete mushrooms (aka porcini, penny bun, & Boletus edulis) will be sprouting under the pines at elevations above 7500 feet. By mid-August, Joy's favorite the White Matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare) will be hiding beneath the duff at the base of Ponderosa pines at elevations above 8000 feet.

We're all hoping that August-2014 will be comparable to 2013 when shrooming up here was simply fabulous.

Best Regards, T and Joy

PS. So what do old Greek Boomers do while waiting for the rain to stop and shrooms to sprout? T's making feta cheese today. One and a half gallons of fresh un-Pasteurized milk from our Cow-Share makes about 3 pounds of Feta -- Kali Oreksi !

 

[michaelo]

2.7 inches of rain in one day, you may want to order pontoons for The Vug! Is your avatar pic you posing with Rocky Mountain King Bolete mushrooms?

Michael

 

[michaelo]

By the by T what are these? Any idea.

Michael

 

[tjcrebs]

2.7 inches of rain in one day, you may want to order pontoons for The Vug! Is your avatar pic you posing with Rocky Mountain King Bolete mushrooms?

Michael

Yup, Broke my 22-year backyard rain-record, got 3.9-inches in two days--we're on a "stable" foothill above Denver and mud-slides are always a concern in the 'hood.

We were camping in "Vuggie" at our favorite 10,500-foot Brainard Lake campground when the rain started; we packed up and left before the creeks and roads got too swollen. We're no NW'ers, but Vuggie was a pretty good "mudder" tow too! No leaks either for a 6 year-old CI, thank goodness.

Nope, those big shrooms I posed with are Aspen Boletes ( Leccinum insigne) which are close relatives of our Kings. We love these Aspens too, but some locals (not us) have reported getting sick eating them. Often when boletes are as big as in my photo they are too wormy to eat.

Regards, T

 

[tjcrebs]

By the by T what are these? Any idea.

Michael

Mikey, your photographic skills are awesome and put mine to shame--those shroom picts you took are awesome.

Your first shot posted is the Common Inky Cap (Coprinus altramentarius). Not recommended for eating. Mycologist David Arora writes: "If eaten with, or even several before, alcohol, it can produce transitory but alarming symptoms: rapid heartbeat, flushed face, metallic taste, and puffiness and numbness in the hands and feet."

Your second is a great shot of an old Shaggy Mane (aka Lawyer's Wig, Coprinus comatus)! Your picture illustrates how it got it's common English name. Arora writes: "Popular, but perishable and delicate. Pick only those that have not begun to liquify and eat them as soon as possible. Also beware of those growing along busy roads, as they may be contaminated by exhaust fumes."

You also might be interested in Arora's hip-pocket field guide to western mushrooms entitled: "All that the Rain Promises and More..." I carry it everywhere, even though I have several mushroom apps on my iPod-Touch.

I gotta remember/research how to post my shroom pictures here too. But not sure I have any as pretty as yours my friend.

All the Best to the Dewie Crew -- The Vuggie Crew

 

[tjcrebs]

Rocky Mountain King Bolete Pictures

Joy found this big "King" (aka Boletus edulis or Porcini) last August near Nederland. Note Kings have light tan-to-yellowish pores on the underside of the cap, as boletes have pores instead of gills under the cap. DO NOT EAT any bolete with RED pores!!

That day in August 2013 we found a few and left even more.

Regards, T & Joy

 

[michaelo]

WOW! That's quite a haul. Nice looking shrooms. Thanks for the info and compliments on my mushroom pictures. I'll have to get a mushroom identification app, it could come in very handy around here come dark and wet season.

Michael

 

[tjcrebs]

Pawnee Campground just west of Ward, Colorado is one of our favorites with Vuggie for the following reasons:

1) Paved asphalt off Highway 92 all the way (+10,500-feet above sea-level);
2) BEAR BOXES (note the brown one left of Vuggie above);
3) nearby lakes (Brainard, Blue, Mitchell) with nice level hikes <3 miles;
4) and, the local flora and fauna!

Thanx to Sue and Michael Ryan of Boulder, fellow Pawnee campers who took the pictures of the MOOSE BULLS* grazing near Brainard Lake, and graciously let us post here.

Happy Camping, T & Joy

* Like FISH the plural of MOOSE is MOOSE (NOT MEESE). But our favorite "Moose" plural was what our Labrador/Canadian clients call them: "Newfie Speed-bumps"

 

[tjcrebs]

Fun times Colorado 'shrooming, and with all the Hummingbirds in the mountains we thought we would add a feeder to Vuggie:

A Droll Yankees ($15 window-feeder) was on sale at True Value and it has large suction cups, insect/bee guards, and a cleaning brush.

A few minutes later:

Pretty fun in the Hall Valley Campground, as our feeder was attracting Broadtail Hummers (Selasphorus platycercus) all day. Fellow campers came over and enjoyed with us the Hummer acrobatics and territorial behavior.

Will try to post some more shroom pictures maybe tomorrow.

Nighty-night, T & Joy

 

[1Door]

Love the hummingbird! Great photos and thanks for sharing AND glad you're out camping!!!

 

[Little Patriot]

The hummingbird feeder is a really neat idea. Thank you for sharing.
(....so cute!)

 

[tjcrebs]

Thank you S_A; yeah tis a pleasure to camp and shroom Colorado in August. BTW, cute puppies.

Yup, D&K--we found the feeder to match the cuteness of Vuggie. The nearby campers got kick out of it too.

Yeah Jenn, broadtail hummers are kinda special up here. They're the only one's to stick around--most of the other hummers just past thru for lower climes. Broadtail males can be identified by their distinctive "wing-twirl" sound of their flying; the females are much more quiet fliers (guess the girls are more shy and retiring <grin>).

