Camas Lilies blooming at Centennial Marsh, morels popping, and ski areas opening soon

Photo by Steve S.

Hi all, 

Beauty is surrounding us this spring with colorful wildflower blooms, verdant mountains everywhere and rushing water in streams. 

One of those memorable scenes is the camas lily bloom at the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh near Fairfield. Fields of the lavender flowers carpet the landscape for as far as your eyes can see. It's also a great place to see songbirds, water birds and birds of prey. See post on Southern Idaho Tourism for details. Easy day trip. 

Upper meadow bloom, looking north from the highway 

Watch out for the weather on Friday, if you're planning to get out and about ... looks dicy! High chance of rain, hail, you name it! Similar forecast for Saturday, but more afternoon than morning, according to the National Weather Service.  

I'm seeing that the morels are popping right now in fire zones burned last summer like the Four Corners Fire area near Cascade. But truth be told, I don't want to hear about it! Been too busy to get out foraging myself, so that's been driving me nuts! Be sure to get out soon while the picking is good! I've been wondering how the picking is in the Moose Fire zone near Salmon ... has to be productive, too! 

I've been curious when our local ski areas will be opening for the summer season. You won't have to wait too much longer! Here's what I discovered: 

• Brundage Mountain Resort opens Friday, June 16 for summer operations. Lift-served hiking and biking available, yoga sessions and more. Summer concert series starts on July 7. See band lineup to the left. See event calendar for more details.  
  
  
• Tamarack Resort opens for summer operations on Saturday, June 17. Tam has lift-served hiking and biking, waterfront boat, kayak and SUP rentals, and a zip line course. See events calendar for details on summer activities, live music and more. 
  
  
• Bogus Basin opens for summer ops on Friday, June 23. They have lift-served biking and hiking, music on the mountain, music on the patio, yoga, guided nature hikes, the glade runner, climbing wall, bungee trampoline, gem panning and summer tubing. food and beverage on the patio and more. See summer event calendar for details. 

Have fun! 
- SS 

    

Morels are beginning to Pop in the forests of SW Idaho!

 

Wendy was excited about our mushroom haul ... 

Hi all,

For me, it's always exciting to go hunting for morel mushrooms in the forest. 

When you see the trilliums beginning to bloom, you know morels are beginning to pop! 

Then, it's a matter of finding them amidst all of the downed trees, brush, moss, wildflowers, and rotting logs. You really have to focus your eyes on the forest floor at a very small scale! It takes a lot of staring at nothing, patience and persistence!  

Weekend weather is going to feature high temps in the 60s in Boise, and cool in the mountains, with highs in the low 50s. But the sun has been shining enough lately to allow things to grow on the forest floor. 

When it warms up more next week, the mushroom crop might be better than it is now, but there's only one way to find out, right? 

Maybe you have your favorite morel-hunting spot. If not, go morel hunting in forested areas that have burned in recent times. The disturbance of fire tends to lead to the growth of fungi and mycelia. You can look up burns from previous years on this site. 

No permit is needed to hunt morels. You can explore in the Boise or Payette National Forest, state parks or on Idaho Department of Lands property open to recreation. 

What's so special about morels? If you like to eat mushrooms, morels are a delicacy. They are positively delicious, especially sauteed in butter and garlic, and mixed with eggs or served with steak, mixed into soups -- there's just all kinds of applications.

Morels are fun to pick because they're very distinctive ... they have a conical shape, kind of like a Christmas tree, but with honeycombs inside. My suggestion is to walk very slow through the woods, and stare at the ground, looking for morels. Once you see some, you'll find more. 

I seem to find morels more under fir trees than pine trees on open ground. If there's a lot of bear grass growing on the slope, it's not a good site for morels. Sometimes you'll find groups of morels popping up underneath alder brush. Once you find a fertile area for morels, you'll keep coming back to those spots for more.

If you stay in the Boise Valley this weekend, it should be great conditions for hiking and biking outings. I'd also recommend:

• Hiking the Grand Slam peaks. 
• Hiking, running or biking on Ridge to Rivers trails, especially those mid-elevation and below.  

Have fun!

-SS