On Monday we went on a hike
on Larch Mountain

In addition to the joy of hiking
through some magnificant old growth trees
we had the added benefit of finding some
wonderful mushrooms
-- scroll down to take a look ---

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Just after starting down the trail
Joan spotted a Sparassis crispa (i.e. a Cauliflower mushroom)
We ate some of it last night and
we are saving some for a dinner party with some friends next week

This mushrooms makes mushrooms like Chanterelles seem bland
take a look







This is what it looks like being cooked

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Next we found a Hericium abietis

(similar to Hericium erinaceus - a Lion's mane -
but Hericium erinaceus grows on Doug Fir stumps)



















Here is what it looked like being cooked

The last edibile mushroom we found was
Hydnum umbilicatum
(Sweet Tooth Mushroom)
Sometimes called a "HedgeHog"

We also found a Lactarious
that I thought might be edible
However, I could not identify the species
so naturally, we did not eat it
But, I'm still working on it
maybe I will figure out the species soon