Chanterelle memory

Chanterelle harvest in 2006.

I haven’t shown this photo on my blog because it was taken in 2006, but it deserves some exposure.

This is easily the most mushrooms I found during an outing in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I think it weighed 10 pounds. I had to drive the car for this harvest and recruited the entire family.

We had a wet winter, really wet. I don’t know if this was 2005-2006, but probably.

I think mushrooms are bellwethers for the environment, especially the chanterelle. They spook easily and they’re particular about the weather.

They like wet and cold winters.

I get the feeling that we’ll never see those days again in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It’s sad, really sad.

I haven’t found chanterelles for several years.