Resources and Reflections

Chanterelle mushrooms underfoot

Well, winter is coming to NorCal, and with winter comes the rains, and with the rains come the mushrooms; chanterelles, matsutake, oyster, etc., etc. I’ve been picking mushrooms since, as we say in Hawaii, “small kid time” and those many hours spent slogging through damp fern and bracken are fond memories, all the more so those many baskets, buckets and bags dragged up out of the woods of northwest Oregon, full to overflowing with a huge variety of delicious species, but mostly filled with glowing orange-golden Chenterelleses, preciousss, the King of wild mushrooms, we wants them precioussssss.

Riding on top of the normal winter season, this year, according to Stormsurf.com we have a

Weak-Moderate El Nino Developing
Solid Warm Pattern in-Play Over the Equatorial East Pacific

Overview: Early 2008 saw a marginal El Nino try to take control of the tropical Pacific from March into July, fueled by several active phases of Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO).  The MJO faltered and La Nina returned, cutting the legs off the developing warm pattern. But the MJO was strong enough for long enough to cause anomalously warm warm to appear off Central America and change the atmosphere creating momentum that fueled the development of a decent Fall storm pattern, holding on into late November 2008.  But right when things were starting to get in a groove, the upper level (jetstream) winds that were driving the machine and fueled by the warm waters off Central America during the summer months, disintegrated.  A split jetstream flow took over totally shutting down the storm pattern.  The remainder of the Winter and Spring 2008/2009 season were completely placid.

With that in mind, we moved into the Spring of 2009 seeing a similar pattern. That is, the MJO came-on strong again with a solid series of consecutive Active Phases and a marked increase in westerly wind anomalies in the West Pacific resulting in anomalously warm subsurface waters tracking east towards Central America (Kelvin Waves). As the Kelvin Waves erupted along the Central American coast, warm surface waters began to appear, much like the year previous, but with more vigor. It is with that background scenario that we look to the coming Fall and Winter of 2009/2010 with higher expectations and the hope for real surf for the first time in over a decade for Hawaii, Canada and the US West Coast.  The paragraphs below describe the state of various indicators used to assess long-term global weather conditions (be it either El Nino or La Nina), followed by a revised set of criteria for assessing it’s impact on surf generation potential for the future.

read the rest here

Al this means we can expect more rain than usual and more rain, up to a point, means more mushrooms. Emerald Empire Adventures is currently developing exclusive two and three day day guided mushroom picking at the secluded private reserve at Leonard Lake. This your chance to learn how to pick, what to pick and most importantly, what not to pick. You’ll spend the night at one of the five lovely cottages overlooking the largest natural lake in Mendocino County and you won’t be running into any territorial individuals since this is entirely within the 4400 acre private reserve. In the evening we’ll clean, process and prepare the day’s take, pair the dishes with selected local vintages and tell war stories around the fireplace. Check back soon for prices and availability. the Images below are taken along the way to Leonard Lake on Reeves Canyon Road.

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