Chanterelle Mushrooms!

I had to take advantage of the last of beautiful fall days. So Rocky (my blue heeler dog) and I decided to go on a deep forest hike and chanterelle mushroom expedition.  I love those golden trumpet shaped mushrooms that are bountiful in the fall.  When cooked in soups, or sauteed, or included in sauces, they impart a nice mellow flavor.  They are forest gold.

Normally I would include a Google My Tracks app map of our hike but then that would show you where my chanterelle mushroom spots are.  Mushroom pickers are notoriously famous for guarding and keeping secret about their mushroom harvesting locations.  So, sorry no map included except to say I found them within a 20 minute drive from my house. Washington is perfect chanterelle mushroom country so just about anywhere there are woods you can find chanterelles.  If you are interested in chanterelle mushroom picking and it is your first time, make sure you take someone who has picked chanterelles before so you make no mistakes in picking the wrong mushrooms.  Also let someone know where you are going.  Wear good warm clothes and sturdy boots for walking over uneven ground.

Chanterelles are typically found in second or third growth Douglas fir forests. I have found them partial to shady areas and where there is a lot of old woody debris, e.g., old fallen trees and limbs.  If you see one chanterelle mushroom you will probably find more since their root system (if you can call it that) is quite extensive underground.  Cut the mushroom low on the stem versus picking it because if you pull it out chances are you will damage the root system and mushrooms will not reappear.

Rocky and I found a nice forest trail and walked along it but the trail was too rocky and open - unlikely finding chanterelles along this trail . As we continued down the trail I spied a game trail that leads up into the woods which seems much more conducive to finding mushrooms.  Sure enough as soon as we get deeper into the woods there are mushrooms everywhere - big ones, brown ones, white ones, small ones, tall ones, all sorts of mushrooms except the mushroom I was seeking - chanterelles. However I take seeing so many different mushrooms to be a good sign.  It is fall so the golden color of maple leaves on the forest floor mimic the color of chanterelles so I find that I have to look hard.  I finally find a chanterelle mushroom about the size of my fist, a good sized one.  It is simply beautiful - golden color, smooth fluted top, nice and round.  As I carefully pick this beautiful mushroom, I see more and more chanterelles that I didn't see a moment ago. I realize I found the chanterelle mushroom motherload. There were so many I am selective on which ones to harvest. I only pick perfect ones - good color and shape, and those that are not too small but then again not too big.  Realizing that I just started my walk, I decide that  I will not pick all of them here but hope of find more farther along.

The game trail continues to go deeper into the woods.  I make sure I am tracking my route using my Google My Tracks app on my smartphone so I will not get lost and can, if necessary, re-trace my route. I notice that this game trail has seen more traffic than just game by the garbage of empty sandwich bags and pop cans left behind. The trail continues to climb up and deeper into the woods and hills.  As I look for mushrooms I also have to keep an eye on where the game trail goes.  I believe I have a lot of experience with following game trails and know that they can easily diverge or slowly fade away.  The game trail winds around windfalls of downed trees and avoids steep draws but continues to climb deeper into the woods. A look at my progress on the My Tracks app shows a twisty this-way then that-way track that I have walked.  I see that if I continue on this game trail that it should intersect farther on with a gravel road - at least I hope so.  As game trails go it is not bad walking but you still have to step over logs and limbs, walk over uneven ground, and through deep brush.  A road will eliminate all that and make walking easier and faster.

Sure enough I spy another chanterelle mushroom just off the game trail, and as before where I spy one I spy many.  Again I am selective in which mushrooms I harvest - only the beautiful shaped golden ones that are medium sized.  There are so many that I say to myself, "Once again you have found the chanterelle mushroom motherload."  Rocky is finally curious in what I am doing.  He sniffs the mushrooms and looks at me quizzically as if to say, "what are you doing with these things?"

