Top 10 Mushroom Mistakes

Autumn is the best time for mushrooms in the Pyrenees. Those that are edible like the girolle are a great addition to omelettes or sauces. Those that are poisonous, like the Fly Agaric, can cause health problems and sometimes death. It is obviously important to distinguish between the two groups.

There are several falsehoods regarding mushrooms that don't help pick the edible from the poisonous. Here are my top 10.

1. All black mushrooms are poisonous. The Horn of Plenty, which is black and is called The Trumpet of Death in French, is in fact edible.

Horn of Plenty (Photo: Wikipedia)

2. All white mushrooms are edible. The mushroom below which is all white and resembles the commonly eaten button mushroom is in fact poisonous.

Destroying Angel

3. Slugs only eat edible mushrooms. Slugs will eat any mushroom.

4. Cooking a poisonous mushroom will make it edible. Poisonous mushrooms remain poisonous even after cooking.

5. Edibel mushrooms only grow in pine forests. Edible mushrooms grow in a variety of terrain.

6. All edible mushrooms can be eaten raw. Morels are edible but must be cooked first.

Morel (Photo: Wikipedia)

7. Mushrooms that grow in circles are poisonous. Edible mushrooms like the field mushroom also grow in circles.

8. Mushrooms that grow on trees are poisonous. There are several mushrooms that grow on trees that can be eaten.

Ear of Judas (Photo: Wikipedia)

9. Panther Caps and Fly Agarics are only poisonous when the cap is covered with small white growths/marks/specks. The white marks are absent from young specimins and are sometimes washed off by the rain. The mushroom remains toxic.

Fly Agaric

10. 'Magic' mushrooms are poisonous. They are not. According to research in 2006  the active ingredient in 'magic' mushrooms (Psilocybin), can cause 'spiritually significant moments' that lead to sustained 'increases in well being.'

'One-third of the participants reported that the experience was the single most spiritually significant moment of their lives and more than two-thirds reported it was among the top five most spiritually significant experiences. Two months after the study, 79% of the participants reported increased well-being or satisfaction; friends, relatives, and associates confirmed this. They also reported anxiety and depression symptoms to be decreased or completely gone. Fourteen months after the study 64% of participants said they still experienced an increase in well-being or life satisfaction.'

Although not poisonous, 'magic' mushrooms remain illegal in the US (Class 1) and in the UK  (Class A). In France it is illegal to pick, transport and sell them.

Top Ten Reasons To Snowshoe

Snowshoes help a person to walk when there is snow on the ground. Snowshoes work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow. 

Perhaps the first people to develop snowshoes looked to nature for inspiration. Several animals, most notably the Snowshoe Hare and the Ptarmigan, have oversized feet enabling them to move more quickly through deep snow.

Walking with snowshoes is not a new idea. In 1991 the frozen body of Otzi the Iceman was found on the Austrian Italian border at 3,210m/10,531 feet. He lived 5,300 years ago and recent analysis suggests that what was previously thought to be part of a backpack, is in fact a snowshoe. The first Europeans to explore North America in the 17th Century found that the Native Americans that lived there wore snowshoes when there was snow on the ground.

The Snowshoe Dance, performed at the first snowfall by the Ojibwa. By George Catlin 1835.

Snowshoes became essential tools for fur traders, trappers and anyone whose life or living depended on the ability to get around in areas of deep and frequent snowfall. Since the 1980's there has been a large growth in the use of snowshoes for recreation.

What's all the fuss about? Here are my Top 10 Reasons to Snowshoe:

1. It's Easy.  The learning curve for skiing and snow boarding is much longer. Anyone who can walk can snowshoe. It is as simple as that. From day 1 you can be enjoying moving about on snow and travelling to your favourite spot to see it in its winter coat.

2. It's Cheap. Compared to skiing and snowboarding, snowshoeing is cheaper. The snowshoes are less expensive than skis or a snowboard and with snowshoes you do not have to pay for a ski pass or uplifts.

3. It's Calm and Peaceful. Snowshoeing means you can escape the noise and bustle of the ski resorts. You will be able to enjoy the mountain environment far away from the noisy crowds. Able to hear only natural sounds - the wind in the pine trees, a babbling brook, the call of a bird of prey overhead, the croak of a Ptarmigan. Sometimes, there is no sound -  total silence. The serenity and tranquility will help even the most highly stressed person to relax and unwind.

