morels

In the Pacific Northwest, the delectable morel mushroom is the most prized of all the mushrooms. It's a springtime mushroom -- as opposed to the yellow chanterelles we get in the fall -- that becomes especially abundant after a forest fire. They love the dry ponderosa timberlands of eastern Washington, so a journey in search of these forest-floor morsels requires a trip over the Cascades.

One of the spots we've been wanting to visit since we set foot in WA is the Methow Valley. People wax poetic about this place, so AJ and I wanted to see what it's all about. The area also experienced the largest fire in the state's history last year, and by all accounts the morel hunting was pretty good.

We let the crowds disperse from the holiday weekend, and then pointed the Subaru northeast towards the Methow. We were greeted with 75 degrees of warmth and intermittent thunderstorms - all made for a stunning scene. And the morels? Yes, we found them - and came back with a bundle.

The light created by the dark clouds and bright sun was simply gorgeous. 

The fire took out major portions of the valley - lots of evidence of burned homes and bridges, and lives disrupted.

Gorgeous fuzzy white forest flowers.

The burned forest, which is prime mushroom territory.

Lupines everywhere!

The famous morel - 5 of them peekin out from under a crevice.

Adrienne plucking the loot.

More forest flowers...

Thuderstorms started to roll in!

The light in the forest was spectacular.

Careful!

Our digs for the night.

Our loot.

Paired a fancy morel dinner with a bottle of Big Table Farms Riesling - with morels on the label!

The Mazama Country Store - so Sunset!

Deep eastern valley leading up to the Cascades.

Approaching the summit over the pass.