In Search of Matsutakes

Sunday afternoon I spent hiking with friends in Jackson Forest in search of mushrooms. We scrambled up and down muddy embankments and dug through the duff to uncover an endless variety of mushrooms, many of them edible. We found pig's ears, shrimp russula, chanterelle and the hard to find black trumpet. At first the mushrooms are hard to spot, but once you know what you're looking for, you can't look down without seeing the colorful and varied caps. We didn't find any matsutakes, but we did find a Kawasaki, as you'll see in the last photo. 

Sunday Hike

I went hiking with three friends in the Angelo Coast Range Reserve. The Reserve has changed shape from a hunting and gathering ground for the pre-historic Cahto people, to a homestead for European settlers in the 1880s, to a wilderness resort for wealthy San Franciscans, to a nature respite for a manufacturing family (the Angelos), to a protected reserve owned by The Nature Conservancy and administered by UC Berkeley. Now there are a few research stations and miles upon miles of beautiful trails and incredible trees. We saw madrone (the wood I'm working for my project), bay laurel (incredibly fragrant!), douglas fir, tan oak and black oak. We also saw lizards, giant doves and lots of berry-filled bear poop. 

Madrone

More madrone

Black oak

  

They Call it the Lost Coast for a Reason

Labor Day weekend was a treat because I got two days off instead of just one. What to do with all that extra time? Go backpacking of course! My friend David Nichols drove up from San Francisco, and we headed out with ten other hikers into the Sinkyone Wilderness.

The plan was to hike 7.5 miles up the Lost Coast trail, camp at Little Jackass Creek, and then follow the creek up a ravine to a fire road, which makes for quick hiking back to the car. 

The scenery was stunning.

Photo by David Nichols

Photo by David Nichols

We had good company, a campfire and hot toddys. 

Photo by David Nichols

Photo by David Nichols

Morning was beautiful on the beach.

Photo by David Nichols

To say the hike out was grueling is an understatement. It was 1 mile / 1400 feet elevation gain / 30% grade, on average / 4 hours / no trail / heavily, HEAVILY overgrown with brambles, stinging nettle, giant ferns, pampas grass, boulders, waterfalls and fallen, rotting redwood trees. 

Photo by David Nichols

Photo by David Nichols

Photo by David Nichols

There were some truly impressive Redwood trees.

Photo by David Nichols

Making it to the fire road was physically exhausting and mentally challenging. I've never been happier to see a fire road. 

Photo by David Nichols

Here's a map of the route we took. The top of the loop is the ravine we hiked out of.