Red Buttons

Day 352: Mushrooms are popping up everywhere this autumn, demonstrating the most diverse collection of species I've seen in many years. My skills at identification of fungi are minimal at best. I know what I eat, and I know not to eat anything I don't know. I've gone as far as placing these cute little red buttons in Hygrophorus and have not ruled out H. speciosus, although they are not growing under larch (the species occurs under other evergreens), but even so, there are half a dozen species they could be, and without checking spores under the microscope, I can't be more definite. In any event, some Hygrophorus species are edible, but come with the caution that the common name "waxy-cap" is well-deserved. Apparently, even edible waxy-caps have all the gustatory appeal of gnawing on a block of paraffin.

If I Had A Hammer

Day 351: What's more fun than a construction work party? Why, a DEconstruction work party, of course! After long years of saying "We need to build new tent platforms" and then revising that to "Nah, the old ones will last another season," budget and volunteer opportunity finally came together in time for National Public Lands Day 2019. Traditionally Mount Rainier National Park's largest volunteer event of the year, roughly seventy people gathered in front of the transportation exhibit yesterday before dispersing into three separate work groups: trails, reveg and campground. The campground unit set themselves to moving the platform tents and then pounding apart the deteriorating wood bases, salvaging what lumber could be reused and discarding the reast. Meanwhile, a second group turned the picnic pavilion into a pro-tem carpentry shop and zipped through the assembly of the ten new platforms which will be put into use next spring. The Weather Gods smiled on our endeavours, holding off the rain (if perhaps not the cold) until the projects were done.

No Bigger Than A Crow

Day 242: I've always described myself as "about the same size as a 10-year old boy." Here's proof...the Crow with seven 10-year old Webelos who earned their Forester badges today for learning to identify six (actually eight or nine) trees and describing how they are used by man and animals. These young men can tell you the difference between Alaska Yellow Cedar and Red Cedar by looking at the bark OR the foliage! And that grin you see on my face is one of pride in my young pupils.

Another Day At The Office

Day 162: I had the pleasure of two companions on my lunchtime walk today, and for the most part, the road through the Longmire Volunteer Campground was free of snow. In just six to eight weeks, the Calypso Orchids will be emerging. I can hardly wait!

A Walk In The Snow

Day 145: Ten days ago, there wasn't enough snow in Longmire Campground to rise above the welts of your boots. Today, the path to the office was flanked by berms three feet high. I went out at lunchtime with intent to walk to the back gate, but when I reached the turnoff to the wastewater management plant and stepped out of the wheel ruts, I post-holed up to my knees. My walk was cut short by a mile, and perhaps that was for the best because the snow was melting quickly under a steady fall of rain. Nature gives, Nature takes away. It is the cycle of things.

Cup Fungus, Aleuria Aurantia

Day 37: Aleuria aurantia is fairly common in the Pacific Northwest, and easy to identify. It has no stalk, and is thin and leathery, and brilliant orange as the Latin "aurantia" suggests. Specimens range in size from tiny to several inches across. It often forms colonies on decaying wood, and may also be found sprouting through the compacted soil of road verges. It is not poisonous, but neither is it particularly edible.

Four Freaky Fungus Fingers Fotos

Day 34 (bonus edition): What do corals, teeth and clubs have in common? They are all families of fungi, and they were well-represented in the Longmire Campground today. This seems to be an exceptional year for pursuing mycological wonders here in the Pacific Northwe't. I only wish I knew more about the species I am observing.

Elfin Saddle

Day 26: This has been one of the best mushroom seasons I've seen in a long time. Oh, I'm not necessarily talking about edibles. I simply mean that there has been a wider variety and a greater number of fungi spring up in our local forests. This is Helvella lacunosa, a fairly common species in the Pacific Northwest. It is characterised by a lacunose (ribbed and perforated) stalk and a purplish-grey to black wrinkled cap. The common name "Elfin Saddle" makes me glad I'm not an elf. That would be a bumpy ride!

Wet Or Dry

Day 361: These two patches should be the same color, but after absorbing eight hours of steady rain, the one on the hat I was wearing today is looking a little waterlogged. Waterproof outerwear did a pretty good job of keeping me from getting totally soaked to the bone, but rain eventually penetrates anything which isn't absolutely water-tight. Still, I stayed warm as long as I was active.

So why was I out there during Washington's first major storm of the season? Today was National Public Lands Day, one of the biggest volunteer events at Mount Rainier National Park. We had an astonishingly good turnout in spite of the weather and accomplished all of our major goals with respect to the restoration of the historic Longmire Campground.

It's not the first time I've been this soggy, and it probably won't be the last. When you live in Washington, you just have to accept that you're going to get wet if you work in an outdoors profession.

Mycology 101

Day 358: It's autumn, and the wild mushrooms are springing up everywhere, so I want to post a warning for any of you who are thinking of gathering Nature's provender for your dinner table. There are many species of 'shroom which are very difficult to tell apart, and a mistaken identification can kill you, or make you very sick either now or in the long term by causing organ damage. Some are so lethal that a single mispicked mushroom can contaminate the edibles in your basket, so be sure you know what you're doing when you go collecting.

