Worst Ozark Spring For Backpacking in Years

Man, this has been one nasty year here so far. We have just been pounded with rain and lightning and wind, but only when it wasn't freezing cold so I guess I shouldn't complain. It's thundering out there again right now. I'm sure it will be raining again in just a few minutes.

It has sucked for backpacking. The trails around are sloppy and so are the roads that lead to many of them.

On the plus side, I heard my daughter's boyfriend just found a bunch of Morels so I might get some cooked up for me tonight. That would sure be nice <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The Donks hate the rain too. They're braying at me now so I better go cheer them up with some grain and hay.

Bill S.

Wow, the boy did good!!!



Gotta go eat!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Bill

Send some of that rain back to Kalifornia, no precip for some time now and there is still too much snow to go bping in the mountains around here. Although a bunch of us went snow camping a couple weeks ago.

So if you didn't have that rain, you wouldn't have those in your hand, right?

So how do you cook those? Give us the lowdown.

Are those the ones I saw on the Travel Channel's "Cash and Treasures" show (that are supposed to be really expensive)??

As of this week, it's still snowing here. I wish it would all melt so I could go into the mountains without snowshoes. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

It's been bad around Seattle too; we had some slushy snowfall the other day. It's like the reverse of an el nino.

Yes, here in NW Oregon we're still waiting for trails over 1500' elevation to melt out. And for a lot of trails normally accessible in March, the roads to the trailhead are still closed. I've been reduced to hiking around a Gorge loop that is 2.2 miles and 700' elevation gain twice in a row, since hiking on icy snow is not my cup of tea. It's getting rather boring!

My son's place just north of Seattle (in the infamous "convergence zone") had 6 inches of snow last Friday night!

Those morels sure look yummy!

I just got back from the Ozarks and saw some of them. I had eaten them before but wasn't for sure they were safe to eat and couldn't remember the name of them to tell my son. I saved your pic for reference, next time for sure.

Probably, from what I hear they're selling for about $40-$60 per pound. No one around here that I know sells them though. They either eat them all up or give some to friends if they find more than they can eat before they spoil. Travis found about 3 pounds I'd guess, and a friend of his found another two, last night.

It's hard to believe that we ate about $100 worth of mushrooms for an appetizer last night. We were living like millionaires! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My daughters boyfriend, Travis, who found those yesterday, cooked up about a third of those in the picture last night, saved about a third so I can go release some spores on our property out back (we'll fry them up soon), and brought the best of the bunch to his grandparents early this morning, who are now in their eighties and can't get out and get their own anymore.

Here's how he cooked them last night:

Travis cut the stems just above the dirt, then soaked them whole in a light salt water for about 15-20 minutes and then rinsed them a few times in fresh water to remove dirt and bugs.

Then he made a flour/salt/pepper mix and rolled the sliced lengthwise morels in it until they were coated well. Then he fried them in a cast iron skillet with olive oil. He let them sit on one side until medium golden brown, turned them, and removed them to a paper plate with a couple paper towels on it when it was medium golden brown on both sides.

I think that recipe can be improved by sautéing them with butter instead of oil and coating the shrooms with some mixed egg before rolling them in the flour. We might try that tonight...

A Note to West Coasters:
A friend that used to live in San Diego said they picked morels out there too. I lived in LA for a long time and never knew they grew in So Cal. but hey, as they say around here, "I wasn't really stupid back then. I was ignorant." <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Bill S.