We spent the entire day yesterday exploring the woods and looking for plants and mushrooms to identify and collect, as well as tracks to cast and scat to examine.  Our travels led us a few miles into the woods, around an old beaver pond, along a stream, and through a variety of habitats.  We found tracks of black bear, coyote, deer, fox, squirrel, raccoon, beaver, turkey and grey squirrel, as well as a variety of scat.  We spent a lot of time looking for Amanita muscaria, but didn’t find any.  I told the group about a big growth of Laetiporous sulphureous that I knew of, and we walked a mile out of our way to harvest some.  But when we got there, it had been freshly harvested!  There is only one other person I know of who harvests wild mushrooms in the woods near here, and I’ll be calling her today to let her know that she beat us to it.

This morning Jens and I went out for an early morning paddle.  This time of year the mist sits over the lake in the morning, so it was absolutely beautiful.  We brought the camera and shot a little footage, so we’ll see if it makes it into this week’s video.

Today everyone is finishing their A-frame shelters as well as finishing the scraping on their deer hides.  We’ve got to get them done because tomorrow we’re headed to the Saco river for a day of canoe poling and fly fishing.  It’s another busy day, in another busy week, of another busy Earth Skills Semester Course.