Mushroom Hunting in the Rocky Mountains: An Analogy for Life

[clarkfan1979]

This story comes from August 2022. The plan was to post about it immediately, but I guess I forgot. Our local mountains in Southern Colorado are called the "Wet Mountains" which are great for mushroom hunting "Rocky Mountain Reds" in July-September. They are very large (google it) and grow above 10,000 ft. We drove 1 hour on pavement and then another 15 minutes on a gravel road to a hiking trail head. I was given some basic instructions from a co-worker.

We walked on the trail head looking for mushrooms and after about 5 minutes, we wanted to walk off-trail. Our options were uphill or downhill. Our natural instincts took us downhill first because walking downhill is easier. We spent about 30 minutes and found 2 mushrooms. We then walked back uphill toward the trail and along the trail for another 5 minutes. As my wife started to walk downhill again off-trail, I told her to stop because I had "an idea".

I explained to my wife that our natural human instincts are taking us downhill first because it's easier. This is going to be the worn out trail that most people take and thus less mushrooms. I explained to her, "Let's go uphill first. It's going to be the path less traveled because walking uphill is more difficult and I'm guessing more mushrooms." 

Long story short. We killed it. We got about 20 mushrooms in 1 hour. However, the average size was at least double. Because that side of the trail got less traffic the mushrooms had more time to get bigger. The thrill of the hunt was intense. These babies get huge. It was kind of like catching a big fish. Our harvest was about 20X "above trail" than "below trail" but we did spend about twice the amount of time. As a result, if you are comparing "apples to apples", we were 10X more efficient "above trail"   

If you think about it, "above trail" is the same elevation climb as "below trail". The only difference is the order in which you do it.

Anyone willing to share success stories of taking the path less traveled? Many times in life, the path less traveled involves hard work. It's less popular because people don't want to do the work. However, does anyone have any stories where the path less traveled was the same amount of work or less work than the popular path? We scored mushrooms, not because we worked harder. We just thought about it differently.   

[Ron Scott]

The northeast is rich with schrooms as well. Found 3 large hens just in my backyard in the past couple years.

We went on a 2-hour hunt in CT with a forager who did it for a living. At the end of a hunt he’d pack them up at FEDEX and send them overnight to up to a dozen NYC restaurants who agreed to pay him for whatever he sent.

Asked him what his favs were and he said whitecaps. LOL me too, and portobellos. The rest do nothing for me. Fun tho.

[Kris]

I have often thought that mustachianism is akin to those experiments they did with little kids and marshmallows. I bet the kids who would be able to do the tough thing and defer eating the marshmallow until later (and therefore ended up with two marshmallows) are disproportionately represented among the mustachioed.

[Morning Glory]

I have often thought that mustachianism is akin to those experiments they did with little kids and marshmallows. I bet the kids who would be able to do the tough thing and defer eating the marshmallow until later (and therefore ended up with two marshmallows) are disproportionately represented among the mustachioed.

I think we're closer to the weird kid who doesn't like marshmallows, when it comes to a lot of consumer crap.

[Kris]

I have often thought that mustachianism is akin to those experiments they did with little kids and marshmallows. I bet the kids who would be able to do the tough thing and defer eating the marshmallow until later (and therefore ended up with two marshmallows) are disproportionately represented among the mustachioed.

I think we're closer to the weird kid who doesn't like marshmallows, when it comes to a lot of consumer crap.

Haha, I thought of that, too — but it didn’t fit well with OP’s anecdote.

[JupiterGreen]

Yes! This is the dream really. I would love to be a mushroom forager, but I'm afraid I'd pick the wrong ones and poison myself haha :)

[Midwest_Handlebar]

I can think of many times that the additional effort put out gave a disproportionate benefit. I worked full time through college so I wouldn't have student loans. We bought a "fixer upper house" so I would have a lower mortgage payment. We bought and renovated many properties that now give us a reliable stream of income monthly. All these decisions have put us in a great position financially, but it has seemed masochistic at times. I wouldn't change anything though.

[jeninco]

Haha, we just spent the morning on a backcountry ski. We got up kinda early (5:30) and met a friend at 7 close to the trailhead. We broke trail for most of the 4.5 mile ski in. In exchange, we had a sensible up-track (set by us, not a bunch of ultra-skiers who could go straight up the side of a building), boomer sunny skies, hardly a breath of wind (and we skied up to the Continental Divide -- by all reasonable rights, it should've been howling). We detoured slightly at the very far end of our ski to ski a couple of laps on an incredible slope -- gentle enough that there wasn't much avalanche concern, more than knee-deep powder (but fast enough to be fun to ski) with more soft stuff underneath, still sunny and not windy. About when we finished getting second tracks, a couple of other groups came up behind us. Then the wind picked up, and the clouds blew in.

