Tuesday, September 14, 2021 – Text and photos by Kate H. 

Joint Hike with Friends of Cypress Provincial Park led by Anne Leathem (FCPP & NV)

Map: North Shore Trail Map (Updated Second Edition) available at MEC

We all readily agreed to postpone this hike to Thursday September 16th to avoid stormy weather. Five of us, including the leader, enjoyed a beautiful, calm and sunny day exploring the Arbutus Ridge area before continuing on the trail from the old helicopter pad by the hydro lines through the mainly conifer forests to the Whyte Lake area.

A few of us have been visiting this area at all times of the year and never get tired of enjoying the great variety of ferns, mosses, lichens, mushrooms and other things in the area transitioning from an open Arbutus forest with Salal and a cluster of Manzanita bushes into more densely forested areas near Whyte Lake. In the ridge area there are many small trails wandering off in all directions and we explored some, enjoying more Arbutus trees along the way and trying not to step on fragile lichens. After bushwhacking a short way to get back to the trail to the helicopter pad and a stop there we found ourselves making many more stops in the cooler forest to examine mushrooms which were just beginning to emerge. A good number of Pholiotas were found growing up a Red Alder and nearby were some mysterious prickly looking orange buttons. Another spectacular find was a pair of Dyer’s Polypore mushrooms. Anne was kept busy photographing and identifying those and many other ‘shrooms.

We had lunch on a high rocky place in the forest with a partial view of the Eagle Bluffs area of Black Mountain and also enjoyed a good laze in the sunshine on the Whyte Lake dock. Quiet and peaceful with hardly any other hikers but more were coming up as we returned via the main Whyte Lake trail, checking out many more small ‘shrooms along the way. Also along that trail are the famous old growth Nelson Creek Douglas Firs at least six of which are 19 feet or more around and a stop at “Jenny’s Bench” next to one of them is not to be missed. The extensive moss and lichen draped forest is always beautiful on this trail.

All mushroom identifications were made by Anne Leathem – she returned later to identify the orange button mushrooms when they had matured.

A very detailed and interesting information about Bleeding Mycena mushrooms and their ilk is available on Page 22 of the Fall 2021 issue of BC Nature Magazine. Many Thanks to Terry Taylor for doing such an interesting and well timed write-up.

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