The last Saturday in April in the small Nebraska town of Peru, there is a gathering of people from across the country all hunting for one mushroom… the elusive culinary delight, the Blonde Morel! James and I have plans to visit this festival, film our trip there and back, and plan on hunting the Morel the whole way! Our trip will start here in Colorado, but we plan on driving there because we will be following the Platte River almost the whole way there! For those of you who haven’t hunted Blonde Morels before, that means we are driving past Morel habitat during the entire drive! If you would like to visit the Great Nebraska Mushroom Hunt visit their website, www.nebraskathegoodlife.com for a schedule, driving directions, as well as any other information about the festival. And if you can’t make it and wish you could, check back soon for a full episode of Amateur Mycology Video Magazine all about this trip. Hope all is well out there, and if you are in Colorado and haven’t already, get out there and start looking! There is fungal life about!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Guys,
Really wish I could make the trip with you to Nebraska. All these places I thought I’d never want to go–Texas, Nebraska–but now…with fine mushrooming to be found, well… Hope you have a safe trip.
I took a look on the map of where Peru, Nebraska is and find it’s in the South-Eastern part of the state, right next to Missouri.
Tip: If you want to make your long drive more interesting and avoid the semi-traffic of I-80, think about taking US 36. Yes, the same US 36 that runs up to Boulder and beyond to Lyons. This Interstate highway runs East-West parallel to the major Interstates I-80 & I-70 all the way into Indiana. You might think it’s slower than the Major interstates, but you can travel just as fast on this divided highway as the others. It’s a really nice alternative, however it doesn’t follow the S. Platte like 270 and I-80 if that’s important to ya’s. Good hunting.
I was backpacking with my two oldest daughters when we bumped into James and Graham at the end of our trail. After light conversation we found out they were Morel hunters. My neighbor has hunted annually for them but we had never seen them before. They gave us a quick lesson and we looked around with them. They were great guys and you were right James…on our way out along the edge, just down from the wagon wheel we found a group of 5! We were pretty excited. Thanks for the fun time and my neighbor is sooo jealous. He wrote down the website and can’t wait to check it out. Happy Hunting!
It was awesome meeting up with you guys! We are always happy to pass on our Morel know-how, just maybe not all the spots we find them in! :0) You guys should get out there and look around! We even found some in a park in Grand Island that had been lawn mowed! Thanks for the kind words, hope to talk again sometime.
Hi there!
Visiting my folks in Fremont for a few days and am thinking about checking out the nearby Platte River to see if I can poach a morel or two. Any words of wisdom?
Thanks!
Lynn
Let’s just say I wish I was out there still!! Your best bet is to get somewhere a little off the beaten path. Look for areas with dying trees. Especially if they are standing dead and have bark still on them. Don’t worry about ones without bark as they are generally too dead and past their prime. If you don’t have any luck on the Platte, head out toward the parks along the Missouri near Blair. You are sure to have luck out there! Another tip is to buy a cheap digital candy/meat thermometer and stick it in the ground under a dead ash, oak, cottonwood, etc and see what the ground temperature is 6-8″ below the surface. If it reads 49-50 degrees F, you might want to look under your feet, you might be stepping on one! Generally a good range is 48-53 degrees F. Also, look at the undergrowth around you. If you are seeing lots of jack in the pulpits, stinging nettle, violets, and small poison ivy, you are in the right spot. Happy hunting and good luck! Send us pictures!