- Registration Closed -
Arizona Mushroom Society 2023 ANNUAL FORAY
Mark your calendars for the August 11-13 Annual Foray in Alpine, Arizona in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. The annual foray is our special opportunity to spend a weekend learning about, finding, talking about and even tasting wild Arizona fungi!
At this year's event we will have the honor of hosting mycologist Else Vellinga, PhD, who will be spreading the word on spores at our Keynote presentation on Saturday night and will be attending forays and providing identification information at the Table Talk on Sunday morning.
We are also hosting at the Alpine Community Center on Friday night with fungi-focused vendors for an informal "mushroom social" for folks to meet, talk, shop from vendors, and see and taste some of the locally found fungi.
We have also madea limited number of Arizona Mushroom Society 2023 Annual Foray T-shirts designed by our very own board member Jess Starwood! To get in on these, you can order here.
We've also just refilled out stock of AMS hats, which will be sold at the Alpine Community Center on the evenings of Friday and Saturday for $20/hat cash only.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
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Date/Time
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Activity
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Friday, August 11, 9am – Noonish
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Friday morning group forays, $20/person
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Friday, August 11, 1pm – 4ish
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Friday afternoon group forays, $20/person
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Friday, August 11, 6:30 pm
@ Alpine Community Center
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Fungi Social, free - Hang out and bring in fungi you found! Specimen collection and informal mushroom ID, vendors, mushroom tasting.
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Saturday, August 12,
9am – Noonish
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Saturday morning group forays, $20/person
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Saturday, August 12,
1pm – 4ish
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Saturday afternoon group forays, $20/person
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Saturday, August 12, 5:30 pm @ Alpine Community Center
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Annual Foray Dinner - Must register and pay for separately before event
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Saturday, August 12, 7:00 pm @ Alpine Community Center
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Keynote Presentation by Else Vellinga, Free
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Sunday, August 13, 9am @ Alpine Community Center
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Table Talk, Free
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Sunday, August 13, 1pm – 4ish
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Sunday afternoon group forays, $20/person
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EVENT DESCRIPTIONS
Wild Mushroom Forays
Group forays are your opportunity to go on a 1-2 mile hike with an Arizona Mushroom Society foray leader to find and identify wild mushrooms. We are planning for small group forays to occur morning and afternoon for all three days of the event (except for Sunday morning which is when we have the Table Talk).
You and any guest must be registered to attend forays. You may register up to 3 guests. Anyone attending a foray must be registered. The cost is $20/person via online payment.
Please only register for one foray between August 11-13th. We want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to get to attend a foray. There will be opportunities to sign-up for additional forays during the event. Additional foray opportunities will be posted on a first come, first service basis at the Alpine Community Center the Friday and Saturday evenings prior to the next day forays.
After you register for a foray, you will receive a registration confirmation email. Foray meet-up locations will be emailed to registrants by August 9th, before the event. No refunds available for cancellations.
The REGISTRATION button on the left side at the top of page is how you register for a group foray.
Activities at the Alpine Community Center
This is your chance to meet other fungaphiles, see local finds, and dive deeper and learn from the experts about our local funga. Throughout the Annual Foray weekend, we have many learning opportunities:
Friday evening, August 11, 2023
Come by the Alpine Community Center for a mushroom social @ 6:30 p.m. to see and possibly contribute to the specimens, peruse from fungi-inspired vendors, and taste some of the recently found wild edible mushrooms.
We will be keeping a collection of fungi finds, both common and uncommon. These will be identified, sorted, recorded and displayed throughout the weekend for teach with and observation. Friday evening will include sorting incoming species and sharing opportunities for learning and trying out microscopy and specimen and tissue preparation for DNA analysis.
Saturday evening, August 12, 2023
The Annual Foray Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center and catered by Foxfire at Alpine for $38/person. There will be an option to buy pizza for children. To join us, you need to register and pay for the meal ahead of time. For more information about the menu and to sign-up for the meal, please register here.
After dinner, we are proud and honored to present Else Vellinga as the 2023 AMS Annual Foray Mycologist! Else will be presenting at 7:00 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center on the ubiquitous and single cell wonders that are an integral part of all fungi - spores! You don't want to miss Else's informative and clever discussion of the world of spores, why they are important, how they work, and what mysteries remain.
Else is a mycologist who is interested in naming and classifying mushroom species in California and beyond, especially Parasol mushrooms. She has described 22 species as new for California, and also worked at the herbaria at UC Berkeley and SFSU for the Macrofungi and Microfungi Collections Digitization projects. Else cares deeply about using fungi in conservation efforts and likes to spread her love and knowledge of fungi.
Sunday morning, August 13, 2023
Come to the Table Talk, starting at 9:00 a.m. at the Alpine Community Center!
If you have any questions about AZ native fungi, this is the place to answer them. Nowhere else in the world where there be more information about AZ mushrooms available to you!
At the table talk Else Vellinga and our Scientific Committee Chair, Terri Clements, will go through all of the specimens collected throughout the weekend and share information about their identification, life history, and recent research findings.
LODGING OPTIONS
The Arizona Mushroom Society will not be hosting a group campsite this year, however, you can reserve your own campsite near the lake. For more information on Forest Service Luna Lake group campsites, please visit here.
There are a number of small lodges, inns and other lodging options in and around Alpine. There is a comprehensive list of motels, cabins, restaurants, and other local businesses at www.alpinearizona.com.
For those who want slightly more developed facilities than a campsite or a spot for your RV with hook ups, we encourage you to rent a place at the Aspen Lodge! They have a number of accommodations including a bunkhouse for a group, chalets, and small cabins at very affordable prices.
The "Maine" cabin at Aspen Lodge
They also have awesome owners who are eager to learn more about mushrooms since it turns out the lodge is in a prime location for summer fungi.
You can also look for other lodging 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 much of the national forest in the area.
Please put your fire pits DEAD-OUT.
FOOD SERVICE OPTIONS
Food service may be 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 at most foray locations.
Local towns including Alpine, Pinetop-Lakeside, Show Low, and Springerville-Eager have restaurants and grocery stores for purchasing supplies or meal service. Alpine has a small gas station with snacks and gas.
In Alpine, AZ the Foxfire restaurant is a great place to have a meal. They serve continental breakfast. If you are looking for something a little more to start the day, the Bear Wallow Cafe has an early bird full breakfast.
We are doing a special Saturday night event meal, which you can sign up for here.
VOLUNTEERING
We are looking for volunteers who would be interested in helping setup and run the event. If interested, please contact us at azmushroomsociety@gmail.com
KIDS AND PETS
Kids and pets are allowed to attend AMS events, and must be under your supervision at all times. Most forays including walking 1-2 miles on uneven terrain often with downed logs and steep slopes, which is difficult for toddlers and small dogs. Most forays are within the abilities of children 5-6 years old. Very young children will need to be carried, as most forays would not accommodate a stroller or other such mobile device. Children above 15 years old should be registered. Dogs that are friendly and can get over logs in the woods generally do well on forays but must be kept on a leash at all times.
STUDY GUIDE
Are you wondering what fungi you may find on the foray? Check out our iNaturalist project from last year's foray to see all of the fungi that other participants found!