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[TR] Boulder Lake Area - Boulder - Everett traverse 10/12/2009


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Trip: Boulder Lake Area - Boulder - Everett traverse

 

Date: 10/12/2009

 

Trip Report:

After coming to the conclusion that I could not juggle work, classes, and finish my masters project by the end of the Fall quarter, and seeing the last bit of quality Autumn weather fade away, I decided to postpone finishing my masters project to the Spring thus opening up the weekend for some quality time in the mountains.

With my friend Schraepfer psyched for the mushroom foraging season, we decided a relaxing two day trip into the Olympics was just the ticket.

Our mission was to explore a new area of the park, find a little solitude, bag some peaks, and hunt for some Chanterelles.

 

We hiked into the Olympic Hot Springs area and found a few Chanterelles before working our way up the trail to Boulder Lake.

 

Along the way we found a small pool in a stream and discovered nature at its best.

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We left the two love birds alone to finish what they started and continued up the trail.

 

After a short break, we took the Happy Lake Ridge Trail up to the ridge where we began bushwhacking the ridge to Boulder peak.

 

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boulder peak from the ridge

 

The ridge was mellow aside from the occasional obstacle, and a couple gullies brought us to the top of the peak.

 

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ridge to boulder peak

 

At this point the sun was getting low and so we decided to make camp on a sweet shoulder of the peak.

The ambiance was remarkable as the sun set and we gorged on a tasty fare of dehydrated potatoes, smoked salmon, Gouda, and the 3 Chanterelles we found.

 

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As I tucked into my sleeping bag, I knew I had made the right decision, realizing quite clearly that I needed this break.

 

The next morning was overcast, but the clouds were high and the visibility was pretty good.

Feeling energized from a 13 hr sleep we were amped to continue the traverse.

 

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boulder peak from the ridge between it and everett peak

 

A few more minor obstacles and a 3 hours later we found ourselves on or around Everett peak. It has 3 or 4 peaks and we struggled to figure out which was the actual peak. With the sun breaking through the clouds, and us soaking in the views, we realized it did not really matter! :cool:

 

Our original plan was it finish the traverse to Mt Appleton, but wanting to make more time for mushroom foraging on the way out, we decided to bushwhack down to Three Horses Lake and then find our way back to the Boulder Lake Trail.

 

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After hours of fighting brutal bush, and getting cliffed out too many times, we finally found ourselves in a beautiful, mossy, section of Doug Fir and hemlock old-growth and knew we were close.

We ended up finding the short section of the trail that ran closest to boulder creek and we were back on easy street.

 

When the trail flattened out and we started wandering the mossy beds of the forest in search of our beloved orange shroom.

 

The forest was straight out of a fairy-tale and I felt like a little kid.

 

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We found many beautiful specimens and came away with at least 2 quarts of Chanterelles! Our finds felt like treasure!

 

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The next day we cooked up most of the mushrooms into omelets and feasted on our prize!

 

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This trip was exactly what the doctor ordered and can't wait till the next season of mushroom foraging!

 

Gear Notes:

Schwacking & backpacking gear

A knife for cutting off mushrooms!

 

Approach Notes:

Boulder Lake Trail from the Elwa River area. - follow signs for Appleton Pass until you see a sign for Boulder Lake.

 

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I'm not really a mushroom guy, but I think aminita muscaria is most known for psychedelic properties and has widely been publicized as deadly poisonous, but if braised or steamed I think it is supposed to be relatively safe to eat.

 

I've never tried it and I don't think I will, though. Better to stick with something that doesn't have so much potential to hurt you!

 

Nice pictures, by the way. They cause me to think about past trips to the Olympics as well.

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Amanita Muscaria is poisonous to humans, albeit mild in many cases. It does have psychedelic properties when consumed, but can make one quite sick, and can even be fatal.

 

Psilocybe varieties are safer if you are looking for an entheogenic effect, but you still have to properly identify the mushrooms.

 

Be careful, even experienced mycologists can misidentify species!

 

 

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there are old mushroom hunters

and bold mushroom hunters

but no old, bold mushroom hunters.

 

spose it could be applied to climbing too.

 

aminita muscaria is generally safe, but will screw you up temporarily, or could kill you if you ate a ton, esp fresh ones in spring. the psychoactive component muscimol is not broken down in the body and can be passed on through the urine, i believe. so...in sibera i think they pass the urine round...or did at one time. when i ate them in college no urine was involved but i do recall walking and feeling like my steps were really big..so i said "i feel like big mario" (nintendo - mario bros reference for those who got it).

 

nice TR

 

 

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If consumed in large enough quantities, of course Amanita Muscaria can be fatal, but the problem is inconsistency of toxin concentrations among samples. Some on the fringe of the psychedelic culture actively seek out the effect provided by these mushrooms. Mostly though, it's kids that see them and know that they're psychoactive (they're pretty easy to identify as far as mushrooms go), and end up eating them.

 

From wikipedia: "The North American Mycological Association has stated there are no reliably documented fatalities in the past 100 years." I would take that with a grain of salt, as should anyone who goes out picking wild mushrooms with the intent of a psychedelic experience is really gambling with their skills of identification as well as concentration of active ingredients. That is not even mentioning that the reports of people who have eaten them are generally not positive.

 

But to say that you'd be dead if you ate one is certainly making large assumptions.

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