Sure enough as I fill my bag with mushrooms I lose sight of the game trail. I am now standing on a very steep slope to the point I could touch the ground with my hands without any sort of bending or stooping. I simply had to lean just a bit, extend my arms and I am doing a three-point or four-point touch with the ground. Another check of the My Tracks app shows that I am less than 100 feet from the gravel road. Good because this is way too steep for me.  I could tell the road was up ahead because the sun was shining through trees from a clearing - the road.  The bag of mushrooms is now very full and heavy.  I estimated that I had picked well over 10 pounds of mushrooms. Climbing the steep slope was difficult itself, but now lugging a heavy bag of mushrooms made it a bit more challenging.  To make my steep climb easier, I fashioned a kind of a rucksack out of the dog leash and the bag so that I could securely transport the bag of mushrooms on my back. I then did a four-point spider type of crawl up the steep slope.  I had about 100 feet of elevation to climb and I did it in 20 foot sections.  Each 20 feet I stopped and caught my breath for a moment.  I believe even Rocky was happy for the rest stops since even he was struggling at climbing up the steep hill.  Finally I reached the top of the hill, waded through some thick salal that was over my head in height and burst out onto the gravel road.  Oof, glad that was over.

The old gravel forest road twisted and wound its way back to where I had started albeit about three

miles farther than my one mile game trail and hill scramble.  I used my improvised bag of mushrooms rucksack all the way on the road too. All told the My Tracks app said that I had traveled 3.9 miles and gained almost 750' of elevation.  The short jaunt back to the house was all smiles in that I had a bag full of mushrooms and Rocky had a great forest adventure. As I walked I began to think about mushroom recipes.

Here are some tasty mushroom recipes that you can try with chanterelles or store bought mushrooms.

Preparing chanterelles... thoroughly wash them to remove forest debris and grit. Let them air dry in a colander. They will keep for several days in a cool, dry place.  I have read that chanterelles should not be eaten raw but only cooked. 

Italian Sausage with mushrooms and rigatoni
This is a long time family favorite. It can be made with shitakes, porcini, button or chanterelle mushrooms.  If using dried mushrooms reserve the mushroom soaking liquid and mix it in with the beef broth.

Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 lb. Italian sausage (I prefer hot)
1 lb. mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp rosemary
1-2 bay leaves
1 T dried parsely
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup half-n-half
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups Rigatoni, dried pasta then cooked

Directions:
Heat large pot over medium heat with olive oil.  When oil is hot add chopped onion and saute until onion is soft about 3 minutes.  Add Italian sausage and cook until sausage is no longer pink about 5 minutes.  While sausage is cooking break up sausage into smaller chunks.  Add mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes.  Mushrooms will release water and cook until water is nearly gone.  Add white wine and herbs and cook for about 5 minutes until at least liquid is reduced by half or more.  You want that concentrated mushroom flavor.  Next add the beef broth and simmer uncovered over low heat for 15-20 minutes until the sausage-mushroom mixture gets thick by being reduced.  Meanwhile cook the rigatoni pasta until al dente.

Add the half-n-half to the pot and mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes, but do not burn or scald.  The sauce should be creamy.  Add the pasta to the pot and mix well.  Finally add the grated Parmesan cheese to the pot and mix very well.  Serve with crusty french bread and perhaps a bit more grated Parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy.

Hungarian Wild Mushroom Soup
I love to dip a grilled cheese sandwich into this soup when eating it.  The bread soaks up the soup and the mix of flavors is just wonderful.  It would be a good soup to make after you spent a cold day in the woods.

Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 lb. mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup flour
1 T paprika
1 t dill weed
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream

Directions:
In a large Dutch oven or pot heat the butter and olive oil together until the butter just starts to sizzle. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes or until the onion is soft and nearly translucent.  Add the mushrooms and white wine and cook until nearly all the water the mushrooms give off and the wine are gone, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the flour and paprika, mix well, and cook for about another 2 minutes until very fragrant.  Add the broth, water, and dill weed and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. If the soup gets too thick add a bit of water.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into a bowl and add a dollop of sour cream. Serve with some crusty bread. Sometimes I add a few drops of balsamic vinegar just to add some acid to the soup.  Enjoy.

Simple Chanterelle Mushroom Saute
There are so many things you can do with this mushroom saute - mix it in with scrambled eggs, or add to a brown gravy to make it a "Jaeger Sauce" (Hunter's gravy), or on top of toasted french bread or crostini as an elegant appetizer, or mixed with wild rice, or simply served mixed with pasta.  It's just a wonderful and flavorful mushroom saute.

Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 lb. Chanterelle mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp rosemary.
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add butter and olive oil and when butter just starts to sizzle, add chopped onions.  Cook onions 3-5 minutes until they are soft and translucent.  Add mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes.  When mushrooms have given off most of their water, add white wine and rosemary.  Cook mixture, stirring occasionally, until white wine is cooked off about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Day 1, Olympia, Wa to Clyde Holliday State Park, Or

I'm a bit nervous about this trip. It has been quite sometime since I did such a trip on my own.  I believe the last was on my way to Yellowstone National Park in June, 1976. That was 38 years ago. That trip was to start a summer job, this one is to see some of my son's collegiate hockey games. The trip is planned around traveling several roads that I have never been on and visit areas I have never been to. Areas like Malheur, Steens Mtn., Bonneville Salt Flats, and Bear Lake. I will be traveling to and through places like John Day, Frenchglen, Winnemucca, Elko, Rexburg, and Salmon. My traveling buddy will be Rocky my blue heeler. I've got to finish packing versus blogging.

Delphi Road near Olympia heading south

Just before I left, Rocky went out in to the street and challenged a guy walking his dog. He was mad. Then I was mad. This had me bugged for most of the day.

We got underway at 10:22 AM. I drove south through back roads to Littlerock to get to I-5. I didn't drive long since I had to get gas at the ARCO in Rochester. $3.29/gal - that's cheap. It's still quite foggy but it's supposed to clear up. No sooner did I think that, when just after Chehalis - about 10 minutes later - fog lifted and I had clear, sunny skies for the rest of the day.

I continued down Interstate 5 until I got near to Vancouver where I left I-5 to go south on I-205 and exited on to Washington State Route (SR) 14 East.  Wa SR 14 is a beautiful way to drive up the Columbia River. WA SR 14 goes along north side of Columbia River and is two lanes, and I-84 is an interstate freeway that follows the south shore of the river. WA SR 14 is just not as fast as if I were to travel I 84 on the south side of the Columbia. But, I wasn't in a hurry.

Outside of Bonneville Dam on WA SR 14

Traffic on WA SR 14 was very light and I was making good speed and time; of course I have to remind myself that it is a Tuesday in middle of October. As I wound along and drove higher along the hills and buttes the maples really turned color - lots of yellows and reds. Driving lower along the river the trees were more green and only had touches of yellow.  As I headed east, oak trees started to become mixed in with the maples until you got to a point where there were no more maples but only oaks. This subtle transition signals the change from west side to east side. In time as I drove farther east the trees got less and less until there were no trees. Then I started to notice the transition from grasses to the definitely drier vegetation of sagebrush. I love driving along the Columbia because of this gradual spectrum of going from wet-west side to the dry east side.

An east wind coming right down the gorge was blowing hard, must've been 20 knots or more. I stopped

View of Columbia River from Cape Horn on SR 14

for a moment to get a picture at Cape Horn scenic view.  The road here must be over 1, 000 feet above the river. You can look up river at least 20 miles or more. The river definitely showed the wind blowing by creating long ribbon patterns of spray and waves on the water. Somewhere after the town of Stevenson the wind lessened and by the time I got to Bingen there was no more wind. In fact, there were beautiful reflections of the mountains in the sloughs that border the river.

I I turned off of WA SR 14 onto southbound US 97. crossed the Columbia River and left Washington state and in to Oregon. US highway 97 is a major north-south route serving central Washington and Oregon communities. Immediately across the bridge is the Interstate community of Biggs Junction. Biggs is a popular stop with travelers both pleasure and commercial and makes its name by intersecting I-84 and US highway 97. Because I was starting to travel in eastern Oregon where the towns and the availability of gas is less I decided to fill up with gas. Not so cheap here - $3.45/gal.

 

US 97 winds south up a twisty canyon that takes you away from the Columbia River. Nearing the crest of the canyon, I turned off of US 97 and left onto OR SR 206. Almost immediately you are in the old farming community of Wasco. Wasco is a small town but still "alive" with homes, a church, and a farmers supply store. After Wasco, OR 206 continues to gently climb up through the wheat fields and into a forest of windmills. Some windmills were turning others not. Again the wind was very light.

