Sadly, the weather has been so warm and dry this year that despite spreading out and searching a wide area, no one found any edible Boletus.

Lisa finds a Ganoderma tsugae (North American Hemlock Reishi) at Echo Summit (2015)

Our hunt included the tried and true locations near the still flowing creeks, but no luck. Happily, we had a great time anyway. Those of us looking for Ganoderma tsugae (North American Hemlock Reishi) found as many very fresh, moist ones as we wanted. Many of them within walking distance of the lodge. One intrepid group even found edible Sarcodon imbricatus which we cooked so everyone could taste it's nutty flavor.

Everyone had a great time. Many of us had fun on Saturday afternoon after the morning forays doing other things such as hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail (part of the Pacific Crest Trail) on the high side of Lower Echo Lake and exploring the Taylor Creek Visitor Center. Taylor Creek is where the land-locked Kokanee Salmon that live in Lake Tahoe swim upstream every fall to spawn. The visitor Center has a spectacular Stream Profile Center underground and right in the creek with aquarium-like windows for viewing of the fish in the creek. We didn't see any spawning salmon because it's a little early still but did view trout, minnows, and crawfish.

The afternoon was followed by a gourmet dinner prepared by Chef Bob Wynn. Many members generously donated their dried mushrooms from past forays which Bob used to create two brilliant black trumpet and morel flat bread pizzas and a wonderful mixed mushroom ragout of gypsy, hedgehog, and yellowfoot. Other delicious dishes included bacon-wrapped, stuffed chicken breast; polenta; broccoli; collards; and green salad. This was followed by a wonderful fruit dessert.

Some members brought and shared homemade beer, hard cider, and mead and you'd never know by the volume of laughter echoing throughout the lodge that evening that no one found an edible Boletus that day.

As always, the Echo Summit Lodge provided breathtaking views of crystal clear vistas of the Lake Tahoe Basin; the visibility couldn't have been any better. The water of the surrounding lakes was a beautiful, clear blue.

Once again, we wish Lee Yamada a very special 'thank you" for making this epic venue available to us every year through his membership and work with the California Alpine Club.

Species List (Courtesy of Dennis Nolan and John Munoz)

Amanita muscaria (fly agaric)

Boletus sp.?

Boletus calopus (bitter bolete)

Boletus fibrillosus

Fomitopsis pinicola

Hypholoma fasciculare (picture says something different)

Leucopaxillus gentiana

Naematdoma Faciculare (Sulpher Tuft)

Neolentinus ponderosus (Sawtooth, Trainwrecker)

Gomphus kaufmannii (false chantrerelle, scaly chantrelle) - correction per Debbie V.

Ganoderma tsugae (Reishi)

Ramaria stricta

Russula sp.?

Russula albonigra

Russula brevipes

Sarcodon imbricatus

Suillus pungens (Slippery Jack)

Suillus tomentosus

Suillus umbonatus

Tricholoma flavovirens (Man on Horseback)

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Editors note: The original article included a link to photos posted on Google+. Unfortunately, Google+ is no longer available for personal use as of 2019.