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Arizona Mushroom Society 2024 ANNUAL FORAY

The 2024 Arizona Mushroom Society Annual Foray is planned for the August 16-18, 2024  in Alpine, Arizona in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. The Annual Foray involves small group wild mushroom forays throughout the weekend with a focus on learning about, finding, talking about and even tasting wild Arizona fungi! 

This year we have the great privilege of hosting mycologist Jonathan Frank!!! 

Jonathan presently works at Southern Oregon University and has spent the last 20+ years studying Ectomycorrhizal Ecology, Hypogeous Fungi (Truffles) and The Phylogenetics of Diversity. Jonathan will be sharing a captivating keynote presentation entitled: Underground, Underwater, Understudied: fungal diversity in the western US. We'll get to learn from Jonathan about truffles, underwater fungi  and some of the Southwest fungi we really love, with an emphasis on Boletes.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Date/Time	Activity
Friday, August 16, 9am – Noonish	Friday morning group forays, $20/person
Friday, August 16, 1pm – 4ish	Friday afternoon group forays, $20/person
Friday, August 16, 6:30 pm @ Alpine Community Center	Fungi Social, free - Hang out and bring in fungi you found! Specimen collection and informal mushroom ID, vendors, mushroom tasting.
Saturday, August 17, 9am – Noonish	Saturday morning group forays, $20/person
Saturday, August 17, 1pm – 4ish	Saturday afternoon group forays, $20/person
Saturday, August 17, 5:00 pm @ Alpine Community Center	Annual Foray Dinner -*Must register and pay for separately before event
Saturday, August 17, 7:00 pm @ Alpine Community Center	Keynote Presentation by Jonathan Frank, Free
Sunday, August 18, 9am @ Alpine Community Center	Table Talk with Terri Clements and Jonathan Frank, Free
Sunday, August 18, 1pm – 4ish	Sunday afternoon group forays, $20/person

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).

The forays are located throughout the white mountains (See figure below for general foray location - note that they are spread throughout the mountains) and will require driving to meet-up at a pre-identified foray location.

You must register for a foray time-slot and detailed foray meet-up information will be emailed to you the Wednesday before the foray. Please read the description of foray details when registering for more information about the general area of the foray and who will be leading it. Detailed information about where to meet-up with a map will be emailed to you prior to the foray. 

You and any guest must be registered to attend forays.  You may register up to 3 guests. Anyone attending a foray must be registered except for children. Children under 15 years old can attend without registration, and must be under parental supervision at all times.

Foray participants can only register for one foray between August 16-18. 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 on Saturday and Sunday 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 days' forays.

After you register for a foray, you will receive a registration confirmation email. Foray meet-up locations will be emailed to registrants by Wednesday, August 14th, 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. Registration is expected to open in late June 2024.

Activities at the Alpine Community Center

This is your chance to meet other fungaphiles, see local finds at the specimen room, and dive deeper to learn from the experts about our local funga. Throughout the Annual Foray weekend, we have many learning opportunities:

Friday evening, August 16, 2024

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 17, 2024

The Annual Foray Dinner will be served at 5:00 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center and catered by Foxfire at Alpine for $46.20/person. There will be an option to buy pizza for children. To join us and eat at the dinner, 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 excited to present Jonathan Frank as the 2024 AMS Annual Foray Mycologist! Jonathan will be presenting at 7:00 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center on Underground, Underwater, Understudied: fungal diversity in the western US.

Jonathan has spent the last 20+ years studying Ectomycorrhizal Ecology, Hypogeous Fungi (Truffles) and The Phylogenetics of Diversity. Most recently, he is working on the comparative distribution of taxonomic groups in the western US. His graduate research was funded by an NSF research grant focusing on ectomycorrhizal communities associated with oaks in Oregon, and presently works at Southern Oregon University with a research project documenting the fungal diversity in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, using genetic sequencing to confirm taxonomy, and toward suggestions for conservation and management. He has spent the past 7 monsoon seasons (when Oregon is dry and often smokey) documenting diversity in the southwest with a focus on the Boletaceae. He has published papers on post-fire responses, small mammal mycophagy, and co-authored 20+ new species including the underwater mushroom, Psathyrella aquatica, several truffles, and one new bolete genus, Butyriboletus. 

Sunday morning, August 18, 2024

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 Jonathan Frank 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 Café has an early bird full breakfast.

We are doing a special Saturday night event meal, which you can sign up for here.

VOLUNTEERING

We love volunteers and are looking for volunteers who would be interested in helping setup and assist at the event. If interested, please contact us at azmushroomsociety@gmail.com

VENDORS

We are looking for vendors interested in joining us to sell their wares on Friday evening and Saturday during the foray weekend! If that is you, please email 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!