- Registration Period Has Ended -
Mark your calendars for the August 20-22 Annual Foray in the White Mountains. This year we will not host the event at a central location nor have large meals or plenary sessions. The annual foray is focusing on small group forays and the Arizona Mushroom Society is not hosting lodging options or meals/food service.
We hope to focus this year on educational forays for local wild mushrooms in small group settings (20 people or less). Thanks to a number of extremely generous AMS volunteers, we have a number of small group forays we can provide all day every day from Aug 20-22.
Each foray registration costs $10 per person per foray. There are no refunds once registered. We ask that you register for one foray during the weekend. Spots are limited, so please make sure you can attend before registering.
If you plan to register for a foray, we ask that you find lodging and come prepared with adequate food and water during your visit to the White Mountains.
HOW TO SIGN UP FOR A GROUP FORAY
Each AMS member can sign-up for one foray. Forays cost $10 per person, no refunds once you register.
Group forays are organized so you can register for the specific time and date of the small group foray you plan to attend. You must register for a specific time and date to attend a foray a that time. Once you have registered, you will be placed in one of the several small foray groups heading out at that day and time. A meet-up location will be emailed to you. Since we are limiting groups to 20 people or less, it is very important that you only attend the foray you are emailed about (If you don't receive an email shortly after registering, please check your spam folder).
Once you register, you will be emailed additional information about the foray location and meet-up time. Both morning and afternoon forays will be offered. Morning forays generally begin at 9am in the morning and go to about noon. The afternoon forays start at 1pm and end at about 4pm.
Group foray leaders will help you identify the main edible species. For additional educational opportunities on mushroom identification, the Arizona Mushroom Society will be hosting a specimen table at Luna Lake Campground Group site A on the evenings of Aug. 20th and 21st from 5pm to 6pm. We are encouraging AMS members that need help with mushroom ID to post on the Facebook group "Arizona Mushroom Forum", or keep an eye out for AMS videos with ID of local mushrooms being found in the white mountains during the foray.
All forays include hiking on terrain that may be steep and unstable. Please come prepared to hike up to 3 miles on uneven terrain for any foray. Please wear appropriate hiking shoes, pants, and bring a rain jacket. Make sure to apply sunscreen liberally and prepare with adequate food and water.
All foray meetup locations will be accessible via low clearance vehicles. It is possible you will need to travel from a meetup location to the foray location. In these instances, the foray lead may coordinate carpooling or other strategies to ensure all participants can access foray locations.
All forays have the potential to be cancelled due to severe storm activity.
LODGING OPTIONS
The Arizona Mushroom Society has reserved a group campsite at Luna Lake campground, just outside of Alpine, AZ. We are offering camping spots on a first come-first serve basis. To stay at one of these campsites, please register for the campsite option, in addition to registering for a foray. These campsites are for primitive camping with no electricity, and a simple bathroom and access to water. For more information on Luna Lake group campsite A, please visit here.
The nearest lodging to the foray activities is located in the towns of Greer and Alpine, AZ - the heart of the White Mountains. You can find lodging options in Greer here, for Alpine lodging click here. There are several small cabins for rent, but options are limited due to the small size of the town. Another several miles away are the larger communities of Springerville and Eager, which have a larger selection, but may be further from foray locations.
Other nearby options to the west include Pinetop-Lakeside area, which has several blocks of small tourist-oriented restaurants and hotels. If nothing is available in Pinetop-Lakeside, a little farther out you can find more options in Show Low, AZ.
There are also ample camping opportunities! There are a number of developed campgrounds you can camp at throughout the area. Some of the developed campgrounds can be reserved at www.recreation.gov, others are first come, first serve. We will be foraying near developed campgrounds including Hoyer, Winn, Rainbow, Cutthroat, Grayling, Brookchar, and Apache Trout campgrounds. To find out more about the nearby campgrounds and if they are available, go to www.recreation.gov.
Another option is dispersed camping on the national forest. The foray areas and much of the surrounding landscape is part of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. You are allowed to camp without a permit on the national forest as long as it is not signed otherwise.
FOOD SERVICE OPTIONS
Food service will be very limited during the foray weekend. Please come prepared with lunches and snacks during forays because there is no location to buy food for several miles.
Local towns including Pinetop-Lakeside, Show Low, and Springerville-Eager have restaurants and grocery stores for purchasing supplies or meal service. Please plan ahead and ensure that you have other options for food if nearby small towns are limited due to current events.