Day 2: The best part wasn't the nine-mile hike. It wasn't even the bagful of chanterelles I picked for my dinner. No, the thing which really had me excited was finding a pile o' Pilophorus in Pack Forest! It is the first time I have observed them outside the Park.
They're not easy to spot. The photo doesn't give you much for scale unless you're on a first-name basis with Douglas fir needles. Pilophorus' stalks are no larger than a pencil lead, about an inch long, and their pale green colour camouflages them extremely well. As a matter of fact, I have walked past this rock dozens of times and never noticed them. Today, I elected to walk the 2000 Rd. counterclockwise, and thus put myself in a position where the light was right. As always when I walk, my eyes were searching the hillsides for anything photo-worthy. I must have noted them subconsciously, because I was a few steps beyond them when I said aloud, "Wait a minute...was that Pilophorus?" Those of us who have spent much of our lives in wilderness do that...talk to ourselves...or to the rocks or the trees or the lichens or the little chirpy birds. Little black-tipped stalks beckoned, so I backtracked. Yes, there they were, a pile o' Pack Forest Pilophorus. Did I have my GPSr with me? Not a chance! Will I be able to find them again? You bet! I may forget whether a friend has a mustache or wears glasses, but I never forget a rock or tree, especially not when it's populated with one of my favourite lichens.
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