Our local friends, Beth and Kerry Olson, of B & K Natural Farm (pastured poultry and eggs) invited us to accompany them on a mushrooming day. Of course we said yes, as it has been a life long dream of ours to learn more about this! Beth and Kerry have been mushroomers for 30 years, and have explored many areas of Oregon and Colorado over the years.
For this excursion, we were in the Umpqua Forest, in an old growth Douglas Fir forest. The trees were probably 60 to 80 years old, which Beth said tends to be the type of forest where Chanterelles grow — the type of mushroom we were hunting.
Mikah turned out to have a knack for finding the chanterelles. Beth said kids tend to be excellent spotters because of their lower angle of sight — perfect for glimpsing a mushroom poking up through the forest litter.
Chanterelles are a premium wild mushroom with a delicious taste, being sold around here for $15 per pound. This is a good year for them, too! We have had a moist and warm fall: perfect conditions. Here are two websites that explain more about where they grow and what they look like: here and here.
We found them plentifully! It was amazing. You’re walking along, not seeing any. Then you see one. Then you look around and realize you’re in a big patch of them. As I said, Mikah had a knack for finding them. He described one place he found as a “flower garden” of mushrooms.
One thing that Beth and Kerry taught us was to clean our mushrooms in the field. We brushed off as much dirt (and bugs) as we could. This made the job of cleaning at home much easier — though that was still a task. 
Beth and Kerry brought their dog (Hudson) along. Areli (our new pup) loved having a patient older playmate, and Hudson was very patient with her. By the end of the day, Areli was worn out from all the rooting around and following she did.
At the end of the day, we fit in a hike to a 329-foot tall tree called the Doerner tree. An elk hunter found it in 1980. Apparently there’s a hall of fame for tall trees, and this tree made the cut. 
The trees in this part of the forest were much older than 80 years, so we did not find any Chanterelles on the hike.
Pretty tall… about 4 times the height of our Big Tree. And we thought we had a tall tree….
We came home with 5 paper bags’ full of Chanterelles, which Haniya, Naomi, and I diced, then sauteed, then froze. You can read about that at GNOWFGLINS.
This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS.
This looks magical. How very much fun! I want to go next time!
That is so awesome, I wish the mushrooms that grow around here were edible, what a resource you have available.
-Brenda
How wonderful — I loved this post and will now go enjoy poking around the rest of your site
blessings,
Laura
.-= Laura´s last blog ..My piney grape tree =-.
That’s awesome! I love mushrooms and to be able to pick that many for free would be amazing!
.-= Marg´s last blog ..Making horseradish sauce =-.
Marg, around here every person is allowed to pick 2 gallons of mushrooms per day for personal use. Commercial pickers must purchase a license. I can’t wait to go again!
Hey, I love the tool pouches…
Would you like to make a set of two if i give you the dimensions.
Really… they are nice and I can’t find them locally.
I could send you a check or money order for the materials and making them.
I trust you. Please trust me.
My name is Ken . Here’s my personal cell number 267-615-7227.
If please willl help… I say “please”
How cool.
Those are the mushrooms that grow in our forest too – we have 40 acres of fir trees and moss and ferns… we always have to watch for cars suspiciously parked on our road as sometimes people come up to pick our mushrooms… not knowing it’s private property and OUR mushrooms! 
I don’t like mushrooms but the chanterelles are such a beautiful golden color.