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Page B-2 - Mason County Journal - Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015
ON THE TRAIL
In the spring of 2013, I
was mushroom hunt-
ing for morels
in the Wenatchee
National Forest
northeast of Cle
Elum.
Afar two days
of huffing hot, dry
hills and finding
nothing but dust
at my normally
productive spots, I
was about to give
up. I couldn't tell
if it was too early
or the soil too dry for the
morels to come up.
Timing is important.
It has to be warm enough
for morels to start fruit-
ing, but you need mois-
ture too, ideally melting
snow combined with
spring showers.
This was my second
year in a row for a really
poor harvest.
After a five-hour drive,
over $100 for food and
gas, and all the pack-
ing and time
spent setting
up camp, I had
found only 11
mushrooms.
My spirits
were sagging to
the point that
even starry
nights and a
By MARK crackling camp-
WOYTOWICH fire could not
console me.
I broke camp
early the third morning.
I stopped to get a last
espresso at Kelly's stand
on Highway 97.
She asked how my
hunt had been going.
"Nothing," I said.
"Pretty much skunked."
"Some guys came by
yesterday," she told me,
"and they had shopping
bags full of morels."
"Kelly, don't tell me
that."
"Well, it's true," she
said. "I saw them."
"I mean don't tell me
if you can't tell me where
they got them from."
"Well, Iql just have to
do you one better," Kelly
smiled. "They said they
had been to last year's
logging spots in Liberty.
Getting them out of the
clear cuts."
SOIL REPAIR
An hour later, I was
in the forest northeast
of Liberty, where I could
hear the whine of the
rigs and the big timber
falling before I even
reached the logging op-
eration.
A man with an orange
flag signaled for me to
hold up.
As I waited a forest
ranger in a white pickup
came up behind me. I
Timing is impo anto it has to be warm
enough for morels to start fruiting, but you
need moisture too, ideaiJy me|ring snow
combined with spring showers,
for the week of December 24 through December 31,2015
ALLYN I Case Inlet
24 5:36am 15.025 6:20am 15.626 7:00am 15.921 12:24am -2.2
Thu 10:55am 7.3 Fri11:49am 7.3Sat12:39pm 7.1Sun 7:37am 16.0
3:48pm 15.0 4:34pm 14.6 5:20pm 14.0 1:28pm 6.9
11:00pm -2.6 11:42pm -2.6 6:08pm 13.3
28 1:05am -1.529 1:45am -0.630 2:26am 0.6 31 3:08am 1.9
Mon 8:13am 15.9 Tue 8:49am 15.7 Wed9:24am 15.5 fhu10:01am 15.2
2:17pm 6.5 3:06pm 6.1 3:58pm 5.6 4:52pm 5.0
6:57pm 12.5 7:49pm 11.7 8:46pm 10.9 9:51pm 10.1
SHELTON I Oakland Bay
24 6:14am 15.0 25 12:00am -2.2 26 12:48am -2.2 21 1:30am -1.9
Thu 12:01prn 6.3 Fri 6:58am 15.6 Sat7:38am 15.9 Sun8:15arn 16.0
4:26pm 15.0 12:55prn 6.3 l:45prn 6.1 2:34prn 5.9
5:12prn 14.6 5:58pm 14.0 6:46pm 13.3
28 2:11am -1.329 2:51am -0.530 3:32am 0.5 31 4:14am 1.7
Mon 8:51am 15.9 Tue9:27am 15.7 Wed 10:02am 15.5 Thu10:39pm 15.2
3:23pm 5.6 4:12pm 5.25:04pm 4.8 5:58pm 4.3
7:35pm 12.5 8:27pm 11.7 9:24pm 10.9 10:29pm 10.1
UNIONI Hood Canal
24 4:29am 12.7 25 5:15am 13.3 26 5:58am 13.6 27 6:40am 13.7
9:39am 7.4Fri10:33am 7.3Sat11:24am 7.1Sun 12:15pm 6.9
2:42pm 12.0 3:28pm 11.7 4:12pm 11.34:56pm 10.7
9:55pm -2.7 10:38pm -2.6 11:20pm -2.2'
28 12:01am -1.529 12:41am -0.4 30 1:22am 0.831 2:02am 2.1
Mon 7:21am 13.5 Tue8:01am 13.3 Wed 8:40am 12.9 Thu9:18am 12.5
l:05pm 6.6 1:58pm 6.22:51pm 5.8 3:45pm 5.2
5:41pm 10.0 6:29prn 9.2 7:27pm 8.4 8:46pm 7.8
THE SUN and THE MOON
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Sunrise 7:57am7:58am7:58am7:58am7:59am7:59am7:59am 7:59am
Sunset 4:27pm4:27pm4:28pm4:29pm4:29pm4:30pm4:31pm 4:32pm
Moonrise 4:24pm5:22prn 6:23pm7:26pm8:29prn 9:31pm10:32pm 11:33prn
Moonset 6:48am7:45arn 8:35am9:18arn 9:55am10:26am 10:55am 11:21arn
Full moon December 25
Tidal Information courtesy NOAA I Astronomical Data courtesy U.S. Naval Observatory
got out of my car and ap-
proached the ranger.
