Tuesday, August 07, 2007

The Call Of The Wild


Oh deer...er, dear. It's been three weeks since my last blog post. I have a good excuse. I was having fun.

Rushing mountain water is very cold. Standing on the top of a mountain as a lightening storm rolls in is rather impressive. I enjoyed watching a hawk in flight and waking up in the middle of the night as some type of wildlife rummaged through the campsite. I even enjoyed the hailstorm, except for maybe the part about wondering whether the tent would be gone when it was all over. I saw loads of deer (including the one that rummaged through the campsite), a bear (it looked at me and was obviously sniffing for beef jerky. Fortunately I wasn't the one carrying it.), lots of cold rushing water and water falls, and even a skunk (see reduced picture).

My favorite find was this very unusual looking mushroom.

It was huge as well as being a bright yellow-orange color. After a bit of Googling I think I've got it identified, but if any of you out there really know mushrooms and can tell me for sure I'd appreciate it. I think it's a jack o'lantern mushroom (omphalotus illudens) which is known to be toxic. Somehow it seemed rather fitting that poisonous plants should be part of a forensic psychiatrist's vacation experience. There were no historical prisons in the mountains, so I had to find something forensically relevant.

4 comments:

Sarebear said...

I lurve the mountains, and camping! Except when I'm bouncing along on a primitive washboard dirt road in the back country of Utah's Capitol Reef in the far back seat of a minivan with a possibly dislocated knee propped up on a water jug, and trying to learn to cable AND learn to cable without a cable needle, on a headband I was knitting, whilst my 70-yo dad is driving like a madman far faster than one should along this terrain, and when you hit a big bump everybody in the farthest back seat fly all akimbo.

Nothing like a challenge, to get me going!

Camping is goooooood.

Dinah said...

Those are your toes! I'd know them anywhere. I can't believe you posted a photo of your naked tooties toes, what's next?

HP said...

Amazing mushroom. Sounds like a great trip. Shrink Rap is making me think I need a vacation!

DrivingMissMolly said...

Clink,

You're safe. I double checked the poll, and there were no foot fetishists!

Glad you have fun....interesting fungi. Not the feet, the tree.

Lily