Day 3 of the fire morel adventure – here they are!

The easiest and best time to pick morels is in the springtime following a fire, therefore the name fire morels (morchella tomentosa). The season can last several months and they can be so prolific that it is not about mushroom “hunting” but definitely mushroom “picking” once you have trained your eyes to recognize them.

Morels are hard to spot if you have never found one before. It is as if your brain doesn’t have a pattern for it so it is really hard to see them – at first. That applies to other mushrooms as well and I particularly had that experience with Matsutake or Pine mushrooms. Once I had found my first one it was a lot easier to find more. Almost like you cannot experience what you cannot perceive which would be applicable to the big world out there. Things might exist even if we cannot perceive them ourselves.

Finally we are heading out to see what we can find. According to Hausi there have been lots of morels already for the last 4 weeks. Usually that suggests it’s coming to an end but fire morels can go on for months. It’s the end of June now.

We leave after a slow morning and track back the gravel road out to the main highway and then west. We do have an idea where to look as we had been in the area last year in the fall and had seen where the fires basically burnt all the way down to the road.

Our first outing was sparse, only 1 small morel. There was a very camouflaged bird and – total silence. As far as your eye can see sandy hills covered in ashes, burnt trees and roots, a little green here and there.

A little discouraged we analyzed out spot and realized it was way too dry here. We needed to look for and area with a little more green, possibly a bit of a swampy area or at least a crevice sweeping downhill where rainwater would collect.

We didn’t have to look far and our next stop was quite successful. First there were lots of cup funghi (don’t eat!) and then we started finding morels.

We spread out and even though the forest is just burnt trees and you can see very far, you’re soon are all on your own. No sound, just the wind in the tree trunks, birds, and silence.

They are such gorgeous mushrooms, sometimes hiding under fallen trees where there is a bit more shade.

I can hear a deep humming sound which I always hear when I am in remote places. The sound of the earth?

What if there are bears or cougars? By now I feel I am the only one in the forest, my partner has disappeared in search for morels. After a while it feels very comforting, stillness! The burnt landscape is magical in itself!

I spot a toad sitting in a wet spot and moose droppings.

The first fire morels to grow are brown and almost black. Right now the greys and the blondes are starting to grow.

After a pretty successful day we head home and fill our bellies with morels, excited to go out again tomorrow!

Disclaimer:

Morels are among the most famous mushrooms in the world due to their culinary popularity. Very interesting looking mushrooms, hollow inside with a honeycomb cap whereas false morels have a brain like cap. Morels should always be well cooked and make sure you don’t mistake them for false morels which indeed can be dangerously poisonous. Find a very helpful look at the differences here but make sure you talk to a mushroom expert if you are unsure or new to picking mushrooms.

My 2 favourite mushroom books to use are “All That the Rain Promises and More…” by David Arora, great and light to take along, and one of the newest ones “Mushrooms of British Columbia” by Andy Mackinnon and Kim Luther.