- Registration To Open In June or July 2023 -
Arizona Mushroom Society 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 annual opportunity to spend a weekend learning about, finding, talking about and eating wild Arizona fungi!
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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
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Date/Time
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Activity
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Thursday, August 10
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Early bird 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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Informal mushroom id and discussion, Free
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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, 6pm
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Annual Foray Mushroom Meal
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Saturday, August 12 7:30 pm @ Alpine Community Center
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Fungi presentation
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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
Group 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. You and any guests must be registered to attend forays. 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. If there are extra spots available, they 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. 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 - Free
This is your chance to dive deeper and learn from the experts about the fungi finds you and others have come across. The Arizona Mushroom Society is about education, and folks including Alan Rockefeller and AMS Science Committee Chair, Terri Clements, have already forgot more about fungi than any of us know! We have numerous opportunities for you to learn:
Friday evening – Come by the Alpine Community Center to see and possibly contribute to the specimen room! We will be keeping a collection of fungi founds, both common and uncommon. These will be identified, sorted, recorded and displayed throughout the weekend for teach with and observation. Friday evening will include AMS science-minded folks and guests sorting incoming species and sharing opportunities for learning and trying out microscopy and specimen and tissue preparation for DNA analysis.
Saturday evening – Come to the Alpine Community Center to learn about fungi and bring your interesting specimens!
Sunday morning – Come to the Table Talk! 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!
LODGING OPTIONS
For more information on Forest Service Luna Lake group campsites, please visit here.
For those who want slightly more developed facilities 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.
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 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.
We are doing a very special Saturday night mushroom 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. 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.