Foggy nights and cool misty fog sweeping across the Southwest Washington coast brings ideal conditions for the bounty of fall mushrooms and the perfect setting for the second annual PNW Puhpowee. Located on the Southernmost coastal slip of Washington state, the Long Beach Peninsula is celebrated for providing local foragers and chefs with over 30 varieties of wild edible mushrooms every year. Not the colorless, button mushrooms your mother brought home from the market by the ones growing wild in damp, moss covered expanses below the tree line, in the sandy mixed soils of the endless rolling dune grasses and deep within the dank Pacific Northwest forests. The growing popularity of mushroom hunting and foraging in general is the perfect opportunity for Camp Ruderalis to share the 27-mile-long beach located on Long Beach peninsula that is unofficially known as the wild mushroom capital of the United States (just ask any local).
The PNW Puhpowee is a private, adults only, event focused on education about PNW wild mushrooms both edible and medicinal. We provide a comfortable, safe, social environment to explore your questions about the health and wellness benefits associated with consuming wild mushrooms. With fully immersive forays lead by experienced foragers in areas known to be bountiful year after year; enjoy the thrill of the foray surrounded by likeminded adults as you treasure hunt the coastal terrain. Bring all your finds, big and small, back to the identification table where the mushroom experts will identify and/or discuss the vast number and variety of mushrooms we found on our forays. We foragers and mycologists scouring the regions’ damp forests to bring back a full fall bounty of Porcini (Kings), Hedgehogs (sweet tooths), Cauliflower mushrooms, Lobster mushrooms, Saffron milkcaps (deliciosus), Chanterelles, azurescens (azzies,) Violet corts and so many more for the identification table. This year’s event will fall on a clam tide, and we expect a small group of campers to take advantage of this opportunistic timing with us for a chilly wind-swept razor clam dig on the beach. Taking full advantage of the fall bounty the peninsula has to offer.
This year will feature discussions and workshops by some of the most prominent members of the Pacific Northwest’s mushroom community, including Dan of the Conscious Collectors Cooperative, Warren from Washington Mushroom Company, and a speaker from The Portland Psychedelics Society. There will also be a Microdosing workshop by Carla and several Mycophagy discussions.
Remember being upta camp means each package is all inclusive with meals included. Some of the tantalizing items already slated for the menu include roasted pork and mashers with a fall mushroom ragout accompanied by braised winter greens and cranberries from the local bog, Chef Carosi’s award-winning elk chili with all the bells + whistles with OP kimchi dogs and classic Hawaiian mac salad, just to name a few of the menu items.
We recommend you pay close attention to the local weather patterns and bring appropriate warm, waterproof clothing. November on the Washington coast can be deceiving at times. The cool misty, fog swept terrain can take the warmth right out of you. Footwear can vary but keep in mind this is not trail hiking this is cutting into the underbrush so bring waterproof hiking shoes that have good traction and will keep your feet dry and warm. Bring clam guns and grab a shellfish license on your way into town if you want to join us for the dig. Most of all be prepared to have a really good time!
