The 2018 Annual Foray of the Arizona Mushroom Society will be returning to the White Mountains of eastern Arizona on August 10th through 12th. Mycologist Christian Schwarz and chef Chad Hyatt are our marquee guests this year. 

Photo: A. Sofronie

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UPDATE JULY 22 - 

This foray has filled in less than 48 hours! Very gratifying, but took us by surprise. We are looking at options to expand the roster, perhaps for under-subscribed forays only. We encourage those who missed out but still want to attend to sign up for the waiting list (you need to be logged in to this site as a member in good standing.)

There may be a consolation foray Aug. 4 or Aug. 5 that will be open by invitation only to members who are not signed up for the Annual Foray. Details will be posted here soon.

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General registration opened at noon on July 20. Please sign up promptly from this page so that we can plan ahead for our meals, forays, and other events. 

Please note that for this event, we are asking that every member of your party be registered by name on the "Guest" page, including children. We have not done this for past annual forays, but it makes ordering meals much simpler. You can leave any fields blank if they are the same as yours or don't pertain to your guest. 

Also, please be courteous to your fellow members and cancel your registration promptly if you can't come. No meal or lodging refunds can be issued after Aug. 3.

We are pleased to announce that the foray mycologist will be Christian Schwarz, naturalist at the California Center for Natural History and proprietor of Redwood Coast Tours in Santa Cruz. Along with Noah Siegel (who will not be attending), Christian is the author of the highly- regarded new guidebook Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. This book is exceptionally valuable for anyone who hunts in California or the Northwest, but even those of us who never leave Arizona will find it very useful, as we have many of the same species. You can buy a copy when you register for this foray, if you wish. If you do so by Aug. 1, it will be delivered and autographed at the foray. 

Also attending this year will be Chad Hyatt, professional chef and mushroom fanatic. He is coming back for a second visit to show us more of his fantastic recipes, with a particular goal of teaching us how to make gourmet masterpieces from some of the less prized but more common species of fungi that we find.

However, the rains have been OK so far this summer, and the forecast for August is for above average rainfall, so we are hopeful that all of our favorite choice edibles will be making an appearance.

FORAY SCHEDULE:

Friday, Aug. 10th

• 5:00-5:30 pm: Registration/Reception, Sunrise Park Hotel Lobby
• 5:30-7:00 pm: Dinner, Sunrise Park Hotel Restaurant
• 7:00-8:30 pm: Scientific Presentation, Terri Clements: Mapping Arizona Fungi:  Documenting Our Mycoflora Using DNA Sequencing, Large Conference Room, Sunrise Park Hotel
• 8:30 pm-???: Social Hour, Sunrise Park Hotel Bar

• 7:00-8:30 am: Breakfast Buffet, Sunrise Park Hotel Restaurant
• 8:30 am: Pick up box lunches, Sunrise Park Hotel Restaurant 
• 9:00 am-4:00 pm: All Day Forays, location TBD
• 9:00 am-11:30 am: Morning Forays, location TBD
• 9:00 am-11:30 am: Citizen Science Group- Identification and Vouchering Foray, Terri Clements/Christian Schwarz, location TBD
• 11:30 am-1:00 pm: Lunch/free time (for those not on all-day forays) 
• 1:00-4:00 pm: Afternoon Forays, location TBD
• 1:00-4:00 pm: Citizen Science group -Identification and Vouchering Foray, Terri Clements/Christian Schwarz, Location TBD
• 4:00-5:30 pm: Cooking demo, Chad Hyatt, Sunrise Park Hotel, Large Conference Room
• 5:30-7:30 pm: AMS Community Dinner, Sunrise Park Hotel Restaurant 
• 7:30-9:00 pm: Keynote Presentation, Christian Schwarz - Bottoms Up! Visions for the Future of a North American Mycoflora, Sunrise Park Hotel, Large Conference Room
• 9:00 pm-???: Social Hour, Sunrise Park Hotel Bar

• 7:00-8:30 am: Breakfast buffet, Sunrise Park Hotel Restaurant
  
• 9:00-11:30: Foray wrap-up with identifications and discussion, Sunrise Park Hotel, large conference room
• 11:30-12:00 Cleanup
• 12:00-3:00 Afternoon forays, location TBD

FORAY DESTINATION: Our forays will take place on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. 

