Epic Mount Hood Mushroom Hunting Experience with DADventurerNW
A quiet clearing emerged from a dense understory of saplings, salal, huckleberries and bear-grass. To us, the change in surroundings didn’t seem particularly unique; just another beautiful piece of the 1.1 million acres spanning Mt. Hood National Forest. But, to the trained eye, this spot was the perfect setting for what pulled us from our warm bed at 7 a.m. on this cool October morning.
Thankfully, we had an expert with us as we set out on our first-ever mushroom hunt. Cosmo D’Aquila has been chasing adventures in the Pacific Northwest for more than two decades. His love of foraging fungi started in 2016 after he paid–a rather hefty price–for a bag of wild mushrooms at a farmers market. The vendor told him these dome-shaped delicacies grew all over the Pacific Northwest. The trick was knowing where to find them, and so, Cosmo set out on what has become a lifelong quest.
Trip Tip:
Chalet guests get 20% off on DADventurerNW outings, so reach out to us before setting up your hunt.
Along the way, he decided to share his passion with others under the moniker DADventurerNW. To date, he has organized and led more than 50 mushroom hunting experiences through Airbnb.
Tracking Mushrooms in the Wild on Mount Hood
Cosmo has marked more than 200 hunting locations along his journey, including the discreet slope on the south side of Mount Hood that we were standing on. Sitting at an elevation of roughly 3,500’ amidst a mixed conifer forest that received recent rains, he knew we would land in the best position to find one of Oregon’s most plentiful and sought after mushrooms–the white chanterelle.
As we entered the opening, Cosmo paused and told us to look around. After walking a mile in together, we knew this wasn’t because he needed our help. He saw something and wanted us to hone our skills. Sure enough, Mollie locked onto a glint of white peeking out from a bump in the pine duff. Then, I spotted a patch just ahead to her right.
Cosmo bent down to uncover another large group near his right foot, and he walked us through the process of identifying chanterelles by their familiar folds, false gills and stringy texture. Then, he explained that these mushrooms tend to grow in “veins” or groups. We scanned the ground all around us and spotted nearly a dozen clusters. The sense of abundance grew with each new find, and so did our excitement. We weren’t going home empty-handed today.
You don’t just stumble upon secret stashes like these. Cosmo scouts the mountain weeks in advance of every trip. He visits multiple locations to document growth, studies the landscape for companion plants, tracks activity across elevations and follows multiple weather forecasts to find ideal conditions. All this painstaking preparation increases your odds of getting your money's worth of mushrooms, but it also guarantees you’ll learn more than a few mushroom hunting skills along the way.
A Well-Rounded Mushroom Education
The best place to learn any skill is standing in the shadow of an expert. Okay, you have to ask a few questions too, and Cosmo is ready with answers. He shared his favorite identification guides, tips, tricks and tools (all provided) for successful hunting. The only topic he won’t venture into is the age-old debate around plucking versus cutting. You can ask, but you might get an eye roll.
As you traipse through towering pines and firs, filling mesh bags with clumps of mushroom goodness, Cosmo keeps the education coming. From identifying host trees and inspecting stems for bugs to processing and preserving our haul; we walked away feeling ready to pick responsibly on our own.
Most importantly, he told us the best timing for a few of Mount Hood’s most sought-after shrooms: matsutakes, chanterelles and morels. For those looking to track down chanterelles like us, make sure to book in the fall. The same goes for Matsutakes, which start popping up in September. If morels are more your flavor, spring is the best time to plan a stay.
If you want to read more of the basics we learned, we wrote a Beginners’ Guide to Mushroom Foraging on Mount Hood. You can also visit Cosmo’s DADventureNW YouTube channel for in-depth refreshers. His library includes dozens of Mount Hood hunts and–just like little caps popping up from the forest floor–pro tips are often hiding in the comments.
Before setting out, Cosmo also equipped us with walkie talkies, safety whistles and a crash-course in navigating with a smartphone. Cosmo packs more than the ten essentials for every trip and encourages his guests to do the same. Full disclosure: he also carries a licensed, concealed firearm for protection in the wild. He explains everything in depth at the outset of every trip to ensure everyone feels safe, comfortable and ready to have fun.
From Forage to Feast: Mushrooms Are Addictive
We ended our day with a limit of white chanterelles and an indescribable high that only comes from foraging food in the wild. It’s a mix of endorphins released while hiking and continuous dopamine bursts with every find. Still, we hadn’t reached the apex of our half-day mushroom hunting experience.
After retracing our steps, we jumped in our car and followed Cosmo to a nearby campground. He posted up at a picnic table and told us to explore while he prepared his customary DADventureNW mushroom tasting.
With our eyes glued to the ground, we continued to discover more stemmed treasures in a variety of shapes and sizes that Cosmo helped us identify. There were Hedgehogs, Zeller's Boletes, Golden Chanterelles and a handful of other interesting but inedible species. We walked along a creek, bagging the best and taking a ton of photos until it was time for our tasting.
As we approached the campsite, it was obvious this tasting was more of a feast of small bites. A vibrant crudité platter with fresh tomatoes from his home garden; a rustic cheese and meat board with olive tapenade and hummus; sautéed mushroom bruschetta with garlic, thyme and fresh shaved pecorino.
This is what mushroom hunting is all about. Sure, the thrill of the hunt is in the prize, but the passion is in the process. Scouting spots, meeting up, driving out, hiking in, picking mushrooms, preparing a spread and (finally) relishing each bite. Cosmo is immersed in the process, and his passion shows in each step of the mushroom foraging experience. When all is said and done, you’ll walk away with more than a pile of mushrooms; you’ll have a newfound obsession.