4. It's Safe. You will snowshoe at a much slower pace than you ski so the chance of collision damage (whether with the ground or another person) is much smaller than on a ski slope. Having said this, if you are without winter experience, it is best to stay on the resort prepared snowshoeing pistes. If you are looking for more of an adventure, hire a mountain professional like an International Mountain Leader to look after you. They will bring the mountain environment alive and show you places you wouldn't find yourself.

5. It's Healthy.  Snowshoeing offers low-impact, aerobic exercise and is a great way to burn calories during the winter and stay healthy.

6. It's Better for Seeing Wildlife. It is much more difficult to identify wildlife or their tracks, while hurtling down a ski slope. Slowing the pace of travel down with snowshoes means you have more time to pay attention to what is around you. What's more, the busy ski resorts will scare wildlife away. Snowshoeing away from the prepared pistes will increase your chances of seeing actual wildlife and the tracks they have made.

Isard (Pyrenean Chamois)

Animal tracks like these left by a squirrel are easy to spot in the snow.

7. It's fun.  Moving at a slower pace than a skier or snowboarder you have time to play in the snow and interact with the people you are with. Making fresh tracks in new powder and the sound of your snowshoes on the snow is great. Feeling the need for speed? It's easy to set up a polybag snow run.

8. It's Gentler on the Environment. You can enjoy the winter lanscape without the need for a ski resort and its prepared pistes, snow canons and uplifts.

9. It's Better for Photographs. Ever tried taking sharp photos of the fantastic mountain scenery as you ski down a hill?

10. It's Great To Help Live the Dream. If you have ever imagined yourself as a trapper like Geremiah Johnson  or The Last Trapper - snowshoeing is a must!

Pyrenees Mountain Adventure offers guided snowshoeing adventures from day walks, through 2 day walks with a night in a staffed mountain refuge to a week long, lodge based holiday.

12/21/12 - Apocalypse Soon

On 21st December this year the doom mongers predict the end of the world (again). What is the prediction based on? The end of the long count Mayan calendar. The current long count ends on 20th December which the Maya  record as 12.19.19.17.19. On December 21st a new long count begins 13.0.0.0.0.

The world as we know it is going to end but there is some good news - a small part of the world will escape the death and destruction.  Where? 38km/23 miles south west of Carcassonne in the Aude département (county) you will find the village of Bugarach (200 inhabitants).  The village is dominated by highest peak in the area - Pic Bugarach (1,230 m /4,035 ft). Only here will there be a safe haven.

Pic Bugarach

In many respects the peak is out of the ordinary. It is made up of limestone. Nothing unusual in that except that the highest part of the mountain, where it would be expected to find the youngest rock is where in fact the oldest rock is situated. Geologically the mountain is upside down. The peak is covered in large areas of forest. Again not unusual but  the forest is made of ancient box trees. The trees are very slow growing and the wood so dense it will actually sink rather than float in water.

Rams head in the tree roots

As with many other limestone areas there are numerous caves but Pic Bugarach includes over 30 with the system having been explored to a length of 5.5 km. The system includes an underground river and lake. The lake is dry at the present time. On the summit and elsewhere there are esoteric carvings found on certain rocks. For many reasons the peak is both unusual and remarkable but whether it will offer shelter from the coming storm no one is certain.

One of the esoteric geometric designs found at several sites on the mountain

The French authorities  believe enough people are convinced and are already preparing for a massive influx of those wanting shelter from the Apocalypse. There is talk of access to the peak being denied during the month of December with roads blocked by police and cave entrances sealed with concrete 'plugs' positioned by helicopters - a huge over reaction according to some.