We skied down the trail, commenting that if the other groups had gotten a slightly earlier start they could've had the sun, no wind, and endless fresh powder conditions. Instead, the snow was warming up a bit, and the other conditions were rapidly changing. Ha!

[eyesonthehorizon]

... Anyone willing to share success stories of taking the path less traveled? Many times in life, the path less traveled involves hard work. It's less popular because people don't want to do the work. However, does anyone have any stories where the path less traveled was the same amount of work or less work than the popular path? We scored mushrooms, not because we worked harder. We just thought about it differently.

I love this story. I’ve had similar gratification out foraging but nothing so dramatic. It’s a lesser comparison but walking twenty minutes into an entertainment district rather than driving two, waiting through a long red light, & cruising twenty minutes to find a spot in a parking garage (as a roommate did, even though we always beat him there) gave me this same feeling. Why does something seeming easier stick in the face of proof to the contrary?

[FIRE 20/20]

Colorado legalized magic mushrooms this year, so when I saw this thread title I expected a very different post. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-map-colorado-us-states-rcna55980

[TomTX]

Colorado legalized magic mushrooms this year, so when I saw this thread title I expected a very different post. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-map-colorado-us-states-rcna55980

I'd like to try psilocybin mushrooms at some point when there are not legal issues standing in the way. I didn't really care for the effects of (legal, OTC) Delta-9 THC gummies.

[clarkfan1979]

... Anyone willing to share success stories of taking the path less traveled? Many times in life, the path less traveled involves hard work. It's less popular because people don't want to do the work. However, does anyone have any stories where the path less traveled was the same amount of work or less work than the popular path? We scored mushrooms, not because we worked harder. We just thought about it differently.

I love this story. I’ve had similar gratification out foraging but nothing so dramatic. It’s a lesser comparison but walking twenty minutes into an entertainment district rather than driving two, waiting through a long red light, & cruising twenty minutes to find a spot in a parking garage (as a roommate did, even though we always beat him there) gave me this same feeling. Why does something seeming easier stick in the face of proof to the contrary?

Thanks for sharing your story. These were the type of stories that I was hoping to see. I guess it's kind of an economics type of post in which people are able to find value.

[Morning Glory]

Biking to work might count. I used to live a couple miles out of town near farm fields and a nature preserve, and would notice all kinds of wildlife while biking (deer, sandhill cranes, eagles, beaver, etc) that I never would have seen if I'd been driving a car.

[eyesonthehorizon]

Train travel also came to mind. Far better experience compared to "just hopping in the car" (as if you didn't have to devote hours of conscious attention to not dying or killing anyone on the road.) Enforced pause, time to read & people-watch. Slower than air, too, but so much more relaxing, no TSA pantomimes or takeoff stowing of tray tables, generally inexpensive, more diversity in the scenery.

[Sanitary Stache]

Every morning I ride my daughter to school on the e-bike. We cruise by the high school drop off traffic. We cruise by the middle school drop off traffic. We cruise right by the stationary line of kindergarten drop off right to the door. I walk her to class and as I am cruising back out of the drop off area the same cars are stuck out in the street waiting their 20 minute turn.

[jeninco]

Every morning I ride my daughter to school on the e-bike. We cruise by the high school drop off traffic. We cruise by the middle school drop off traffic. We cruise right by the stationary line of kindergarten drop off right to the door. I walk her to class and as I am cruising back out of the drop off area the same cars are stuck out in the street waiting their 20 minute turn.

Ha, you just reminded me of an incident a few years ago when my kid was riding his bike downtown to meet some friends for ... something? Anyhow, it was a heavy traffic day (I think there was an Ironman race going on that ended in downtown), and he was riding in one of our many, many bike lanes. He passed a bright yellow Ferrari, stopped in traffic. Then he passed it again, at the next traffic light. Then he got where he was going and locked up, and the Ferrari was still circling, looking for a place to park...

[Daisy]

I have often thought that mustachianism is akin to those experiments they did with little kids and marshmallows. I bet the kids who would be able to do the tough thing and defer eating the marshmallow until later (and therefore ended up with two marshmallows) are disproportionately represented among the mustachioed.

I think we're closer to the weird kid who doesn't like marshmallows, when it comes to a lot of consumer crap.

There is nothing weird about not liking marshmallows.

Ask me how I know...