Trip Report
Big Tree Trail, Bus Trail, Nook Trail, Section Line Trail, Adventure Trail & Tradition Lake Loop — Thursday, Sep. 10, 2015
Issaquah Alps > Tiger Mountain
Went out to go mushroom photographing and was not disappointed.
I parked at Sunset Way in Issaquah. It wasn't bad, but the climb up to the plateau with all of it's highway noise and unmarked trails probably wasn't the best way into the park. The trails are well kept and definitely better marked than I recall from the last time I visited (which was quite some time ago). I did got to REI and get the map - which I'd highly suggest, as the tangle of trails can be quite confusing and the park is big. This particular route didn't have a huge amount of climbing - up Nook trail (and getting into the actual park area from the parking lot) had the bulk of it.
The mushrooms are out and beautiful. I'll have to go back and explore other corners to see what fungal delights they hold. Lots more photos http://www.jungledragon.com/user/1590/morpheme.html including some that I haven't yet been able to ID - so please do visit and if you see something you recognize let me know :)
Though I know it's beating a dead horse and these people probably don't read trip reports… please, please pick up your dog poop… when you are down on the ground as much as I am it's painfully clear just how much of it there is and the sheer amount at this park was totally disgusting. In some places it was less than 2 or 3 strides between moldy putrefying piles of poo. Just pushing them off the side of trail isn't acceptable. When you are constantly in danger of putting a hand, knee, elbow or butt in it, it gets really old, really fast.
Comments
Thanks for sharing and for the link with more photos and details.
Posted by:
Just a hiker on Sep 12, 2015 08:02 AM
Great photos. The Dead Mans Fingers are creepy. Never seen those before. About how big are they? Also wondering about the size of the Flutted Birds Nest?
Posted by:
Maddy on Sep 12, 2015 08:16 AM
Both of those are pretty tiny - the Dead Man's Fingers were probably no more than about 2-2.5 cm tall. I'm not sure how I ever noticed them, but I'd stepped around a log to take a close look at something else (which turned out to be unremarkable) and there they were. The birds nests are pretty typical - maybe 6-8mm across the top.
Both scenes where shot with a 50mm macro that gives me about 1:2 on the sensor when focused at it's very closest. That means that the entire frame was about 4.5 cm or so across in real life.
Posted by:
ehiker on Sep 12, 2015 08:45 AM
Such unique pictures, thanks for sharing! I had no idea that fungi could take on so many beautiful forms :-)
Posted by:
Get-The-Boots on Sep 12, 2015 09:07 PM
Great shots of all these cool little fungi. I love the Issaquah Alps for their variety, but I've never seen the scalycap or Dead Man's Fingers. Better look closer next time I'm out.
Posted by:
Anna Roth on Sep 14, 2015 04:38 PM
Love the photos!
Posted by:
tankkant on May 23, 2016 09:48 PM