FORAY MEETING PLACE: Parking lot of Sunrise Park Hotel, near Greer, Arizona. 

Click here for a Google map of the meeting place. (Note that this link was corrected on 7/22/18 and was previously incorrect.)

Half-day forays will meet in the parking lot of the hotel and depart first. All-day forays will meet on the lake side and depart last.

FORAY CAPTAINS: Chris May, Mike Dechter, Bill Warner, Terri Clements

GUEST SPEAKERS: On Friday evening, the Society's own citizen-scientist superstar Terri Clements, co-discoverer of Morchella kaibabensis nom. prov., will be speaking about scientific findings from her efforts to sequence mushrooms found in the region. On Saturday, chef Chad Hyatt will be doing demonstrations on cooking mushrooms to perfection. Christian Schwarz will give our keynote presentation on Saturday evening after dinner.

MYCOLOGY SKILL LEVEL: General/All

THEME: Education, Identification, Edibles

PHYSICAL FITNESS LEVEL: Gentle. You should be able to walk a mile or two on flat ground or shallow slopes at 9000 feet of altitude.

VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: Any vehicle will do, but high ground clearance is recommended. We will be encouraging carpooling, so if your vehicle is unsuitable for rough roads, there should be a ride available. 

LODGING: AMS has arranged for a discounted block of rooms at Sunrise Park Hotel, where our instructional and social events will take place. AMS will NOT be collecting money for hotel rooms or making reservations for attendees. 

To reserve a room please call the hotel before August 3rd, and mention that you are with the Arizona Mushroom Society event. Room cost is $55 + taxes per night. For reservations, call: (928) 735-7669.

There are several other very inexpensive hotels and motels in the Springerville/Eagar area such as the Rode Inn, numerous lodging options in Pinetop area, as well as the Greer Lodge and many other lodges and private cabins in Greer for those who don't mind paying extra for more luxury than the Sunrise Park hotel can provide. 

There are RV parks at multiple locations in Springerville and Eagar, including the Cedar Court and Springerville RV Parks, as well as parks in Greer, Pinetop, and Alpine.

The Forest Service has multiple developed campgrounds at Big Lake, as well as the Benny Creek and Hoyer campgrounds at Greer and the Winn campground near Sheeps Crossing, among others. Reservations are strongly recommended. There is also plenty of unimproved dispersed camping along dirt roads in the more remote parts of the forest.

MEALS: You will be able to purchase a la carte meals during the registration process, or a 6-meal package deal for a slightly lower price. You do not need to be staying at the hotel to order any of the meals.

Friday dinner is a fish fry. Saturday dinner is BBQ ribs. Drinks are at your discretion and require additional payment at the time of service. 

Breakfasts are buffet style with eggs, meats, breads, oatmeal/cereal, juice, and coffee or tea. 

Lunches are brown bag style, with ham or turkey sandwiches, chips, fruit, and cookie that you will pick up at breakfast. A cold soft drink will also be provided in the field on your forays.

We encourage you to have other snacks and water or other thirst quenching drinks available, especially during the forays.

Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and other special diets can usually be accommodated for the same fixed price, but you must contact Chef Vinny Way in advance at (928) 735-7669, extension 2888.

VOLUNTEERING: 

We can always use volunteers! An event like this requires a lot of work, but if lots of people pitch in there is very little burden for any one individual. You will have a chance to sign up for any or all of the following when you register:

• Foray co-captains: We need people who know the areas we will be hunting and can ride "drag" at the back of the convoy to help everyone get there, and back home if necessary. You'll help the captain with roll calls, looking for lost people, etc.
• Greeters: We need people to be available to meet our participants, whether at the Friday reception or later in the weekend, and distribute name tags and meal tickets.
• Volunteer identifiers: Knowledgeable mushroom hunters who are willing to provide basic ID of familiar edible and toxic species while on forays.
• Cooking demo helpers: We need a couple of people who can help set up for Chad Hyatt's demo on Saturday and then clean up afterwards
• Silent auction/raffle helpers to assist Beth Bilodeau with our fund-raisers
• Lunch bag and drinks assistants to make sure everyone receives their brown bag lunch at breakfast, and that each foray goes out with an ice chest full of soft drinks.
• Cleanup on Sunday after the foray
• Audiovisual setup assistants for our presentations
• General volunteer sherpas for any task that needs to be done.