Went on WI hike today to Pajarito Ski Area mountain bike trails. Leon led it. There were 19 people. A few were way behind and kept in touch with walkie-talkies but they never caught up to the main group. We ate lunch on the Rim Run overlook of the Valle Caldera.
Mahlon was searching for boletus. He comes with his wife (need to find out her name) and his dog, Jake. He scours the conifor forest for boletus. He found some today that were not up to his standards so he gave them to me. I'll stew them tonight. They seem to be the real thing. Yesterday, I found some mushrooms along FR181, American Springs Road, that were most likely the aspen boletus. I showed them to Mahlon and David K. this morning and then recycled them in the forest. I can see the difference now. The boletus has a very bulbous, fat stem. David B. says that he stews the sponge or tubes of the boletus along with the cap. Mahlon takes it off.
David K. found a small handful of chanterelles. They are very tiny!
I need to buy a mushroom book for this area. David K. recommended two:
Chanterelle - A Rocky Mountain Mushroom Book by Millie Miller and Cyndi Nelson, Johnson Books, Boulder, 1986.
Wild Mushrooms of Telluride, Ed by Linnea Gillman, et. al., Fungophile, Inc., Denver, 1996.
I mostly walked and talked with a woman named Donna from Santa Fe, who came up with her brother, Bill. She likes to look at flowers too but seems to know more about them than me. She took a flower ID course at Santa Fe Community College from Bill Neuwirth and says he's a good teacher. Becky, who is the flower guru, came along for part of the trip.