View from the summit of Pic Bugarach

New Cubs for Pyrenees Bears

The brown  bear population in the Pyrenees has grown by three or four cubs this year. The Pyrenees remains  the last  habitat of brown bears in France. This is good news for those who are encouraging efforts to maintain a viable bear population in this mountainous region.  Experts on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees told French counterparts they had observed bear cub prints – and then taken a photo of a female bear, “Caramelles”, with two young.   Alain Reynes of Pays de l’Ours-Adet, an organisation which campaigns for  the reintroduction of bears said: “Caramelles was born in 1997 and it’s not the first time she’s had a litter. Prints were also found of a little cub alongside those of another but we lack precise data, we don’t know if there were one or two cubs.” At the end of 2011 best estimates put the number of brown bears in the Pyrenees at about 21 so the latest births put the number at around 24 or 25. However precise facts about numbers will have to wait. Supporters of an increase in the number of bears and the return to a viable bear population, are hoping that a different male bear is the father this time. The father of all the young in recent years has been an ageing male called Pyros. This is not good news for the genetic diversity of the bears. To have another male bear fathering cubs would be healthy for the long term health of the population. “Even with these births the bears remain a species in critical danger of extinction,” Mr Reynes said,  “We have high hopes for the government biodiversity conference next month to find out what the government is planning to do for the bears.” Supporters say the government has a duty to help the bear population under a European “habitats” directive, and that the conference will be the ideal moment to address the problem. A previous official plan to help the bears expired 3 years ago. The last government broke promises to introduce a new bear lin 2011 following protests from farmers who say they are dangerous to their livestock and reduce their income. There have been several succesful reintroductions of bears from Slovenia in the past. Three were introduced in 1996-7 and five in 2006 to boost the native population. The last bear of original Pyrenees stock was shot by a hunter in 2004.

Stone Age Animated Art and the Origins of Cinema

As well as the spectacular scenery to walk in during a Pyrenees Mountain Adventure guided holiday, the Eastern Pyrenees are also famous for their caves and cave art. One of the most spectacular caves is at Niaux in the Ariege which includes images of ibex, horses and bison. The cave art as well as being spectacular also records species loss because bison and ibex are no longer found in the Pyrenees.

Drawing of a bison from the Niaux Cave.

Some of the animals at Niaux and in other caves across Europe are depicted with several heads or more legs than is natural which has puzzled researchers.

Some cave art shows animals with multiple heads, legs and tails

Marc Azéma, of the University of Toulouse, is a Palaeolithic researcher and film maker who has spent the past 20 years exploring the representation of animal movement in cave art.  In an article in the June issue of Antiquity,  he suggests that  some cave paintings may amount to the first cartoons. After studying images from 53 caves, according to Azéma, the reason that many have multiple heads and limbs is that the artists were using cartoon like techniques. When images of this sort are viewed using the flickering light from a burning torch, observers get the impression that the animals are moving. Animations include animals running, rearing their heads or swishing their tales.

There are some examples of animated cave art here

His co-author, Florent Rivère, an independent artist, discovered that animal movement was also represented in more dynamic ways—with the use of animals drawn on a spinning bone disc. Rivère examined Magdalenian bone discs - objects found in the Pyrenees, the north of Spain and the Dordogne which measure about 1.50 inches in diameter. Because they are round and often have a hole pierced in their centre, the discs have been generally regarded as buttons or pendants. However according to Rivère, "Given that some are decorated on both sides with animals shown in different positions, we realized that another type of use, relating to sequential animation, was possible."

They used a bone disc found in 1868 in the Dordogne. On one side, the disc features a standing doe or a chamois. On the other side, the animal is lying down.

The researchers discovered that if a string was threaded through the central hole and then stretched tight to make the disc rotate about its lateral axis, the result was a superimposition of the two pictures on the retina. "The animal goes down then gets back up in a fraction of a second and vice versa."

“Stone Age artists intended to give life to their images,” Azéma says. “The majority of cave drawings show animals in action.” In these flickering images created by Palaeolithic people, the authors suggest, lie the origins of cinema.

Freedom Trail 2012

Early July 2012 found myself completing the Freedom Trail for the 3rd time. The Freedom Trail is a four day walk that retraces a WWII escape route, used by those escaping Nazi oppression, from France into Spain across the Pyrenees mountains.

On the French Spanish border looking into Spain and 'freedom'.

In 2010 I was solo and the following year I helped a group complete the Trail as their D of E Gold expedition. This year I helped  with the walk that is organised every July to commemorate the escapers, evaders and helpers or 'passeurs' who made the journey during the dark days of the Nazi occupation of France. At various points along the route, including the site of a crashed RAF Halifax bomber,  there are memorials where wreaths are laid and speeches made . There were over 100 participants this year - more than in previous years in part boosted by the publicity from a BBC Radio 4 programme in 2011. Those taking part included a group raising money for the Royal British Legion and a group of soldiers representing NATO. By chance there was also the father of an ex pupil of mine from my days as a teacher in Kent!

The group I  looked after included walkers from Britain, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. One of the only groups to finish the walk as a single unit and singing! A great bunch!

