Mushroom Foraging with Friends!

A mushroom-focused hike in the foothills of Olympic National Park turned out to be more about learning than harvesting. My friend Nicole Leggiere and I treated the first outing as an observation walk — practicing identification, discussing foraging ethics, and accepting that experienced foragers keep their locations close.

We found only three small chanterelles, but plenty of other fungi, and managed to stay dry — a success by local standards.

On a later hike on the Kitsap Peninsula, we gathered a few pounds of chanterelles and cooked them into a simple omelette, closing the loop between patience, practice, and reward.