Hike on the Widforss trail

After a filling lunch at the North Rim’s Grand Lodge it was time for a hike on the Widforss Trail.

 I love how the first half of this rim trail stays mostly under the shady forest with patches of wildflowers yet also provides peaks into the Transept Canyon and beyond.

The many days of earth quenching rain followed by days of sunshine brought out a diversity of mushrooms. I don’t really know what all these are.

I’ve been gathering wild edible mushrooms for years, but in the moist Pacific Northwest.

Most people think of Arizona as desert, yet I’m sure you’ve seen from many of my photos it’s not All desert. Last year I saw the delectable Shaggy Manes here, but alas, not until they were too far gone to eat.

This year they’re growing under the RV. And quite delicious when very fresh.

I kept seeing this shelf mushroom on dead trees thinking it looked very familiar. So I took enough photos from all angles to check at home in my field guides for confirmation. I kept thinking that’s a choice edible. Oh yea! it’s an Oyster mushroom, very tasty. And before you can remind me not to gather anything—especially mushrooms—in a National Park let me tell you it’s OK to graze. Pick just enough to eat while in the park, not to pack home or to sell.

Poisonous Fly Agaric

The soonest I could return, two weeks later, and no more oyster mushrooms. You really have to pick them when their prime. Just stay away from the one above, very poisonous.

But even without mushrooms we really enjoyed the hike and views.

We walked about 2 miles (3.2 km) each way along the  Widforss Trail which is a total of 5 miles (8 km) each way.

This trail was named after Gunnar Widforss, a Swedish/American artist who lived and painted at the Grand Canyon in the late 1930s.

On the Trail to Grandeur Point by Gunnar Widforss

He produced a large collection of watercolors prized for their geologic detail.

I try to capture that detail in a photo because I make mud when I paint.