Fungi Along the Appalachian Trail

On Sunday my friend Sue and I hiked the Appalachian Trail in Maine to bag two more 4000 footers - South and North Crocker. We had also intended to summit Mount Reddington, but this required some off-trail navigation skills; and, in spite of a brand new hiking GPS, we never found the trail, but did realize that we were instead following the Appalachian Trail corridor boundary. Upon this discovery, we worked our way back through the thicket to rejoin the AT, hiked over to North Crocker, where a gray jay flew next to me upon hearing my whistle. A quick snack, then back down the trail, over South Crocker for the third time, making it back to the parking just before dark.

Most wildflowers have passed by mid-August, but their beauty is replaced by a wide variety of mushrooms which come in all different shapes, colors and sizes. It's truly a fascination of nature. Click on the photo for a slide show sampling from my hike.

Hiking South and North Crocker Mountains