"Have you heard of
anyone getting morels
out of the clear cuts?" I
asked.
The ranger explained
that morels come up in
areas of soil disturbance
from the year before.
Most famously, they
follow the path of wild
fires, but they will flush
up in logged areas as
well.
Soil disturbance. They
act as a filtering system,
removing toxins and re-
balancing soil PH.
With the remain-
ing daylight, I set off
for some areas logged
the previous summer.
Unfortunately, I only
found a small handful of
scattered morels, mostly
dried. What I did see was
lots of tire tracks and
footprints; a guarantee
that the place was picked
over.
Journal photo by Mark Woytowich
Author holding average-size black morel, one
of nearly a dozen found on a waste pile at a
suspected meth lab in Lilliwaup.
area exists on both sides Springs Resort; and Iron
of Highway 97, beginning Creek (FS 9714), also on
at the turnoff to Liberty, your left and just before
and in full force by the the left turnoff for Old
time you reach MineralBlewett Pass.
Springs Campground Morels come up in
and Mineral Springs May. Traditionally, the
FIRE ZONE MAPS Resort. end of May is when they
Last summer saw the Keep traveling north are most abundant, but
biggest wildfire in the and youql see forest weather patterns are
history of Washington. roads branching left and anything but traditional
Much of it was around right as you climb to anymore.
the Lake Chelan-High- Blewett Pass. To celebrate the New
way 97-Methow Valley The most productive Year, I will be taking one
region, with lots of Na- mushroom areas are (inweek off from writing for
tional Forest and Bureau order, going north) along the Journal. We'll hit the
of Land Management Hurley Creek (Durst trail again in January.
(BLM) acres affected. Creek Road - FS 9711);Okanogan-Wenatohoo
In years past, the For- Discover Trail Read atNational Forest Head-
est Service has provided Blewett Pass (FS 9716); quarters: 509-664-9200.
burn maps to help mush- and Upper Tronson Wenatchee Field Office,
room hunters locate their Road, which is on yourBLM: 509-548-2550.
quarry; included at the right about a quarter
end of this article are a mile AFTER cresting • Mark Woytowich is
couple of numbers to call. Blewett Pass. a writer, photographer
Generally speaking, Excellent car camp- and video producer
with or without soil dis- ing can be found at Blue who lives in Potlatch.
turbance, a huge swath Creek (FS 9738) on your He can be reached at
of good mushrooming left just past MineralWoytowichdesign.com.
This
Non-Members Welcome
AT THE RANGE Memberships Available
December 24, Thursday Winchester Rifle Marksmanship program has been
re-scheduled to Wednesday December 30, at 6:00 P.M.
December 25, Friday 6:00 P.M. Bullseye Canceled due to Christmas.
December 27, Womans Ladies of Caliber canceled due the long holiday
weekend.
December 29, Tuesday 5:30 PaM. PPC Match This is a revolver friendly
match, shooting two targets in varying courses of fire and at different
distances for score. Equipment is a .38 special, 9mm and/or larger pistol.
This discipline requires drawing from a holster. Full equipment list is on
our webs|to. Members shoot for $6.00, non-members $8.00, and juniors
shoot for a 1 dollar. Juniors must have a parent or guardian present to
participate.
December 30, Wednesday Winchester 22 Rifle Marksmanship
Firing 60 plus rounds, bring any .22 sporting rifle in safe operating
condition. Self-paced awards based program, fun and rewarding for all
ages and skill levels. Coaching usually available. $6.00 members $8.00
non-members.
Coming Soon: NRARange Safety Officer Course January 23-24. 10:00
AM -4:00 PM both days. Non-shooting course. Members $100.00 Non-
Members $120.00.
NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home. February 27-28. An
advanced course requiring skill with a handgun. Previous NRA course
experience needed or by permission of the instructor. $185.00
NRA First Steps Pistol Class March 5, 2016 10:00 AM4:30 PM. Basic
class offering safety and pistol handling. Firearm and ammunition
provided. See more details and application on the MCSA website. $50.00.
Did you know: MCSA donated mohies to the following local charities
in 2015, Girl Scouts of Washington, Habitat for Humanity of Mason
County, River of Life Fellowship, Splash, Sound Learning, The Tom
Pearson Scholarship Fund, and the Washington State Kiwanis Youth Law
Enforcement Camp, NJROTC Booster Club, Boy Scouts.
MASON COUNTY
SPORTSMAN' S ASSOCIATION
W. 521 Business Park Rd., Shelton
Message Phone 427-1102
www.masoncountysa.eom N
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