2022-03-29 Mule Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) Chaga

I have been looking for Chaga. I've also been on a mission to explore Wildlife Management Areas. So I went Chaga hunting with Chris and Alaina at the Mule Lake Wildlife Management Area. We drive by this frequently on Hwy 84 on our way to and from the cabin. Finding Chaga is not a skilled I've honed and I don't think I've actually ever found any...until today! I have to give credit to Chris for being the first in the family to properly identify it.

Chaga!

We parked at the south entrance. This time of year is such a great time of year to explore. The leaves have not yet come out so you can see through the woods easily and the lay of the land. The lakes are still frozen so you can walk out on the them and easily enjoy a different perspective. It is also warming up and the days are getting longer. We brought an axe along and Alaina of course brought a bug jar. The cold and snow does not deter her from looking for bugs.

The woods contained many pines, birch and aspen. Mostly flat topography. A few inches of snow still on the ground. Not much for underbrush so was easy to wander around. Everything I've read on Chaga said that it likes birch trees and grows on them almost exclusively. We walked a ways on the path looking for areas of primarily birch. We spotted and area full of birches along Donkey Lake and headed off the path into the woods. At first we were finding lots of things that looked like Chaga... and there are lots of things in the woods that look like Chaga. We noticed several growths on aspen trees. When chopped with an axe, living wood was revealed inside. These growths are part of the tree despite looking like a separate growth. We noted lots of bumps that had polypore type fugus growing out of them. At first it seemed as though all of the birch trees were healthy and all the other trees had bumps and burls on them.

Alaina and I wandered off on to Donkey Lake and Chris continued his search eventually finding some Chaga! He said the Chaga was easy to chop off unlike the other things he had tried to chop. The Chaga had a solid center with a notable golden color and a thinner black outer crust. After that it was easier to find, we found our Chaga goggs! Next I need to learn how to process it so I can try some Chaga tea.

Out on the lake we found lots of animal tracks congregating around areas of the lake that appeared to have been opened when the weather was warmer. We saw a pair of Bald Eagles on a nest. We had fun taking apart some cattails. Alaina is able to get some of them to explode into a bunch of light puffy fluff. Some have a pretty pink color inside along the stem that runs through. Seems the ones that aren't ready to burst into fluff have the pink in them. I noticed lots of cones and catkins on the alder trees along the shore. The catkins are flexible. Saw a pussy willow with buds on it.

On the way back to the vehicle Alaina found a grey moth on the main path. It was very lethargic until it warmed up on the way home when it started to flutter about.