In Search of Chanterelles

Right now I’m munching on some oyster mushrooms. Yesterday, I wandered around the woods of the Tongass National Forest with Britta (my mycologist friend) in search of mushrooms. This took place after our search for low bush cranberries in the muskeg proved fruitless.

I have never picked a fungus from a tree or the ground and put it straight in my mouth for obvious reasons (like the fear of dying), that is, until yesterday. Britta had her sights set on Chanterelles, but when we stumbled upon Oyster mushrooms, she didn’t pass them by. The Oyster mushrooms we found were creamy white in color and moist to the touch. When you bite into one, there’s an ever so slight crunch, and the taste is amazing – subtle and fresh. They ranged in size from half an inch wide to over two inches wide. Pictured on the right is one of the bigger ones I picked (that I’m about to eat).

I wish I had taken a picture of what the Oyster mushrooms looked like before I plucked them from their habitat, but here’s an image I found online:

As for the Chanterelles, we didn’t find any harvestable ones at first. But then we drove about 6 miles back towards town to the Rainbow Falls Trail. Britta was looking for another mushroom, the name of which I cannot recall, and she found it on the side of a tree. And while searching for this other mushroom, Britta ended up spotting Chanterelles hidden beneath some wooden stairs.