
Saturday, June 13, 2020
I returned to the forested Cascade Mountains where my friend, Dave, recently introduced me to the art of mushrooming. Returning alone, I was experimenting with being alone in vast wilderness. Well, this pilgrimage wasn’t exactly lonely, with my dogs along.
I drove high on a main road passing turnoff opportunities and arbitrarily selected one. I then navigating my Jeep along an unexpectedly narrow, conifer-smothered dirt track, finally spotting an off-road space large enough to park. I exited, released the excited dogs, and stood several moments breathing incredibly fresh air. As Dave had taught, I held a mesh bag for harvested mushrooms (allowing, while being carried, continuing spore-scatterings).
Another lesson from the initial outing was that walking in a wilderness can disorient one. That and the limited vision from many trees can lose a parked vehicle. This time, I carried helpful electronics. One was a “go back” that can estimate distance and direction of a car’s location. As a precaution, I had my Spot personal locator, which can signal for a needed rescue. Remember, this adventure was my first-ever time alone in a vast public area. I’m unable to navigate by compass (but will learn).
The dogs and I wandered, my eyes moving constantly and searching for mushrooms. Before long, I began to comprehend that my earlier experience had been more broad than simply mushrooming. Many other factors that surround an art of mushrooming had compelled my desire to re-experience the great outdoors.
The Pacific Northwest, all about outdoors, is an incredibly inviting area for hiking, fishing, biking, wild-animal hunting, and horseback riding. Most of my years in this area and outdoors were on horseback. I loved it but feared being alone and on foot in a large forested area.
But this day, my every step slowly turned into adventure. This arose from a sudden awareness with each step of differing sensitivities of ground. And, too, from unique plant sightings.

I paid attention to the intricate patterns of tree barks, and focused on the area’s possible history while struggling across much naturally-occurred wood debris. There were many fascinating rock formations.

Throughout, the dogs stayed with me. I moved carefully in directions and tried to avoid losing my vehicle. This failed, for upon deciding to go to another road, and walking toward where the Jeep was parked, I finally resorted to the back-tracking device. No surprise, my parking spot was a couple hundred yards away and in quite another direction.
It was another great day. Tired dogs, wild mushrooms, and somehow, pleasantly, more of myself.
Dear Readers: Planning with Dave a re-trip to practice the spotting of morels. Diana
Yep. Focusing on finding objects in the ground can easily mess up sense of direction. Without the benefit of being able to keep a distant, favorite mountain is sight, only a very, very experienced tracker doesn’t get lost. Aren’t you grateful for our digital gadgets? 😉
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I’m on board, and don’t go out alone without electronics.
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