Say Hi to Fungi

29/05/2026

So interesting!

Happy Thursday!

As the season in our region starts winding down, we wanted to share some other cool fungi we've come across on our tours these last few months.

This cool little thing, called an Toothed Jelly Fungus (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum) is one of the most interesting and unusual species we've seen. They are pretty tough to spot in the leaf litter as their translucent coloring blends in if you aren't looking directly at them. They grow on dead/decaying wood and can be along or in a group of fruiting bodies. Usually found on the ground or well-rotted wood under conifers, they fruit from late fall through winter if the conditions are right. This particular one was alongside a stream bank under Ponderosa pine. If you look closely they have small jelly like teeth on the underside of the cap like a Hedgehog mushroom, and the Latin name literally means false “hedgehog” jelly.

Like many "jelly" fungi (ex. Witches Butter), they are technically edible raw, but have no really discernable flavor. We have heard of people pickling or candying them, but most foragers just treat them as a cool novelty find, take a picture, and leave them be. Such a cool fungi to stumble across, and they were one of the highlights of the tour that day!

Our last public morel-focused tours are this upcoming weekend May 30-31st and there are still a few spots available! The current cool weather and rain might help extend the season a little, but these delicious little forest treats will be gone shortly😒.

If you were on the fence about joining us, now is the time! We’re based a short drive from the Bay Area, in a hidden-gem region of the Sierra. Come join us for an unforgettable adventure in the woods...

Details and sign-up information are available at:

https://www.ikigaiadventuretours.com/fungi-forays/p/sierra-nevada-guided-fungi-tours

Use the code "NEWRAIN20" at checkout for 20% off.

We will continue doing private tours throughout the rest of the year, as there is always something cool to see and learn about in the woods if you have expert local guide with you. Just message or email us to discuss the details.

Hope to see you in the woods...

Visit Tuolumne County

18/05/2026

FYI...

02/05/2026

Good News! More tour dates and a discount!

01/05/2026

Here's some cool educational stuff...

Hey Ya'll

We wanted to share some of the other cool and edible fungi we've found on recent tours.

This cute little one is a type of puffball, known as Calbovista subsculpta (if you're into fancy latin names😜) and they are out in the forest right now. They are edible when young, and the way you check any puffball for edibility is to slice them in half with a knife, and see if the inside is all white. If you see a mushroom profile inside, you found an amanita "egg" and not a puffball, and if the inside is yellow/green/brown or black it's past the edibility window. The flavor of them is variable as we've had some delicious ones, and some of them have had a slightly sulfur-y taste.

We love finding these for pictures also cuz the texture of the outside is so cool and alien like.

Hope you dig it as much as we do!

If you want to join on any of our upcoming tours, and learn how to find and identify other delicious fungi the link is:

https://www.ikigaiadventuretours.com/fungi-forays/p/sierra-nevada-guided-fungi-tours

Since we're elated at the recent rain and snow which should extend the morel season, we decided to offer 20% off our newly added tour dates for this month. Just enter in the code "NEWRAIN20" at checkout and save some dinero on a awesome learning experience.

Hope to see you in the woods...

23/04/2026

Good info!

Hey Ya'll,

Since you're probably sick of morel videos and pics right now, we wanted to share some of the other cool fungi we've found on our recent tours.

This little one is a type of Gyromitra (generally referred to as "False Morels," known as Gyromitra infula (if you're into fancy Latin names😜) and they are out in the forest right now. Every book or website will tell you that they are toxic and potentially deadly, but surprisingly we've heard stories of people eating them. They contain Monomethylhydrazine which is a volatile compound that can be fatal in higher doses (also rocket fuel!), so we definitely wouldn't recommend consumption. We tend to see them out and about on our morel tours, as they prefer a lot of the same environments. They can grow in big groups and sometimes fool you from a distance and make you think you found a patch of actual morels, only to realize Mother Nature duped you again.

We decided to take a picture of this one as the backlighting was shining through the wavy cap and made for a cool glowing effect. Also, if you zoom you can see there was a little bug or spider chilling inside it, and it made us jealous that it got to live in a home made of fungi and we don't😔.

Hope you dig it as much as we do!