At about milepost 10 on OR 206 winds its way steeply down a canyon for four miles until it comes to Cottonwood State Recreation Area; then twisting and turning five miles back up out of Cottonwood canyon. There were plenty of 25 mph corners in and out of the canyon. Finally at milepost 24 you were fully at the summit and the state route bisecting various wheat fields. OR 206 ends in the small but vibrant farming community of Condon. In Condon I turned right onto OR SR 19.

I loved the little town of Condon. Condon was fully decked out in Halloween figures at various points in town, along with flags and banners welcoming you to Condon. Wow, there's life and pride in this little farm town out in the middle of nowhere. Sure it was a Tuesday sunny afternoon, but there were people walking its sidewalks and out chatting with others.  It looked as if I was witnessing various Norman Rockwell paintings as I drove through town. Again, I really fell for this little town.

Beautiful Oregon State Route 19

Once out of Condon, OR SR 19 descends gently down into another canyon, the road twisting this way and that way with plenty of 30 mph corners. Almost imperceptibly the expansive wheat fields changed into sagebrush and juniper trees. There were more hills and the hills weren't round like they were along the Columbia River, but rocky steppes and buttes. If you didn't pay attention, ever so subtly the scrub-juniper landscape morphed into Ponderosa Pine forest and the hills much more pronounced even becoming small mountains. The mountains continued to get bigger and more dramatic in color - the mountain rocks and soils were green-gray, pink to red, and dark browns and blacks of basalt. Conversly, on the "down-low," OR SR 19 drove along the John Day River with its alternating riffles and pools. Bordering the river trees in fall colors of reds and yellows added even more color. Driving was almost dangerous because I was so caught up observing the terrain and colors. The only distraction is the town of Spray - another little community out in the middle of nowhere with a lot of pride. After the little town of Spray, OR SR 19 continues to follow along the John Day River and enters John Day Fossil Bed country. Again vividly colored mountains and soils rise up each side of the river canyon until you think

John Day fossil bed country

you cannot go any further but you do. OR SR 19 ends abruptly and you have no choice except to turn left or right onto US highway 26.  I thought where did this highway come from? I turned left into aptly named "Picture Canyon" on Highway 26. The highway winds through almost vertical rock walls and suddenly, and I mean very suddenly, emerges out of the canyon into a gentle valley. To the north mountains have shrunk into hills. To the south there are still mountains, but they are more distant and not rising so dramatically right from the river.  The broad valley is filled with small farms and homes. One of the small communities I passed through was Dayville whose claim to fame is the fossil beds. Next up was the small town of Mt. Vernon. General Store, cafe, farm supply, and Post Office describes each town.

The sun was setting behind the mountains making evening seem to come too soon. I was anxious to get to the Clyde Holliday State Park campground and get settled. Finally there was the turn into the campground.  What a beautiful campground. I easily found a site. The only others camping were retired folks and hunters. My camping arrangement was simple - sleeping in the back of my truck. I've got a short pickup bed, and I'm still pretty tall so I had to configure my bed (a sleeping bag on top of a big chaise lounge mattress) to lie cross-wise on the truck bed. Rocky would lie in the space to my right.  I positioned the heater to my lower left and opened the canopy window right above it so I wouldn't suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning. The other camping gear would be temporarily stored in the backseat of the truck.

Camping at Clyde Holliday State Park

Now that I had my sleeping arrangements made, next chore was a quick supper.  It was now almost dark and I could feel the temperature dropping. Skies were still clear and the nearly full moon was bright. The small Coleman gas lantern provided not only light, but welcome heat too. I wanted something hot to warm me up from the inside. Again I was grateful that I had the foresight to pack a big bowl of instant noodles. All I had to do was heat water for supper. Oh my those hot brothy noodles hit the spot.  Next, I hit the sack.

Rocky and I settled down in our little road home. The Origo heater was turned down to low and effectively keeping the cold at bay. I snuggled into my sleeping bag and Rocky tightly curled up next to me. I layed there looking at the brilliant moon through the rear canopy window and digested this moment in time. As if on cue, coyotes in the distance howled, giving Rocky a bit of a start. I reviewed in my mind the 370 plus miles I had traveled today, the sights I saw, and all of the new places I had never been to. A moment later I was asleep.