Is There Such Thing as Too Much Rain?

Good morning, friends,

We are back on trail and we have been since last Thursday. In that time, we hiked our butts off and averaged 19.25 miles a day from Pennsylvania, through New Jersey, and into New York.

The weather has been wet, hot, and humid: optimal for mushrooms, mosquitos, and chafing. Not so optimal for living outside. 

The hiking also picked up in difficulty when we got into Harriman State Park in New York. We entered with constant up-and-downs on wet rock slabs, and then we capped off our visit with three steep ascents of Black Mountain, Bear Mountain, and Anthony’s Nose (the third technically not in Harriman, but right on the other side of the Bear Mountain Bridge). That felt like the most difficult stretch since Virginia, and a heat index hovering around 100 degrees didn’t make it any more enjoyable. 

One issue I encountered is that the pocket on my backpack strap where I keep my phone has been getting so wet from sweat (or rain) that the phone screen becomes unresponsive to my touch. This prevents me from taking pictures of the myriad mushrooms along the trail. While hiking through Harriman, I was holding my phone in my hand to dry it out (not even looking at it), when I slipped on a wet rock and smashed my phone right into said rock. Screen cracked through the screen protector, this was a powerful tumble.

While I’d always rather break a phone screen than a bone, cracking a screen now is a bit triggering. I was a “cracked screen kid” in college and I perpetually had a cracked phone screen (a symptom of the lifestyle I lived at the time). But that was a decade ago. I told myself I’d totally left that way of living in the past. I was proud of my maturation, in fact. But alas, sometimes the trail shows you who you really are. I may just have to come to terms with the idea that I matured out of a “cracked screen kid” and into a “cracked screen guy”.

Also, if blogging on the phone wasn’t easy to begin with, now I have two purple stripes running vertically through the screen. In the face of adversity, we type on.

Speaking of handling adversity, the mosquitos truly are relentless. For us they started to appear midway through Jersey. We both really liked Jersey and part of the reason was because there was habitat diversity that we didn’t see in Pennsylvania. That meant bogs and lots of wetlands. We really hadn’t been afflicted by insects much throughout our hike, maybe a few bad nights with no-see-in’s in Virginia, but the low-lying, swampy areas of New Jersey and New York have legions of mosquitos. It’s particularly insidious because anytime you stop to catch your breath (or take mushroom pictures), they’re all over you. They particularly like the spot on my legs where my sock ends.

The rain has brought some challenges, but I’ve also never seen so many mushrooms so consistently. Day after day they line the trail. Here are some of the highlights:

Inocybe Tahquamenonensis

Ciara found these mushrooms on the trail just a few miles north of Delaware Water Gap and made sure I saw them. They’re kind of like gilled Old Man of the Woods (Strobilomyces). Black scales with white flesh and red gills, a very distinct mushroom.

Indigo Milkcap (Lactarius indigo)

These have been high up on my Most Wanted (to see) list. They bleed a blue latex that is designed to gum up the mouths of fungivorus insects.

Frost’s Bolete (Exudoporus frostii)

My friend Winslow called this species the “Freddy Krueger Bolete” because of the deeply reticulated stripes and their resemble to the cosmetic condition of the star slasher in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Orange Spindle (Clavulinopsis aurantiocinnabarina)

My favorite mushroom picture I took this past week was off this orange, tentacular coral fungus.

Emerald Elf Cups (Chlorociboria sp.)

Always fun to find the little stalked cups that fruit out of wood stained the same color. I wrote about these enchanting little chalices back in 2023.

Crested Polypore (Laeticutis cristata) 

I found this peculiar, terrestrial polypore in Harriman State Park. I had never seen this mushroom before so I tried to get some samples, but I wasn’t able to dry them before the humidity and rain got to them. Fortunately, I found another fruiting of the fungus today and I have them safely inside my aunt Julie’s house just off the trail in Pawling, NY where we are spending the night.

Red Efts Eating Brittlegills (Russula)

On our Tuesday stroll through New Jersey we counted 82 Red Efts (Notophthalmus viridescens) on the trail in and around High Point State Park. I don’t normally count efts, but I had hiked the Shawangunk Ridge Trail with my friend Phil in 2020, which originates in High Point State Park, and I vaguely recall that we hit a big number (I’m remembering 94, I’ll have to check with Phil), 

With all the rain, the conditions for efts have been great, and I knew to start counting early in NJ. We also saw both individuals and groups of the vibrant newts eating saturated or decaying Russula mushrooms.

Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)

This intimidating serpent was slithering across the trail when I came traipsing up and got a little too close for comfort. Immediate defense positions for both of us and this guy had the rattle shaking to boot.

Mushroom Mycelium in Poland

Our buddy Cardinal sent us this picture from Poland. He found packets of mushroom mycelium being sold like plant seeds at his local hardware store. Mycorrhizal species (fungi that form symbiotic relationships with tree roots) are notoriously difficult to cultivate. I’d love to get my hands on a pack or two and see if they work They’ve got species of edible boletes, milk caps, and chanterelles available and ready to sow. 

Cardinal is in Poland and not hiking the trail with us because his father passed away last week. Cardinal was born in Poland and when we first met, he told me his whole family loved mushrooms — particularly his dad (apparently the gene skipped Cardinal because he was the only one in the family who doesn’t like to eat mushrooms… and we still became friends). 

Cardinal would show me pictures of his dad with his impressive foraging hauls. He said I had an open invitation to go mushrooming with him whenever I wanted. I was excited to learn about Polish mushroom culture because it is so rich, and because my grandma was the daughter of Polish immigrants so I’ve got it somewhere in my blood. We had loosely talked about even getting out there this fall after the trail. Until the time comes when I do get to forage with him, I want to pay homage. Rest in Peace to Jan Burzyński, a real Mushroom Man.

A Big Thank You

Now that we’re in and around New York, we’ve received a lot of help from friends and family as we navigate our way through this soaked section. We owe a Big Thank You  to everyone who has supported us throughout this stretch.

Thanks to John Cox for driving us out to Lehigh Gap; thanks to Nathan Wilson for sending us a huge care package at Delaware Water Gap; thanks to Mark and Leah for visiting us just south of Stroudsburg and bringing coconut water; thanks to Dana and Darrell for hosting us in Penn Argyl; thanks to Adam for sending us perhaps the best dried mango ever; thanks to Ciara’s parents Bobby and Gail for housing us, feeding us, and slackpacking us; thanks to Ciara’s aunt Debbie for rescuing us in a thunderstorm and getting us whatever resupply items we needed; thanks to Andrew for buying me a lavish dinner on our quick evening trip down to NYC; and thanks to my aunt Julie for housing us, feeding us, and helping our friend Teddy out when he really needed a pickmeup.

This past week was not the easiest hiking and all of your support truly buoyed us. We’re incredibly grateful.

Have you ever been so late you’re early? How about Mushroom Monday in your inbox early on a Monday? Thanks for reading,

Aubrey

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