Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
Sunday, June 22, 2014
The Zoo Unedited Version
They call it the zoo and for good reason with an assortment of people and their gear. Circus might be a better metaphor. Pickers, buyers, treasure hunters, boaters that ferry people to the other side, four wheel drive rentals and the like. In the down time between picking drinking beer and getting high seem to help the time pass. Without toilet facilities or showers, soot, ash and charred trees stain you clothes and your body, getting stoned may be only way to make the stink and dirt tolerable.
Prices for morels this year are higher than ever, early pickers earned $14 per pound, the price has gone down to $10 to $12 per pound. Retail prices will be $25 to $100 per pound.
A dirt road slowly descending to the Yukon river is one side of the zoo. Makeshift camps, buying stations, outdoor cooking and eating areas flank the gravel. Daylight lasts for about 22 hours and activity is constant. Trailers with all terrain vehicles, boats and cargo dot the roadside. It is a ferry terminal and marketplace set up in the most basic conditions.
About 20 boats wait for a fare to the other side where last years forest fire holds the promise of this years morel treasure. Young native men collect $20 per person for a five minute one way boat ride but we find on our return that $20 was sufficient for us three, two elders and me. This is market economics at its best. An unregulated market without supervision or legislation. One of our boatmen seemed to have been enjoying his profits from an earlier trip and his girlfriend tried to keep his navigation on a straight course notwithstanding the alcohol or drugs that made him slur his words,
Once we get to the other side we encounter an ATV trail made of ash with ponds of mud rising to a charred forest. Rounded rocks dot the path and make traction for both ATVs the Quads and people all the more challenging. Dozens of ATVs line the path on the other side but there operators are no where to be seen. The serious pickers travel in 18 kilometres and hike on several more to reach the best picking spots. A lovely young blonde woman said she made over $350 in just one day, the young man with her claimed a friend made $7000 in a week.
The Quads are covered in mud like some kind of Medieval battleground. White plastic baskets piled high indicate incredible optimism or the promise of a huge pay off.
Once we reach the forest charred charcoal trees stand crooked against a bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Grey and white ash gives way to Islands of black and the whispers of green. Wild flowers of yellow and purple grasses wild roses mosses indicate the return of life to the burnt forest. On the edges of the black islands we chance upon morels. Black, grey and golden yellow. Where you spot one three or five are sure to follow. Golden brown cup fungus holds the promise of nearby morels.
Dusty, dirty, dry work, bending, stretching, climbing, hiking walking. Some call it meditative others see more similarities to zombies. It depends on the time of day and the success or lack there of of the pick.
Six hours labour yields me only three and a half pounds. About thirty five or forty dollars of morels at the going price paid by local buyers. After the $20 paid for the boat ride over I was up $15 for six hours of gruelling, dirty work. Don't quit your day job is all I could think of. This is embarrassing to come so far and spend so much for so little. Yes a unique experience.
The real reward was to breathe the aroma of the morels at the drying stations. Little if anything is sold fresh, drying preserves the morels and increases their value. Hundreds of morels line up on what looks like window screens under a makeshift clear plastic tarp that allows the 22 hours of light do their work. Solar power enhances value and preserves the morels for buyers in US and Europe. One buyer talks about exports to China but trade with China presents unique challenges yet to be overcome.
Wildlife in the burn area is hard to see but the occasional woodpecker breaks the eerie silence. Despite the parking lots filled with Quads and ATVs we don't see signs of other pickers in the woods until the end of our picking day.
All I can think of is the petit young blonde picked 35 lbs in one day and I picked one tenth of what she did and I am exhausted and dirty. She looked ready for a twenty kilometre track and I was ready to crash but where did she manage to wash up? Ahhh the great mysteries of picking fire morels in the Yukon!
Sent from my iPhone
Prices for morels this year are higher than ever, early pickers earned $14 per pound, the price has gone down to $10 to $12 per pound. Retail prices will be $25 to $100 per pound.
A dirt road slowly descending to the Yukon river is one side of the zoo. Makeshift camps, buying stations, outdoor cooking and eating areas flank the gravel. Daylight lasts for about 22 hours and activity is constant. Trailers with all terrain vehicles, boats and cargo dot the roadside. It is a ferry terminal and marketplace set up in the most basic conditions.
About 20 boats wait for a fare to the other side where last years forest fire holds the promise of this years morel treasure. Young native men collect $20 per person for a five minute one way boat ride but we find on our return that $20 was sufficient for us three, two elders and me. This is market economics at its best. An unregulated market without supervision or legislation. One of our boatmen seemed to have been enjoying his profits from an earlier trip and his girlfriend tried to keep his navigation on a straight course notwithstanding the alcohol or drugs that made him slur his words,
Once we get to the other side we encounter an ATV trail made of ash with ponds of mud rising to a charred forest. Rounded rocks dot the path and make traction for both ATVs the Quads and people all the more challenging. Dozens of ATVs line the path on the other side but there operators are no where to be seen. The serious pickers travel in 18 kilometres and hike on several more to reach the best picking spots. A lovely young blonde woman said she made over $350 in just one day, the young man with her claimed a friend made $7000 in a week.
The Quads are covered in mud like some kind of Medieval battleground. White plastic baskets piled high indicate incredible optimism or the promise of a huge pay off.
Once we reach the forest charred charcoal trees stand crooked against a bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Grey and white ash gives way to Islands of black and the whispers of green. Wild flowers of yellow and purple grasses wild roses mosses indicate the return of life to the burnt forest. On the edges of the black islands we chance upon morels. Black, grey and golden yellow. Where you spot one three or five are sure to follow. Golden brown cup fungus holds the promise of nearby morels.
Dusty, dirty, dry work, bending, stretching, climbing, hiking walking. Some call it meditative others see more similarities to zombies. It depends on the time of day and the success or lack there of of the pick.
Six hours labour yields me only three and a half pounds. About thirty five or forty dollars of morels at the going price paid by local buyers. After the $20 paid for the boat ride over I was up $15 for six hours of gruelling, dirty work. Don't quit your day job is all I could think of. This is embarrassing to come so far and spend so much for so little. Yes a unique experience.
The real reward was to breathe the aroma of the morels at the drying stations. Little if anything is sold fresh, drying preserves the morels and increases their value. Hundreds of morels line up on what looks like window screens under a makeshift clear plastic tarp that allows the 22 hours of light do their work. Solar power enhances value and preserves the morels for buyers in US and Europe. One buyer talks about exports to China but trade with China presents unique challenges yet to be overcome.
Wildlife in the burn area is hard to see but the occasional woodpecker breaks the eerie silence. Despite the parking lots filled with Quads and ATVs we don't see signs of other pickers in the woods until the end of our picking day.
All I can think of is the petit young blonde picked 35 lbs in one day and I picked one tenth of what she did and I am exhausted and dirty. She looked ready for a twenty kilometre track and I was ready to crash but where did she manage to wash up? Ahhh the great mysteries of picking fire morels in the Yukon!
Sent from my iPhone
Saturday, June 21, 2014
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