I don't mean to put you off mushroom hunting. In fact, there are a dozen or so delicious "beginner species" which can hardly be mistaken for anything else, and I'll put my Chanterelles up against your Portobellos or Shiitakes any day. They fry well, and make a delicious cream of mushroom soup. That said, if I'd found one growing alongside this Amanita, I'd have left it right there in the interest of living long enough to enjoy another season of picking what I know to be safe to eat.

Stick Pickers!

Day 256 (Part A): Storm debris has been accumulating in the Longmire campground for many years, and the customary means of disposal (dispersal) had proven to be less than effective. A ring of downed limbs and branches was building up behind the campsites faster than Nature could accommodate. Last year, two teams worked to bring the debris forward where it was hoped crews could be brought in to load it into drop boxes for removal, or alternately, that it could be chipped and distributed into the campground environment.

For the last two weekends, Mount Rainier volunteers have been hard at work clearing away the piles created by last year's work parties. On June 8, geocachers participated in their annual "CITO" event at the campground, and today (June 15), another team of nine individual volunteers gathered near the platform tents at 9:30 for a second assault. Four hours later, two 15-yard drop boxes had been filled to capacity, accounting for approximately 75% of the debris.

My personal gratitude as well as the Park's goes out to all the hard-working folks who have pitched in (literally!) on this project. Longmire Campground is now a much more pleasant environment, thanks to you!

Help With The Big Pieces

Day 250 (bonus video!) Be sure you read the post below this. I was very grateful for the assistance of a fork lift operator who removed some of the biggest logs and loosened the pile up for me.

Debris

Day 250: It's my pet project: removing at least ten years' accumulated debris from the Volunteer Campground at Longmire. This year, we had the equipment and we had a means of disposal, but we lacked manpower, so today I went in to see what I could do about shortening up the work before a second small crew comes in at the end of the week. In eight and a half hours, I succeeded in economically filling a 15-yard drop-box using a rake, a pitchfork, a wheelbarrow, a bow saw and my gloved hands.

There's nothing like manual labor to make you feel good about yourself, and to shunt aside whatever other frets might be on your mind. Frustrations? Take them out on a woodpile! When you're done, you can kick back and take a break, knowing that you deserve it.

The War of Crow vs. Pile is by no means over. Fifteen yards only accounted for half of one of a dozen heaps. Whatever the world hands me, there's lots of work to help me forget about it.

Tents Up!

Day 249: A hard-working batch of geocachers and Mount Rainier Volunteers gathered together today in the Longmire Campground for the annual spring cleanup and installation of five platform tents which serve as temporary housing for volunteers throughout the summer months. The event was officially billed at Geocaching.com as a "CITO" (Cache In, Trash Out) and was the seventh annual gathering of this type at this location. The work went smoothly. Participants ranged in age from pre-school kids to senior citizens, each contributing their best efforts to the project. Go, Volunteers!

Out For A Walk In The Woods

Day 247: For obvious reasons, I am not going to reveal the location where I shot this image, but I think it should be apparent that it's not the kind of thing you see every day. I've been here on many occasions, and yes, the sign is authentic, as is the container and its contents.

You'd see the flash before you heard the boom, if only by a nanosecond, and you certainly wouldn't be aware that you saw or heard it in the next nanosecond. I do love stumbling across things like this when I'm hiking. They kinda take your mind off the little singing birds, the tangled mosses, the delicate lichens and the sweet wildflowers, if you take my meaning.

Calypso Bulbosa

Day 226: As scheduled, today I finished installing the signs to protect three large colonies of Calypso Orchids in the Longmire Campground, and was delighted to see that dozens of new blossoms have opened since last week. Even more thrilling was finding another less accessible colony off to the side of one of the least-used campsites. I did not sign the latter group because they are more protected by the geography than the others. It was interesting to note that the area where the new colony had sprung up was one we cleared of deadfall last year. Apparently opening the ground up to light was sufficient to bring the bulbs out of a protracted dormancy. I am discovering that these fragile plants have astonishing recovery abilities. In yet another area, they are making a comeback a year's absence following heavy foot traffic. That said, my campaign for their protection will be an on-going project for many years to come!

The Calypso Project

Day 218: Those of you who regularly follow my posts will no doubt remember the Longmire Volunteer Campground's Calypso Orchids I worked so hard to protect last year. The only resources I had at that time were a roll of yellow caution tape and permission to cordon off the areas where these delicate plants were emerging. In addition to the physical protection, I spread the word among my co-workers, and found them very supportive of my efforts. Today, the issue of the Orchids again came up in conversation, and I went looking for a better way to protect them.

Bureaucracies being what they are, I contacted the sign shop to find out how to go about obtaining signage for the area. I expected to have to get approval for the project at the administrative level, but when I explained the situation, I was told that in this case, I could have signs without going through the departmental rigamarole, but that it might take some time to round up holders for them. I pleaded urgency, expecting the Orchids to emerge some time in the next two weeks. The sign shop said they'd see what they could do.

Satisfied, I turned back to my regular work, but in about fifteen minutes, there was a knock on the door. Eight signs on metal posts were delivered into my hands.

Just before we planned to leave for the day, Kevin and I took a walk around the campground loop. Just in case, I'd taken two signs with me. We found one Orchid in bloom in the primary spot, and scores more in the bud phase. Look closely just off the upper right corner of the sign to see this Orchid in its habitat. Hard to see, aren't they? Next week, I'll be installing the remainder of the signs. Gotta protect my babies!