Mushroom walk on August 10

On the morning of Saturday August 10th a group of ten fabulous fungi finders gathered at the Pink Beds for a Mushroom walk led by Charlotte Caplan.  Under perfect summer skies we explored the first mile or so of the trail and unearthed a wide variety of mushroom species.  Highlights included black trumpets (ultimately serving as someone’s breakfast), and unusual speciments such as the Velvety Fairy Fan, the hard to pronounce and even harder to see Tolypocladium ophioglossoides (connected by an umbilical cord to a truffle), and a large Fairy Club.  Some distance down the trail we came to a beautiful wet meadow at a stream crossing, and a magnificent display of wildflowers (Joe Pye Weed, Ironweed, Boneset, Blue Lobelia, Goldenrod and more) distracted us from the mushrooms.  All in all a very pleasant morning spent in a great place with great people.

A special thanks is due to Charlotte Caplan for stepping up when the originally planned “Ghosts of Bull Creek” program had to be cancelled due to a washed-out trail bridge.