Wild Mushroom Picking

While up at Uncle Bernd and Auntie Karen's in Pinecrest (10 min south of Whistler) for Thanksgiving I had the unique chance to harvest some local fungi. While ATVing we noticed people with buckets around the area searching for the strange things growing out of the ground. We then thought it would be interesting to look for ourselves knowing we could venture deeper into the backwoods. With the knowledge that some types of mushrooms were being sold at $40-50 a pound, my business savvy nature immediately was sparked. Without knowing what colour, size or shape we were looking for we snatched up every different kind we could find to do some research later. Upon returning it was straight to the computer to see what the valuable mushrooms looked like. Turns out that there are two main types that are sought after. The Tricholoma Magnilivare aka Matsutake aka Pine Mushroom is one kind. The other is the Chanterelle. Both are worth some decent money is you can find enough of them.

After knowing what we were looking for and some time to kill while the turkey dinner was being made we had a successful attempt at Mushroom Hunting. Finding our first Pine Mushrooms was exciting and as we went, found lots more along the way. Not being fully sure if it was the real thing, we decided not to snack as we went but had a heaping load when we returned.

What I learned was that all species descriptions are based on features of the cap, hymenium and stalk. The gills, folds, pores or spines are attached to the stalk in a variety of ways and takes some time to recognize the differences. In Asia, mushrooms have been used for centuries for culinary, medicinal and aphrodisiacal purposes. The amount of different species is incredible. Every colour, shape and size grows out here in British Columbia. Amazing to see.

Looking forward to hunting for more!

Rocky Mountains

Coming out here and seeing the mountains to the north everyday is something everyone should get to experience. It's such a amazing thing to think about, knowing that millions of years ago they were formed and then through millions of more years, sculpted by glaciers and water to make them what they are now. When originally discovered they were abundant with rich minerals and furs which drove people to live here. Now, the things keeping people here is the amount of fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, skiing and snowboarding you can do on them. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4,830 km from the northernmost part of British Columbia to New Mexico. The highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet above Sea Level.So far I have climbed two of the more popular mountains in the Vancouver area. The Stawamus Chief or "The Chief" which is located about an hour north in Squamish, BC was my first. The Squamish people considered this mountain to be very spiritual. At an elevation of 2,297 ft I found it does get you a lot closer to the gods and towers above you as you drive up the Sea to Sky Highway. Most of the day was used to climb this monster. A lot tougher then most mountains I've been on.
The second was Grouse Mountain located in northern Vancouver and is even accessible by bus. This mountain features a 2.9km almost vertical trail known as the Grouse Grind, also dubbed as "Nature's Stairmaster" is well known to Vancouverites and carries the motto "it's all about the time". Getting a good climbing time on "the grind" is grounds for bragging. Knowing this, it instantly sparked my competitive nature and gave me the motivation to do it as fast as I could. Not fully understanding the degree of difficulty this trail carried I sped off at the beginning, doing exactly what was considered the wrong approach. Within minutes I found out the true meaning of the trails nickname "the grind". I severely underestimated the toughness of it and was a few steps away from re-seeing my lunch at the top. With a time of 43 minutes, it was considered amazing for a first-timer but I sure did pay for it. The mountain also has skiing in the winter and has a grizzly bear park at the top. The best part of the experience may just be the Gondola ride down with amazing views of the city and surrounding area.

I'm really going to enjoy having these around me while living here. Looking forward to exploring and conquering more of them.