A little over a week ago, I went on my first mushroom foray. Initially, I felt a bit conflicted as (like many others, I'm sure) I had always been told never to touch/eat/pick strange mushrooms, but our professor assured us it was safe to pick them. Our class was given special access to an area of the arboretum that is not normally open to the public. Due to a bizarre bike accident I had earlier that morning where a pair of boots I was carrying came unsecured and caught in my wheel, myself and my bike weren't in the best of shapes and I had some difficulty getting to the meeting spot on foot, as well as a serious date with a truing stand and some oversized band-aids. Luckily I arrived before the group departed into the path-less forest.
I broke off from the group and slowly meandered through the trees, being extra cautious not to step on any fungi. I found that no matter where I crouched down to look, if i spent enough time I would find some sort of tiny mushroom poking up through the dead leaves, or the littlest of yellow fungi adhered to the bark of a tree or log. At first I was reluctant to disturb any mushrooms, but my attitude quickly changed as I came across more and more mushrooms I probably would have overlooked on any other day.
I was amazed by the diversity of mushrooms and fungi our class collected. I am now keeping my eye out for a good field guide to better my knowledge of mushrooms for future walks.
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