Chicken-of-the-Woods

Day 341: I'd seen it a couple of days earlier and was in too much of a rush to turn around and find a safe spot to get off the road to Paradise, but when Dreimillers and I noticed it again, Joe pulled over and we walked back. No mistaking it: Chicken-of-the-Woods (Laetiporus conifericola). We hadn't been the only ones who recognized it. Every "shelf" within arm's reach had been neatly pruned of its tender outer rim with a knife. I've never eaten it, but my mother collected it whenever she found it. That said, polypores tend to be a bit on the woody side, and only the youngest Chickens are suitable for the table. Older specimens become tough, later turning chalky. Whenever I've found them, I've let them be, content to simply enjoy their striking nature.