Forum Index > Trip Reports > Shoofly, Fall and Top Lake 07 november 2020
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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostSun Nov 08, 2020 10:17 am 
Well all my hopes for an early snow year are clearly gone. It is lightly snowing again and freezing, but almost all October snow is just gone. Trailhead for the Top Lake trail is above 3600 feet, yet still completely snow free. On the way there I took the Smithbrook road which was also snow free almost all the way to the top, but compact couple of inches of icy snow near the top and for a couple of miles on the other side. Near the top there is a scary turn where I noticed a couple of tire tracks in the snow apparently going all the way to the edge. I stopped and checked, thankfully there was no car over the edge, but there is a wooden cross there. Not sure why. The road to the Top Lake trailhead and is in good condition, but very long and very brushy. It will scratch your car. A lot. At the end of the road there is bizarrely huge parking lot. Like costco parking lot size. It was empty and considering how overgrown the road is, it is really strange the parking lot is so big. Lots and lots of frozen fungi on the trail. Lots of hericium and even some cauliflower mushroom. So tasty!
Trail follows along some old logging roads in the nice second growth forest. Lots of creeks. Soon it enters the wilderness and 2014 Shoofly fire. Cookie and me followed easy terrain but over lots of blowdowns cross-country through the burned forest to the summit.
We could make out Wenatchee lake and Heather lake through the clouds, but generally the views are very limited and it was super cold and cloudy. We went back through the burn and found the trail again, following it next to Fall Mountain. Equally, not many views from the Fall Mountain.
Next trail goes down to the Top Lake (yes, it is down). This is the most beautiful part of the trail and also Top Lake is surprisingly big and pretty. I didn't expect much of Top Lake assuming it would probably be just a swamp, but it turned out to be just so nice - snowy slopes and red swampy shores, with even some frozen blueberries still left. So peaceful. There was a flock of high altitude ducks too.

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NBL
West Seattle Based



Joined: 08 Sep 2020
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NBL
West Seattle Based
PostMon Nov 09, 2020 10:42 am 
I've never had cauliflower mushroom. Did you harvest any? How to you prepare it?

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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostMon Nov 09, 2020 11:16 am 
NBL wrote:
I've never had cauliflower mushroom. Did you harvest any? How to you prepare it?
I took a part of cauliflower mushroom home! I love it, it is very-very-very tasty (possibly I say so because it is kind of rare for me to find it, so it feels extra precious when I do). This year I only found a cauliflower mushroom twice, this was the second time and probably last due to winter weather. I love it because it has really nice texture, it is kind of similar to wide al dente noodles and very nice taste and aroma similar to morel. Imagine morel flavored noodles and you will get the idea. Even just one mushroom sometimes grows to huge size, so finding just one gives you a great meal. I use it in a very similar manner I would use noodles. I love it in soup, but it is also very fun with coconut cream in a curry or just with creamy coconut sauce. I'm vegan, so I don't use animal products, but I heard other people love it with cow milk creams too. The first link google finds about this mushroom seems good: https://honest-food.net/sparassis-cauliflower-mushroom/

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timberghost
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PostTue Nov 10, 2020 3:05 pm 
Did you see any deer or hibernating bears?

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kitya
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kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostTue Nov 10, 2020 3:53 pm 
timberghost wrote:
Did you see any deer or hibernating bears?
Why do you ask?

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timberghost
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timberghost
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PostWed Nov 11, 2020 7:00 am 
I love taking pictures of them this time of the year up.gif

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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostWed Nov 11, 2020 7:33 am 
timberghost wrote:
I love taking pictures of them this time of the year up.gif
Good! Sadly I have not seen any, but many footprints of deer.

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timberghost
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PostWed Nov 11, 2020 8:56 am 
So did you not go to Pear lake since its so close?

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kitya
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Joined: 15 Mar 2010
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostWed Nov 11, 2020 9:06 am 
timberghost wrote:
So did you not go to Pear lake since its so close?
No, because I already have been to Pear lake a few years ago after scrambling Fortune Mountain from the other side and I try to avoid going to the same place twice as much as possible smile.gif

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Anne Elk
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Joined: 07 Sep 2018
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Anne Elk
BrontosaurusTheorist
PostWed Nov 11, 2020 5:17 pm 
I always look forward to the latest trip report from you and Cookie the Wonder Dog. Some really great mood pics in this collection, Kitya. I've never heard of sparassis mushroom; sounds scrumptious! BTW - just curious - is Cookie purebred or part Shiba Inu? Seems like she never hikes with booties - what a tough cookie. biggrin.gif

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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kitya
Fortune Cookie



Joined: 15 Mar 2010
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Location: Duvall, WA
kitya
Fortune Cookie
PostWed Nov 11, 2020 7:14 pm 
Anne Elk wrote:
I always look forward to the latest trip report from you and Cookie the Wonder Dog. Some really great mood pics in this collection, Kitya. I've never heard of sparassis mushroom; sounds scrumptious! BTW - just curious - is Cookie purebred or part Shiba Inu? Seems like she never hikes with booties - what a tough cookie. biggrin.gif
Thank you Anne! Cookie is purebred shiba (inu just means "dog" in japanese). Yeah, she doesn't have booties. I don't know why some dogs have them. Seems like wolves and coyotes do without booties just fine! Cookie is well prepared for the snowy terrain by evolution itself!

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timberghost
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PostFri Nov 13, 2020 7:01 am 
Seen many dog with frostbit feet but not so much in Wa

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