A Year in the Forest

After completing the layout and clearing of the last trail segment this past weekend, I walked the complete main trail loop today.  The trail starts out on the top of the ridge in a nice open area.    This picture is pretty typical of the upland areas.  Just as I was starting to go down into the stream area I encountered the biggest two-color bolete I have ever seen.  It was about 4 1/2 inches across the top of the cap and a full 3/4 inch thick.  I, of course, harvested it and took it back to the house and cooked it for a pre-dinner snack.  But before I did that I continued on down into the stream bed.  Here is a picture of the stream bed.    You will notice how much darker the stream area is even during bright sun.  I have often gotten down there and began to wonder if night was falling.  The reason for the darkness is that the under story of paw paw trees is so thick here that little light gets down to ground level.  Continuing on down the stream I took a detour to snap a picture of some deer bones.  This deer died and was scavenged by the local animals, probably mainly fox and coyote.  The bones are spread over quite an area but here is the backbone, ribs and skull.    The deer carcass started out further up the hill and I have found hind quarters bones up there.  The main carcass was dragged down into the bottoms and leg and pelvic bones are spread out in the area.  The bones are spread out through rugged terrain for over 1500 feet.

On the way back to the house I picked up a couple dozen black walnuts and laid them on the driveway to dry in the sun.  In the past, I have never thought black walnuts were worth the trouble, but hope springs eternal.

This begins my log of a year in the forest.

Today is a dry late summer day.  The mushrooms that have been so plentiful the last few weeks are almost all gone – I hope it will rain some more so they will come back.  I begin my trek through the woods by taking what I call the chanterelle trail.  It is just off this trail that I have found chanterelle mushrooms on occasion.  I look hopefully toward the area but don’t spot the choice mushrooms.  Further down the trail I stop to take some more pictures of the stump covered with shelf mushrooms Trametes elegans.  Next to  the stump I spot some juvenile chanterelle mushrooms that are starting to dry up.  I take them and crush them up and spread them throughout the area hoping to make the chanterelles more abundant.

While I am pausing at the stump I notice the faint buzzing, we have noticed the past week or so.  The faint buzzing in this part of the forest and the sighting of a few honey bees makes me hopeful that there is a bee hive somewhere around here.  I haven’t found it yet but haven’t looked much either.  A task for another day.

I continue on round the upper trail – I haven’t been on it much lately and I need to bring my clippers to cut back the green brier which so loves to fill any part of the forest that has a little bit of light.  All of the trails are deer trails and it seems the deer like it when I cut back the green briers.  The trails are always used more when I clear them.   The west slope does not offer much of interest.  When I get to the north trail I take the pathway down into the main stream bed.  Its a zigzag trail cutting down the steep slope.  The stream bed is dry now.  It always amazes me how dark it is down here.  More than once I have found myself down here and thought night was falling only to come back up out of the stream bed to the sun light.  I make my way to the big beech log I have been harvesting oyster mushrooms from the past week.  It looks like this will be the last or next to last harvest.  The slugs are starting to eat the remaining mushrooms and the ones left are harder to get to.  I harvest about 2 pounds of mushrooms, planning of drying most of them for later.  These mushrooms have been a real treat this year, we have harvested about 10 pounds of oyster mushrooms.  I gave away about 3 pounds this weekend and we have eaten the rest.  Lets see the going rate is $4.00 for 1/2 ounce of dried oyster mushrooms.  Drying them takes away about 2/3 the weight.  That would mean we have, conservatively, consumed and given away about $425.00 of mushrooms.  Man I am rich.

Have to get back up the trail, the wife will be home soon.  The trail out is a brutal old logging trail straight up a steep slope.  It seems the horseflys always wait here to pester me as I come up it.  I am covered with sweat and they love to drink it and bite me in the process.  After stopping twice to swat em and drive em off me I make it to the top.  Now all I have to do is clean the latest mushroom harvest and put them in the dryer.