It is generally accepted that mushrooms need to be harvested in peace and quiet, and a large noisy mushroom company can find nothing. This is not true, I have repeatedly found the opposite facts. The noise here is nothing and mushrooms have no legs and can not escape from mushroom pickers. The main disadvantage of this method of mushroom picking is that a large company is very slow and unmanaged and will not be able to cover a large area, because it will depend on the weakest member of their group and if they all go together, they are unlikely to be able to collect many mushrooms. Therefore, a large company will naturally have to split into smaller and more mobile subgroups and meet together at the collection point to show off their mushroom trophies.

This preface has to do with the fact that I wanted to explain that collecting mushrooms with a large company can be a lot of fun. Last summer, me and my friends decided to go to the mountains to collect mushrooms. It was spontaneous (and therefore the best idea), we quickly gathered 16 people who decided to go to the mountains. Of course, it was not a complete mountain hike, but it was also not a mushroom hike across flat terrain, it was somewhat average.

So we decided to go to the mountains near the village of Myslivka, located in the Dolyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region. It's a pretty well-known place in mushroom communities, apparently someone from our group was there before and suggested it as the starting point of our itinerary. Since Myslivka is quite far from Lviv, about three hours away by car, then to get a good night's sleep and leave early in the morning for mushrooms, we left Lviv at about five o'clock in the afternoon and by nine o'clock in the evening we were already in the mountains. We camped at dusk, in the old apple orchard behind the village, on the banks of the River Svicha (Candle).

Our camp is in an apple orchard
Our camp is in an apple orchard

When we set up camp, we decided to have some fun. We lit a fire and sat around, telling interesting stories. Then when we got the heat, we cooked a barbecue on it. Then we drank wine and again told stories, laughed, it was a lot of fun. We all went to bed late, despite the fact that we were going to wake up early enough to go for mushrooms.

The evening before
The evening before

Our camp came to life at about nine in the morning. Those who woke up first prepared breakfast for the rest. When everyone finally had breakfast and gathered for mushrooms, it was eleven o'clock. And then it started to rain, but we all had waterproof coats, so even though it was raining, we all went for mushrooms. At first there were only russulas in the forest, but then more valuable mushrooms came into play, but I'll tell you about it tomorrow, friends.

When it rains, waterproof jackets are required
When it rains, waterproof jackets are required

The forest is waiting for us
The forest is waiting for us

The first find
The first find

Red russula in green moss
Red russula in green moss