If you want to join on any of our upcoming tours, and learn how to find and identify other delicious fungi the link is:

https://www.ikigaiadventuretours.com/fungi-forays

Hope to see you in the woods...

21/04/2026

FYI...

Give our new adventure tour company a follow. More awesome tours coming soon!

12/04/2026

HEADS UP! Morels are here!

Please follow our new page Ikigai Adventure Tours and show some love and support by following, liking, and sharing. Apparently all that helps with the algorithm and gets the word out to more people. This will be our new main hub for anything tour related. Thanks a million in advance.

Hope to see you in the woods...

are in the Sierra now! Book your tours quick before they're gone!

Check out the picture one of our private tour guests this weekend shared! Morels are delicious and super hard to find if you don't know where to look and what to look for. We offer expert guided tours centered around these highly sought after edibles and the first tour open to the public starts Sunday, April 19th.

https://www.ikigaiadventuretours.com/fungi-forays

But we do so much more! Ikigai Adventure Tours is proud to offer fungi forays, private one on one off road training, and photography tours, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff. Some parts of the website are still under construction, so if you see something that catches your eye, and you want more details just email us at: ikigaiadventuretours@gmail.com.

Hope to see you in the woods soon!

08/04/2026

ALERT!!!

Hey Ya'll!

We just launched our new adventure tour company and would love to show you all the amazing sides of the Sierra's! We offer fungi forays, private off road training in your OWN car, photography tours and classes and a TON more!

Morel and other spring fungi tours start Sunday April 19th and run every Sat/Sunday until they're gone. The season could be 2 weeks or two months so make sure you book your spots quickly!

The website link is in my bio and below:

https://www.ikigaiadventuretours.com/fungi-forays

Please give our new Ikigai account a follow and like and share so we can get the word out ASAP...

Hope to see you soon!

Courtney

10/08/2025

Hey Ya'll,

I was in Tahoe a few months ago, and my friend introduced me to a beautiful spot on the south shore with a beach right next to a calm outlet with tons of water birds. As we watched a sunset, I was wandering around and noticed a ton of great photo opportunities, and of course I left my camera in the car😡! I vowed to come back and get something at a later date because there was so much natural beauty to capture there.

A few weekends ago I was back in the area around sunset trying to right the wrong of my previous trip. The sunset was beautiful, but those pretty orange and pink clouds were in a direction that didn't make for a great composition. Then I noticed this cool old wood fence with the water behind, a small isolated bush on a peninsula, and the mountain in the background. The clouds were hanging around the mountain peak, but kept dissipating before they would get in a good spot to use them as a composition element. Even without the clouds the scene made for a great natural-ish framing, and I love the vertical bands of light and dark elements throughout the shot. Unfortunately the Canada geese and wood ducks were too far away to add them in too, but maybe next time I'm there I'll get lucky and they will be in a better spot to shoot.

Hope you dig it too!

Courtney

07/08/2025

Happy Thursday Ya'll!

There are so many things to love about the area I live in. I am fortunate to have so much natural diversity within minutes of my doorstep, and I have to pinch myself sometimes that things like this are literally in my "backyard."

This shot is of a section of New Melones Lake that I frequently take my dog Foxy on walks to. The hike down is through a beautiful oak countryside, and I'm always keeping an eye on possible situations for great pictures. As I was parking my car here a few weeks ago, I notice the clouds were starting to thicken and decided to grab my good camera just in case something cool popped out at me. When we got down to the waters edge, the sun was only illuminating the center band of hills, which was an effect I had never seen here before. I took quite a few pictures as the sunset progressed, and this was the one I liked the most. I love the stark contrast of the golden hillsides sandwiched between the clouded shade in the fore and background.

New Melones Lake is known for its fishing, boating, and camping and is quite large (12,500 acres of surface area). It also has a very interesting history, as I've learned from some of my local friends. Where the lake is today used to be a mining town in the heart of Gold Country called Robinson Ferry in the 1840s, which was then renamed to Melones in 1902. There used to be houses and business all over the valley that served the miners looking for their share of the Gold Rush. In 1944, the New Melones Project was authorized, and was eventually completed in 1980. This completion filled the valley with water, covering the old mining town and the original dam and created the lake that many enjoy for outdoor recreation today.

Hope you dig it too!

Courtney