Regards, T & Joy

 

[birder526]

Hi T! It's great to see the hummingbird feeder and action at the feeder! We've been tent campers for many years along with being avid birdwatchers. We always put up one seed feeder and one hummingbird feeder when we camp in "birdy" areas! It's been so much fun doing so! We have your feeder on our living room window now, on Cape Cod, and watch the ruby-throated hummingbirds feed at it regularly! Once we're on the road full-time, we'll continue the tradition!

Best,
Diane

 

[tjcrebs]

Hey Diane, we have seed and hummer feeders in our backyard too! Adding one to Vuggie and getting "swarmed" almost immediately was both fun and surprising.

Ah, I'll try to be more careful with my birding descriptions ('cause you're here!) From www.birding.about.com: "For some hummingbirds, the most distinct sounds they make are nonvocal. Because these birds have such frantic wing beats, their wings may make clear buzzes or trills that can be used for identification. The broad-tailed hummingbird, for example, has a metallic zinging wing noise in flight, though its hovering is mostly silent."--my earlier post probably misspelled "trills".

And yeah, we find that all the really cool people in Colorado are birders.

Regards, T & Joy

 

[tjcrebs]

The PRINCES (Agaricus augustus) are out!! This week while at Hall Valley we found a few, but never enough:

Campbell (our Westie) and T pose with three Princes on a slope at about 8100' elevation. It's our favorite Agaricus.

Here's the best one, note the large cap with brown freckles on top, when young it's cap is marshmallow shaped.

Like all Agaricus the gills are pink when young and turn brown with age; yup Agaricus species are also the button shrooms we buy in the stores. Note the shaggy stem and the ring around the stem, all Agaricus have them. Princes smell like almonds, that's how T recognizes them.

Joy had never seen one before, so had to study the books to get aquainted.

Cooked up in olive oil and butter with lots of garlic. We think they are the best tasting of all the Agaricus, including all those store-bought Agaricus (aka portabellos, crimini's, buttons etc.) Note also the 5-inch DO's, great for cooking side veggies.

Kali Oreksi, T

 

[birder526]

Hi!

Trust me, I am not good enough to ID a hummingbird by the sound of its wings!! I need to see the bird!

Birders are cool people...and so are CI folks!

And, your mushroom facts and ID are so interesting! Thanks for that!

Best,
Diane

 

[tjcrebs]

Hall Valley Campground in Pike National Forest is one of our favorites during August as very tasty shrooms can be found nearby.

Hall Valley is an easy 1.3-hour drive from Denver, and we enjoy the scenery and geology of the place too.

Joy and our dog Campbell always find Aspen Boletes (Leccinum insigne):

Last week Joy found some pretty Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) growing on aspen stumps, and they smell so good too.

While old T found chanterelles (Cantharellus ciborium) and Meadow Mushrooms (Agaricus campestris). Meadow and Prince Mushrooms (an earlier post) are better tasting relatives to the white button, portabello, and crimini shrooms you find in the produce section of grocery stores.

Yup, Hall Valley and surrounding forests are indeed a nice place to find tasty fungus treats...and apparently Girls just wanna have fungi!

Regards, T & Joy

 

[tjcrebs]

Yippee!!! Rocky Mountain King Boletes are sprouting at about 10000 feet! But first a picture of Vuggie and the VW Rabbit at the Brainard Lake Picnic Area:

Note the pale Rainbow! The mountain to the right is the glaciated Mt. Audubon (13,223')--an Eocene-Paleocene grano-syenite intrusion (i.e., for you geos, the Audubon-Albion Stock.) Yeah, sexy geology up here.

Okay back to the shrooms:

Could it be? Gotta look beneath the cap to be sure!

YES!!!

Oh, what a Happy Camper. It IS the famous Rocky Mountain King Bolete (i.e., the Italians call them "Porcini", the Germans "Steinpilz", aka Boletus edulis!) Yup, old T's favorite shroom--so he smiles big.

The many trails around the Pawnee Campground (1.5-hour drive from Denver) were full of many kinds of shrooms. And here's an identification trick:

Carry a small mirror to look under the mushroom cap. Boletes have spongy pores under their caps, not gills. Joy here is checking out the pores under an Aspen Bolete (Leccinum insigne). I know, I know, T gets too excited to check with a mirror when he think it's a KING.

After find a few Kings, it started to rain, and it rained all night and all morning. We were very pleased with the REI Alcove, kept us nice and dry at temperatures in the mid 40's.

Making McNugits Omelet in an 8-inch DO in light rain. I shielded the rain with my hat--worked great and dried out the hat too. Oh yeah, the omelet was awesome on a 42° morning. As the Stark's say: Winter is Coming!

Driving Highway 72 south from Pawnee, we always stop at the B&F Gocery Store in Nederland-CO. It's got a small cafe inside and they serve "Mountain Burgers" with lots of onions.

We recommend these burgers highly, and always try to get to Nederland before noon to order 'em, as the locals like 'em too and the line and wait can get long for them.

Happy Camping, T & Joy

 

[Biggie]

Thank you for the beautiful pictures, the helpful information and delightful commentary. During the summers of 2012 & 2013 (our son lived in Boulder at the time), we were fortunate to get to camp and visit some of eastern Colorado's spectacular locations. We camped in spots from Fort Collins down to Colorado Springs in both US National Forest Campgrounds and a couple of state parks (Golden Gate Canyon & Mueller). We enjoyed the town of Nederland and the surrounding challenging roads to explore in our Jeep. Our son now lives in Minneapolis but we will certainly return to Colorado with our "SimplifyInn" - there is so much more to see and do!

 

[Pick]

T is that you on the cover of the book back in the day? Great pictures BTW.