Taku Lake, Campbell Airstrip Foxholes, Shaggy Mane,

A couple of shots from the last several days as I wander the bike trails trying to keep my blood flowing.

This was Taku Lake a couple of evenings ago as I tried to slip in a bike ride while it wasn't raining.


Going up the new bike trail again on Campbell Airstrip Road - there's good new bike trail for about .7 miles which connects to the old bike trail that ends at the Campbell Airstrip trailhead - I ran across this new sign on local foxholes.

click on image to enlarge and foc

I was thinking as I stopped to take a picture of the sign, that I should get it while it's new (it wasn't there last week) before the spray painters arrive.  It added a dimension to this part of town I'd never thought about.  I saved it as a fairly large file so you an click on it to enlarge and focus better.

Here are the foxhole pictures enlarged:

I've seen foxes in the Anchorage bowl, so I'm sure there are some in the woods around here, but for today, this is a different kind of fox hole.


Finally, I saw my first shaggy mane mushroom today.  It's a little early.  This is one of my favorite mushrooms.  They are delicious to eat and easy to identify.  I haven't seen any other mushrooms that look even remotely like these.  They do turn inky black after a while and then they're inedible.  I've written more on them with a picture of one going black here.

So while we did our weekly video conference with our grandson (and his little sister who is beginning to pay attention to us on the screen briefly) I showed him the mushroom, cut it up, got some garlic, onion, and tomato.  Cooked them up in some olive oil and then added a little white wine.  Mmmmmmmmmmmm.  

Shaggy Mane - Coprinus comatus

It's over a year since my first (and last) shaggy mane post. They're back. These two are about four inches high.


Below you can see what happens if you wait too long to pick them. They turn inky. According to Tom Volk

Members of the genus Coprinus have been collectively known as the "inky caps" because of the curious character of autodeliquescence of their gills-- in other words self-digestion to release their basidiospores. Most of these species have gills that are very thin and very close to one another, which does not allow for easy release of the spores. . . After the spores have matured and been released, the gill tissue digests itself and begins to curl up, allowing easy release of the basidiospores above. In other words, the digestion opens up the fruiting body so that spores from further up the gills become exposed to the air and a clear path of spore release. The self-digestion continues until the entire fruiting body has turned to black ink. In the olden days this ink was actually used for writing.

Shaggy Mane Mushrooms

I know fall is near when the shaggy manes start popping up. But it also means a delicious treat.


I cut them up.












Sauteed some onion and garlic.



Added the mushrooms.







Got them ready to eat.






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