The Four Nations Team

The route between St Girons in France and Esterri in Spain is a test of strength, stamina and character.  Several cols have to be crossed above 2400m with snow still remaining from the winter. In all  50 miles are covered over the four days in awe inspiring scenery.

Looking down on the Refuge des Estagnous

Not all the walkers made it to Spain this year with several dropping out with injuries. There is always next year!

An injured knee for this walker made it too painful to continue

 During WWII the route was taken by Jews fleeing from their German oppressors, by many R.A.F. and American airmen who had either crash-landed or parachuted to safety after being shot down over Nazi-occupied Europe but also by hundreds of Frenchman escaping forced labour in Germany the dreaded STO - Servive du Travail Obligatoire.

Nazi propaganda about the STO. 'The bad days are over. Dad earns money in Germany.'

The helpers or 'passeurs' were local men who knew the mountain paths and tracks by heart and were crucial to helping people escape. Many paid with their lives - caught and shot immediatley. This was sometimes due to betrayal by fellow countrymen who passed on information to La Milice - the feared and hated Vichy-run paramilitary force. More than 100 helpers or 'passeurs', like 19 year old Paul Barreu, were arrested and shot.

The memorial to Paul Barreu

The Freedom Trail escape route remained operational for the duration of the war in part due to it running through such difficult terrain - it was very difficult to police.

I thoroughly enjoyed helping out with the Commemorative Freedom Trail in 2012 which was well organised by Scott Goodall and Paul Debons. Thanks to them, all the helpers and of course all the walkers.

Have you been inspired by what you have read and seen? Are you ready for the challenge? Pyrenees Mountain Adventures can help you organise your Freedom Trail Escape. See the website for more information www.pyreneesmountainadventure.com

Something Old, Something New and Something Unexpected

The French have an expression 'Que la montagne est belle!' - aren't the mountains beautiful and a recent weekend wild camping demonstrated that perfectly. Some of the beauty was old, in the sense that I already knew about it, some of the beauty was new in that I discovered it during the weekend and some was unexpected........

The 'old beauty' was the Orlu Nature Reserve above the Orlu Valley in the Ariege. I had completed the walk up to the Naguille resevoir and dam before on one of my earliest visits to the Pyrenees back in the early 1990's. Then I was on holiday but now nearly 20 years later I work in the area showing clients the beauty the region has to offer with the the holidays that Pyrenees Mountain Adventure runs.

It was also the scenery that was as spectacular as ever.

The view from Col d'en Beys

It was how peaceful and uncrowded the area remained.

It was the still impressive display of wild flowers - Trumpet Gentian, Pyrenean Squill, Pyrenean Buttercup, Pyrenean Pheasant-Eye, Daffodil, and Marsh Marigold

Moss Campion Silene acaulis

It was the wildlife encounters - a Jay in the beach forest at the start of the walk, a kestrel flying in the valley level with me while at the Col d'en Beys, a ptarmigan not having completely lost its white winter plumage being disturbed from its hiding place among the juniper bushes, an eagle that came to investigate who I was and what I was doing at a col on day 2, a group of isard demonstrating their agility and power while climbing steep ground as I sat and watched in the fading light and a cheeky marmot.

Marmot

 The 'new beauty' and there is always new beauty to discover, was the Pinet Valley. Little known and rarely visited and better for it - I had it to myself.

At the head of the valley were Pic de Pinet and Pic d'Ouxis and between them a ridge that provided some entertaining scrambling. The clouds began to roll in as I started the ascent of Pic d'Ouxis (2510m) after lunch at the col and by the time I had completed the ridge and descended from Pic de Pinet (2420m), the first drops of rain began to fall.

The 'unexpected beauty' was being able to help two walkers who approached me at my wild camp site near the Peyrisses lakes (2227m) as I ate my evening meal. They wanted to know where the refuge was. The mist that had ghosted in had reduced visibility greatly. There was no refuge here. The Refuge d'en Beys was in the next valley! They had a map but were novices on their first mountain adventure and didn't really know how to use it. I ended up taking them to the correct col and part way down the correct descent path leaving them to continue on their own after the last snow patch had been crossed.

It seemed the correct thing to do and they were generous with their thanks. If I had been in their position I would have wanted someone to do exactly the same for me. It was waiting back at the col to check they made the valley below that I was rewarded with the encounter with the kestrel and the herd of isard. If I had not offered to help, my own weekend mountain adventure would have been much less rich in so many ways.........