The Best Laid Schemes

Day 54: Though the phrase, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley" generally refers to matters taking an unpleasant turn, there are those occasions when the derailment of a plan is to the benefit of its originator. So it was today when I left home with a route carefully charted to take me on a two-mile hike through the prime lichen real estate of Charles L. Pack Experimental Forest. I wanted but a few photos, but to be on the safe side, I tucked an empty bag in my jacket pocket and hung a knife on my belt. I had intended to patrol the 1000 Rd., venturing off it onto the 1400 and then to return via the lower Hugo Peak trail; however, when I noticed mushrooms newly sprung up along the way, I said to myself, "A slight detour up to 6" (an interpretive marker) "wouldn't do any harm." In confirmation of my theoretical hopes, I found a savory handful of Chanterelles in an accustomed spot.

Now the plan suffered its greatest revision. Near the summit of Hugo Peak, a way trail has often provided me with those glorious, golden mushrooms. I had not intended to go up Hugo, but up Hugo I went. I found no more mushrooms on my way, but when I reached the top, the logical course of action was to continue following my usual hunter-gatherer's beat. Regrettably, that way too was fruitless as far as Chanterelles were concerned.

As I descended via the 1000 Rd., I remembered a lichen in the shadows where I hadn't been able to get a good shot earlier. In the hopes of sunlight, I doubled back over the 1400 and then at the point where I had forked off it to climb Hugo, I went down instead, covering even more new ground (new for the day, at least) and collecting more lichens in the camera. No more mushrooms were found to fill out the dinner menu. My scheme had certainly "gone agley," but the rewards were manifold. I had a lovely snack of fried mushrooms as soon as I got home, and I'd gotten some much-needed exercise by hiking six miles instead of two.