We left the cabin and walked north on the Truck Trail for less than half a mile, then crossed the creek on the east side of the Trail and began climbing into the woods. The conditions in this second-growth of hemlock and fir seemed very good for mushrooms but after half an hour I came up completely empty-handed.

After working my way down a small hill to the B__ Mountain logging road, we continued up the road to a point very close to Johnson Creek. We went back into the woods there, crossing the creek in a small ravine. Chico watched Cuca and me cross the stream but then balked. He’d never crossed a creek before and was quite upset at being stranded across from us. I was video-ing his predicament when Cuca surprised me by trying to lend a hand.

Once we were back in the second-growth I almost immediately began to find chanterelles. At first just a few scattered here and there, then even more, until it seemed that there were mushrooms in almost every direction. Hoping to keep them as clean as possible, I’d brought a small filet knife, a plastic bag and two plastic boxes in a small daypack. It wasn’t long before both of the boxes were stuffed with mushrooms. At that point I started getting choosey, gathering only those that still seemed firm and more or less undamaged. (Cuca and Chico helped me pass over several mushrooms by standing on them.)

I doubt that I’d gone more than 50 yards before both of my boxes and the plastic bag were full. At that point I told Cuca to take us home… and she very cleverly led us through quite a long stretch of forest to the Truck Trail, just north of the junction with the logging road.

As soon as we got home, Lorena began cleaning the mushrooms with a toothbrush, brushing off fir needles and bits of moss and soil. She also weighed our catch — five pounds! Since I’d already decided to make a vegetable stew, it seemed logical to also throw in a couple of pounds of chanterelles.

My recipe for this Sasquatch Stew varies considerably according to whatever we find in the refrigerator and garden. The most consistent ingredients are the onion, garlic, potato, carrots and tofu and hopefully, celery and sweet peppers. Quantities of each vary considerably, depending, of course, on what we find in our larder.

Before you begin cooking, trim and dice all of your ingredients. Add the trimmings to a stock pot and get it cooking as soon as possible. You’ll need plenty of stock — probably close to a gallon if your stew expands as fast as mine.